Creating a Debian derivative (WAS Re: Some of the parameters used in my genisoimage command don't produce a bootable ISO image).
[Title of the mail changed to reflect a new subject and topic following
the suggestions in the FAQ and mailing list code of conduct.]
Forwarded to the list as I sent this only to Mario by mistake.
On Mon, Oct 17, 2022 at 06:29:45PM +0200, Mario Marietto wrote:
> Hello to everyone.
>
Hi Mario,
> I'm building my debian derivative distro not for business purposes,but to
> be useful to someone. Maybe I will ask for some money as a donation,but I'm
> not even sure. When I will have created the first stable version,I will put
> it in my github with all the scripts that I have added inside the ISO
> image.
Money isn't really the issue here.
Don't forget about the need to comply with licences on distribution of
source and so on. Do track _exactly_ the changes you make from Debian -
it will help you enormously.
> I've read the guidelines and I've asked for clarifications to the
> legal debian department. They seemed to be very open in relation with the
> Debian logo usage,because it is open source,contrary to that of Ubuntu /
> Canonical and so I've chosen Debian.
See also the Debian trademark guidelines: https://www.debian.org/trademark
> Since my goal is not to earn money,I
> put the emphasis on the name of "my" distro,but at the same time I kept the
> word Debian inside. It does not seem that this behavior is against some
> rules. What do you think ?
You do need to chat to the trademark folks - Debian is usually fairly open
but it is important to get it right. Debian holds trademarks in the US, EU
China and Japan as a minimum. https://www.debian.org/trademark#trademarks
> I'm not using a complicated preseed file. I'm
> using more configuration files ad hoc for the goal that I want to achieve
> (to create a debian distro ready for passing thru every nvidia gpu which
> work out of the box + various tools for achieving that goal and some
> premade configurations to use different kind of virtualization tools).
You need to be very careful indeed that you can distribute all the code you
need to do this: you may also need to talk to Nvidia to work out how to get
them to distribute firmware updates and so on to you.
Likewise for the visualisation tools - many of these are proprietary and you'll
need to be able to distribute these to your users and also be absolutely clear
that distributing them together on the same media doesn't upset any of the
individual vendors.
> I
> want to share the project with you,also. When I am satisfied,I will put the
> first ISO on my github + all the config files added and I would like to
> know what you think about it. To be honest,the Debian representative that
> I'm talking with does not reply fast and he / she does not seem to ask a
> decent amount of details.
I think you need to check really clearly what the references on the Debian
wiki give: I think you need to think carefully about how much you want to
commit to this. If it didn't involve debian-live AND non-free code, I'd
suggest that you talked closely to others about making this a Debian Pure
Blend. As it is, I don't think that's an option.
There's a lot to do as well as you possibly can before you can pass the
results of your work to a single user, I'm afraid. Debian-legal folk will
respond but you may need to be absolutely clear in your own mind exactly
what you're doing and the extent to which your learning curve will
get steeper to produce the solution. You may also want to talk to folk who
Ot you're doing and the extent to which your learning curve will
get steeper to produce the solution. You may also want to talk to folk who
are already building and distributing distributions based on Debian-live.
Distrowatch.com may help - LWN's distribtion's page is now almost a year out
of date - but both of these may provide pointers to others who've done this
before you.
With every good wish, as ever,
Andy Cater
>
> Il giorno lun 17 ott 2022 alle ore 13:47 Thomas Schmitt <scdbackup@gmx.net>
> ha scritto:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > David Wright wrote:
> > > they are no longer Debian logos. You
> > > should give names to your edited files that indicate what they are:
> > > /your/ images for /your/ derivative. Add them to the archive and
> > > change the symlinks there.
> >
> > I found
> > https://wiki.debian.org/Derivatives/Guidelines
> > which Mario Marietto should check.
> >
> > Naming of files is not mentioned, afaics.
> > But there is much emphasis on not using "Debian" in the name of the
> > "business". This demand applies to various software packages and artwork,
> > too:
> > https://wiki.debian.org/Derivatives/Guidelines#De-.2FRe-branding
> >
> > I wonder whether a preseeded Debian Live ISO constitutes a derived distro
> > and Mario Marietto's preseeding project qualifies as "business".
> > The changes of which i know use an official Debian mechanism to shorten
> > or hardcode the installation process. The Live personality is completely
> > unchanged, afaik.
> >
> > So for now the only non-Debian thing is the title
> > "BridgeVmOS Debian Custom"
> > in
> > https://ibb.co/GHHDQ3H
> > It looks like a project name and thus could be regarded as "business".
> >
> > I wonder whether a title like
> > "Debian , preseeded by BridgeVmOS"
> > would be ok.
> >
> >
> > Well, before following the Guideline advise
> > "Consult the DebianProjectLeader meanwhile on a case-by-case basis"
> > Mario Marietto should probably list the changes in his ISO towards the
> > original ISO. I know of:
> > - Introducing a preseed file.
> > - Changing logo files in the initrd.
> > - (Packing up the ISO with xorrisofs options which are equivalent to
> > those currently used by Debian Live, as far as boot capabilities are
> > concerned. But Debian could move to other layouts for booting.)
> >
> > Such a list could then be the base of decisions.
> >
> >
> > Have a nice day :)
> >
> > Thomas
> >
> >
>
> --
> Mario.
Reply to: