Re: Simple-cdd the right way ?
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On Sat, Apr 05, 2008 at 11:23:16AM +0200, Alternativende wrote:
>Hello together,
>I want to create a CDD and want to know if simple-cdd is the right way
>for me to do so.
>It should be a distribution for Internet-Cafe's and so on. I wanna give
>bookshops the possibility to have an "Internet Station" that's
>completely free and easy to install and use.
>
>However...What ist the best way to build a CD out of it ?
Define "best"...!
Use Debian as is
- ----------------
This is dead simple to create (you don't) and maintain (burn a CD), but
not simplest to install (your admins need to answer questions) and not
fanciest to use (GUI and services work as whatever is default in
Debian).
Throw something together and make a snapshot
- --------------------------------------------
You can derive off of Debian. One approach is to install one system,
customize to your liking, and make some snapshot of the full system.
It is relatively simple to create and (using tools like livebackup)
simple to install. How fancy it is to use for end-users depend on your
setting up that initial desktop.
Main drawback is maintainance of your snapshot. And giving back to the
development community! Please do not go down this path for anything
larger than small dirty hacks (which it does not sound like your aim).
Use an existing CDD
- -------------------
The obvious choice would be to pick an existing Custom Debian
Distribution which is designed and maintained by people with similar
needs and interests as yourself. If you then stumble across some
improvements you would like, they are quite likely to understand what
you are talking about, and also quite likely interested in adopting and
implementing your ideas for that community as a whole.
Main drawback is that there is not that many CDDs currently, and
specifically none suitable for Internet cafés :-P
Create a CDD
- ------------
If you want to initiate the development of a new CDD, then WELCOME! This
mailinglist is the right place to be. :-D
A CDD is our name for ways to make the official Debian behave customized
to our different custom needs, rather than always behave in a generic
way: You should be able to grab a future official release of Debian and
just tell at installation time that you want to install for an Internet
café, and it should install sanely for the needs and desires of Internet
cafés, only asking questions to _your_ café.
We use several different tools to achieve that goal. custom-cdd is one
of them. cdd-dev is another.
Personally, I see the customisation process as thres stages:
1) slicing: selecting a subset of packages
2) shaping: manipulate the behaviour of the packages
3) serving: pass the result to the user systems
Some customized distributions might need only some of the above.
When we talk about "Custom Debian Distributions" (CDD), we mean
customized distributions where all customizations to any steps applied
are 100% Debian. As an example, this means that if your customizations
are not yet fully integrated with the Debian release process and thus
included in the official Debian DVDs, then you do not (yet) have a CDD.
Sorry if all this is tedious to you. It is quite important for us :-)
In my understanding, simple-cdd is mainly a tool to do 3) - and as it is
not the tool actually used by Debian officially, then by definition the
result is not a CDD. But it can still be excellent for testing the
development of a true CDD: If you do 1) and/or 2) by hand or by some
other tool, you can use simple-cdd to do an unofficial rollout of your
work to test the actual result (and to use it for your actual real life
needs until your work has been dopted officially by Debian, which can
take several years).
The other popular tool, cdd-dev, is used for 1) and 2) and results in
one or more .deb packages. In my opinion this is a more robust tool if
you want to share your work with others.
You asked what is "best". In my opinion, the very best is that you do a
CDD for Internet cafés, using cdd-dev, and using simple-cdd for
unofficial rollouts until finalized and adopted by Debian.
Vagrant, the author of simple-cdd, is on this list, and also Andreas,
the author of cdd-dev. They probably both have comments on my analysis
above. We happen to physically sit together these days at a meeting in
Spain. Nice weather here :-D
Good luck, whatever approach you choose. :-)
- Jonas
- --
IT-guide dr. Jones <dr@jones.dk> http://dr.jones.dk/ +45 40843136
Debian GNU/Linux <js@debian.org> http://www.debian.org/
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