Re: [debian-knoppix] Software recommendations for LinuxTag DVD edition?
I'd recommend Quanta Plus, including for the regular knoppix distro.
My 2 cents on including windows programs in a "LinuxTag" DVD edition? Anyone
familiar with the controversy of Microsoft being invited to speak to the Open
Source event at George Washington University recently? Here's links for
background if you are unfamiliar:
http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/02/09/2138247&mode=thread&tid=51
http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/02/11/2118256&mode=thread&tid=19
What happened at this event? Microsoft received all the press attention. And
pulled valuable press attention, and attendee attention from other projects.
Anyone remember the last Linuxworld in NYC? Microsoft attended. Not only
attended, but they were nominated for an award, and won one of the awards.
What was the fallout? At a Linuxworld convention, to showcase Gnu/Linux
products and projects, Microsoft was awarded a prize, and press, for an award
that otherwise would have gone to another free software project that runs on
linux. I'm familiar with the background on the particular project in
question. I don't know if the leader of the project would want his name or
the name of the project mentioned, so I'll refrain from specifying what it
is. Those of you familiar with the incident may know who/what I'm talking
about. Anyway, the result was that because Microsoft walked away with the
prize, and with the press, it cost the free software project about $40,000 in
lost contracts that were in the pipeline at the event. And cost
substantially more because it lost the articles that would have showcased the
project and application had it picked up the award.
What you put on your DVD will have an impact on who, how many, and how often,
these apps, projects, software is seen by others. This can make or break a
small project, make or break the spark that lights an idea in a programmer's
head. Microsoft doesn't need any help in increasing the usability of their
software.
Anyone running windows and interested in gnu/linux doesn't need help in
googling for or downloading, or installing putty for windows. I found putty
and WinSCP on my own, without any help from any project. As a newbie linux
user, I know that rpm dependency problems have stopped me from installing
software that runs on linux. It stopped me from installing amaya, scribus
and some other programs. Now that I've decided to start using a distro based
on debian, with apt's package manager, I'll have an easier time of installing
software. But with the knoppix disk, I don't have to install scribus, it's
there for me to check out. Haven't checked for amaya yet. I know Quanta
Plus is missing (as of 5/20). And I know that I won't be installing it until
I do the hard disk install (I'll talk about the ridiculous requirement of
2.2+ GB of space in /, and dumping everything in / instead of putting
everything where it belongs, and the lack of ReiserFS as a choice during the
install in a separate email).
You have the opportunity to affect a lot of small projects with what you
decide to put on your DVD. And the ability to help steer the direction of
gnu/linux.
Don't include windows programs at the expense of free and open source software
that runs on gnu/linux. If those windows programs are important enough for
windows users, then add a link to your faq page that pops up on the desktop,
or include a readmewindowsusers.html page in a top level windows directory on
the DVD that provides hyperlinks to the download locations for the windows
programs on the internet, or the google search terms if necessary. Windows
users won't have any trouble downloading and installing putty or winscp from
the internet from your provided hyperlinks. But they may have trouble
installing, running, or even knowing about, software that runs on gnu/linux.
And while there are over 10,000 or 15,000 free software apps for linux
available for Debian users, if they aren't on the DVD, they are less likely
to be tried out and used by as many people than if they are included on the
DVD.
ok, actually, it was more than 2 cents. But I had to say it.
Bing.
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On Thursday 12 June 2003 20:10, Klaus Knopper wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 12, 2003 at 11:18:58AM -0400, Scott Patterson wrote:
> > >>>>What about a "Windows" directory on the DVD that contains Free
> > >>>> Software for Windows users as well?
> >
> > After sitting on the sidelines for awhile, I'm scratching my head on
> > this one. If Knoppix is a bootable _LINUX_ distribution (Live CD), what
> > place does Windows software have on it?
>
> Remember, we are talking about the LinuxTag conference CD/DVD here.
> LinuxTag is not only about Linux, but about Free Software in general,
> which includes GNU/Linux, *BSD and also Free Software for other platforms.
>
> The Knoppix-part of the DVD is of course Linux-only. But why not include
> other useful programs that, for example, make it easier for people still
> running Windows to switch, like OpenOffice/Win, Putty and similar?
>
> > There are other projects like the Open Source Software CD
> > (http://pmw.myip.org/oss/) that cover free software for Window's users.
> > I believe Knoppix should focus solely on _LINUX_ software, but, that's
> > ultimately up to Klaus.
>
> Right, Knoppix is (currently) a Linux-System. But the DVD will not only
> contain Knoppix. but also the Conference papers and some other goodies.
> I'm working on the Knoppix part, and forward everything else to the
> other members of the DVD mastering team.
>
> > One other thing to consider is that if you
> > include Windows software, you're going to start getting support
> > questions about it. Please reconsider adding Windows stuff to this CD.
>
> We are already getting all kinds of (windows, too) support questions,
> no matter what we put on a CD or DVD. On of the most common questions
> in my knoppix-mailbox is, btw, "How do I burn bootable CDs under Windows?".
> Honestly, I don't know for sure. I guess there are programs around for
> this purpose, or maybe there is a cdrecord for Windows/Cygwin. There is
> a FAQ, there are contributed documentation files on the mirrors, there
> are forums, and if I can't answer a question, I will just continue
> forwarding (hopefully) helpful URLs to people asking.
>
> I for my part think it is important to show that there is also Free
> Software for other platforms, independent from the operating system
> of your choice.
>
> > Are MAME and MESS on the list of goodies for the DVD? I use the
> > following repository for up-to-date packages:
>
> Is this free software? I guess you would need some kind of game files
> for mame, no? These are probably not public available/non-free. Correct
> me if I'm wrong, please.
>
> > deb http://anarxia.dyndns.org:2180/debian ./
> > deb-src http://anarxia.dyndns.org:2180/debian ./
>
> I would prefer software that is available from the genuine Debian
> mirrors. That way, chances are good that the license files are correct
> and have been double-checked for problems.
>
> Regards
> -Klaus Knopper
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