Hello From Corel, was(Re: Strategic Alliance Between Corel, KDE and Debian)
Hi Everyone,
My name is Dave Neil. I'm working on the Corel Linux OS.
I would like to comment on what we at Corel will be doing with regards to joint
development with Debian. To help do this I'll respond to Mark's message.
Mark Phillips wrote:
> I just received the Debian announcement about the alliance between
> Corel, KDE and Debian. This is potentially a very good thing for
> Debian. It may pave the way for a much wider acceptance of Debian ---
> via the Corel linux distribution --- and ensure Debian maintains its
> influence on the direction of the linux movement as a whole.
>
Yes we do hope this is the case. Debian certainly deserves to be in the forefront of
the Linux
movement. As far as an alliance, it really has two parts, Corel is working with
Debian on the OS side, and with KDE on the desktop. It in no way implies that Debian
is aligned with KDE.
In fact if Debian chooses to work with GNOME great, because perhaps that will be of
benefit
to us down the road as things evolve who knows?
>
> It seems Corel will be developing tools which make it possible to do
> close to fully automated Debian installation and system management.
> Presumably this will be a combined effort and that the resulting code
> will be GNU licenced.
>
Yes we will work with Debian on this to come up with a GNU/GPL'd installer if you
wish.
As far as system management tools that will be our next step, again if you wish.
>
> Two questions come to mind.
>
> 1. How is this work to be integrated with current package management
> efforts like gnome-apt? What would be nice is installation software
> that allows one to have as little or as much control over the process
> as one desires --- and the same for system management software. If
> Debian can work with Corel to develop such a system, based presumably
> on apt, then Corel can use the "low control" part of the code for
> their distribution, and at the same time, Debian will have increased
> the versatility of their installation software. The danger I forsee
> is that perhaps the Corel development of "easy to use" package and
> system management will occur separately from Debian package and system
> management development --- in which case Debian will gain only little
> out of the deal. That is, we will gain an alternative, "user
> ultra-friendly", management scheme, but we will be forced to choose
> between this and the normal Debian offerings and of course we will all
> choose the latter. How much better if collaboration with Corel could
> be used to develop all-round better installation/system management
> software --- one which allowed every shade of grey between "user
> ultra-friendly" and "user ultra-configurable"?
>
Your absolutely right. We intend ,should everyone involved with Debian agree, to
jointly develop
those types of features. Though at times we may differ slightly in our vision of how
these things may act and look, we will work with Debian to reach a consensus on
design. Our present proposed model which will be explained shortly, is designed for
flexibility, thus allowing Debian and Corel to choose what they would like to include
or exclude from the final program(s).
>
> 2. How does this collaboration fit with the gnome project? Presumably
> this collaboration means a significant aligning of Debian with KDE?
> Sure Debian will always give one the ability to choose between the
> two, but if much Debian development work is done based around KDE, it
> would make KDE the natural choice. Are the KDE and Gnome projects
> opposed? Or are they pursuing different goals --- in a way that would
> make it possible to take the best from both worlds?
The easy answer to that is not to "require" either of those in the final build of our
programs, but rather allow "either" to run ontop of our joint design.
Debian will be able to do a GUI install based on what they choose(GTK?)
and we'll do ours based around KDE/QT2. The underlying setup engine would be UI
independent. This way perhaps the Debian and Corel installer would be truly
a solution for anyone wanting to have a GUI install using whatever front end they
wish. As for other features the same concept could be followed.
I can honestly say that the Corel Linux team wants to work in an open environment,
and work to help both Debian and Corel. As far as what Debian chooses to use or
not ,hey that's your choice and we'll respect that. I really hope we can work
together and
help to better an already great distribution further. It will be in our interest to
make sure Debian continues to be the success it already is.
There is the question of Corel DeskTop Linux and what it will be.
How will Corel DeskTop Linux differ from Debian?
Well it will be different on the surface and it will NOT be a better Debian .
It'll have a KDE based desktop, it'll have some of our applications, it may have
other stuff thrown in. But we'll gladly say to potential users,"If our distribution
doesn't fit your needs try Debian".
You should also know that we will not break the standards that Debian has developed,
such as the Debian policy, etc. Anything we might add will be discussed with you and
adhere to the Debian policy guidelines. We are not going to set our own standards
independent of Debian.
To us Debian is the foundation onto which we will build our distribution..and you
don't mess with foundations.
If anyone one has any issues with this please feel free to email me at
davidne@corel.ca
Hope we can all work together .
Thanks
Dave
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