Re: LINBO integration into Skolelinux (was Re: LINBO & italc-rlp integration (Re: Gosa vs. CipUX))
Hi Mike,
On Sat, Jan 08, 2011 at 12:59:44AM +0100, Mike Gabriel wrote:
> Hi Klaus,
>
> On Fr 07 Jan 2011 21:40:44 CET Klaus Knopper wrote:
>
> >For LINBO, we probably don't need to change anything in Skolelinux.
> >LINBO consists of a kernel and an initial ramdisk für PXE booting a
> >graphical imaging and direct boot console that handles various operating
> >systems. It can be installed on any machine acting as DHCP-Server.
>
> Similar to LTSP there should be a build-system included that helps
> modifying kernel and initrd for LINBO clients. Also there should be
> tool that helps creating LINBO images that get run on the LINBO
> clients.
You don't need a special kernel for clients booted via LINBO. LINBO
starts the clients own kernel (which can be a standard Debian or
Skolelinux kernel) via kexec.
Consider LINBO just being a special "bootloader", like (pxe)grub.
> >Only if we want to install LINBO on Tjener in order to easily
> >install and repair workstations in the same subnet, we could provide
> >scripts that change the DHCP servers configuration. But I believe this
> >can also be done manually. LINBO really just needs the two files in a
> >new directory that should be accessible for tftpd.
>
> Where do the workstation images come from? How can they be included
> in Skolelinux??? For non-free OSses there should be a toolbox that
> helps to create those images.
I should probably give a short summary here.
LINBO distributes images of arbitrary operating systems, including Linux
and Windows. It creates those images from an existing installation on
its own, too. Distribution from image server to client works via rsync,
multicast or bittorrent. The client booted or repaired via LINBO can be,
for example, a normal Skolelinux or Debian workstation without
modifications. The booted installation won't even notice that it was
booted via kexec.
> >Wait... One thing missing in LINBO is automatic localisation yet, since
> >it is quite monolithic, but this is not difficult to change.
>
> With localisation you mean translation of UI text phrases? Or
Yes. The text on the buttons.
> something different? i18n/l18n support is of course welcome and
> probably a definite need and requirement for Debian Edu... Hopefully
> your primary language is English and German phrases are gettexted
> in...
Our development started with german, and we use embedded QT for the GUI,
so it should not be too hard to add a few languages.
Operating system names and descriptions are configurable with the LINBO
config file, but things like "Start" and "Sync+Start" as tooltips should
be fairly easy to translate. We can also just make them configurable,
too, or just use symbols instead of text.
> >>(1) some effort has to be put in filing an Debian ITP (intent to
> >>package for Debian) for LINBO and
> >
> >Creating a Debian package for the LINBO binaries with documentation and
> >examples is easy. Creating a single source package from the 1.2 GB of
> >sources is near to impossible. I don't know if this is a requirement.
> >We have LINBO packages on http://rp.skolelinux.de/packages/linbo/,
>
> Of course, if LINBO wants to be included in Debian you definitely
> have to provide sources for your package. I do not think that Debian
> developers will be very happy about 1.2gb of code.
Well, as said before, LINBO consists of a kernel with various
applications and a GUI in embedded QT. So, we just have that amount of
source, and you can get it from sourceforge via svn right now. GPL V2.
> Please also note: one of Debian's major policies is to avoid code
> duplications within the whole distribution. Without having seen your
> code base, I guess the 1.2gb could be reduced by far if you took
> advantage of sources and packages already available in Debian.
> Though, this is just a guess... (and should be a goal!!!).
Actually, we use busybox, glibc, kexec and linux-utils from debian for
static compilation in an initial ramdisk, the generic kernel.org kernel,
and embedded QT from trolltech for the GUI. To fully comply with the
GPL, since LINBO is a bootloader consisting of a complete operating
system with applications, we need to keep all sources in the version we
used for compiling the two binaries. So, 20 MB of binaries need 1.2GB
of sources, yes.
Personally, I would not feel offended to include LINBO as "PXE-bootable
firmware" in the "non-free" branch only shipping the kernel
binaries, with a 3 years offer to provide the full source on request, as
is stated in the GPL V2. But if you insist on providing a "source
package" with the binary, it just requires some space. :-)
> I will be happy to take a look at your LINBO link tomorrow and gain
> an overview on the 1.2gb of source code ;-)
http://rp.skolelinux.de/packages/linbo/ has the installable packages,
http://sourceforge.net/projects/linbo/files/ has the source. If you
like, I can also send you a DVD, if that's more convenient.
I've been trying to upload an update with the currentmost version to
sourceforge for a few weeks now, but always after about 3-4 hours, svn
commit just dies and gets disconnected from sourceforge. It seems that
their https svn access is not suitable for that much data. So, it may be
time to rebase the svn anyways, and if Debian or Skolelinux could
provide space for that, I would be happy. :-)
Regards
-Klaus
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