Foresight Linux is the exception.

Now, this isn’t because they don’t WANT to have a Live CD…they do.  The problem is that rPath, the creators of rBuilder Online, have discontinued the Live CD image creation type.

There was no announcement…no news posting…no clue dart thrown toward Foresight for this discontinuation.  There was only a comment on a single bug in the rPath issue tracker just this past May…Formally discontinued…which in my opinion, is a HUGE mistake as far as community goes.  Why? Because a community is a solid base on which to stand for any distribution or toolset for open source.  rPath has essentially dismissed a feature that the community would find valuable and in the process alienated anyone who finds this feature valuable or desirable.  But I’m not here to talk about whether or not people want to develop their own distributions on rBuilder Online using rPath tools nor the incentive to do so…I’m talking about Foresight. 

So, what incentive does rPath have to help Foresight by fixing it?  Not much…I’m sure there will be those that argue: “rPath has customers and their first allegiance needs to be to them” and those people would be right.  But can’t the Foresight community pick up the torch for Live CD building  on rBO and develop it as a community effort?  Can’t a license be found that it can be released under that would prevent forking?  Can’t it be modularized as a ‘plug-in’? I don’t pretend to know the answer to those questions…I just think that Foresight will continue to suffer as they have been for many, many months now with respect to not having a Live CD.

I’m sure that there will also be those out there saying “but Foresight has a bunch of Virtualized Images to choose from!! No one really cares about a Live CD!!” and I’d say you’re halfway correct.  Developers don’t really care about a Live CD…but those that Foresight attempted to attract…the end user…they DO care about having something they can ‘try before they buy’.  It is my belief that Foresight would be a crap-ton more popular if they had a Live CD.

So What Solutions Are There?

I don’t think rPath will suddenly fix the broken Live CD creation in rBO.  I don’t think they’ll release the code anytime soon (though this is more likely than a fix).  So in the meantime, what if Foresight helped out with LiveCD project that recently was taken over by Unity Linux?  Both Unity and Foresight are Red Hat like distributions and use similar file structures and OS organization.  I think that if Foresight were able to integrate LiveCD onto the distribution, a huge niche would be filled.

Where to Start?

Being involved both with Foresight Linux and Unity Linux gives me a unique perspective on what areas of collaboration could be developed.  One thing is for sure…having both distro development teams onboard would be a huge boon to LiveCD development…and Foresight could suck in SRPMs quite easily from Unity to hit the ground running right away.

I am by no means offering to be the head of this project because I can’t even begin to know where it would start or finish.  I’m just offering a workaround to a problem I’ve seen Foresight have for longer than it should have.  I know the Unity Linux guys would welcome anyone wanting to get involved with helping LiveCD development.  Would Foresight be open to this?  I can’t answer.  I hope so…Foresight needs a Live CD if it hopes to attract more people to it…and that’s something I’m keen on seeing.  Is this something you’d like to see as well?

Foresight, rPath, LiveCD, and Unity Linux originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on October 14, 2009.

IMHO, a Live CD is about trying out Linux…not just rescue functions or data recovery. It’s about being able to run an entire operating system as read only from your CD-ROM. It’s about showing the power that Linux has. It’s about having an entire desktop with all the eye candy fixins in sub-5 minutes to attract new users. In a sense, it is a “try before you buy”…in this case download. It’s about detection, installation, configuration, and automation. While Knoppix does a good job on this…actually it wrote the book on it…there are those distributions out there that now PUMMEL Knoppix in detection. Two that come to mind are PCLinuxOS and MEPIS.

I figured that PCLinuxOS would be the major player at this years members choice award…mainly for the reason that it really advanced this year at distrowatch.com. In 2003, it was 44th. In 2004, it skyrocketed to 9th. That’s the fastest moving Linux distribution that is currently being tracked by Distrowatch. So, when I read Knoppix as the choice…I was surprised. Then I thought about it for a minute, isolated the real problem, and became a bit ticked off.

This isn’t about choice and it definately isn’t about a Live CD…it sure isn’t about the best. It’s about the most popular. Unfortunately, this is becoming the ‘in thing’ for open source. Linux has become chic. Well, maybe shabby chic. Nonetheless, Linux has arrived mainstream and brings entoe all of the things (good or bad) something that goes mainstream will bring with it.

When open source first got its start, there wasn’t a huge following. There were a few people posting at BBS’s and Usenets or chatting on IRC that co-developed applications and handy software packages across the net. Fast forward to today’s society. Processor speed has gone through the roof, bandwidth/download speed is no longer an issue, and information is available at the speed of point-click.

Now, Linux has become a ‘cool thing’ to run and use. I picture Adam Sandler in Billy Madison saying, “Everyone knows that running Linux is the coolest” and everyone answering, “if running Linux is cool, then I’m Miles Davis!”. This is what really gets my goat…that there are people out there running Linux because its cool or because it’s the ‘in thing’ to do and for no other reason. These same people flock to forums or IRC channels and post, “My Amarok thingie won’t work! I played my Brittney Spears song on it and it doesn’t work anymore. Help!! Must hear Brittney Spears..X!!!X<!X!)OO!” If they dignify a response at all it takes at least 3 reformations of the question before anyone can isolate their real problem…which usually comes out to be operator error.

Yes it is good that Linux is popular…it is good that open source is popular. This doesn’t mean that all things are “right as rain” though. It means those that are true to open source have to sift through the BS and make sure that they are supporting their choice for the right reasons. It means that those of us that support our choice need to stop ourselves from jumping on the bandwagon that everyone else is hopping on.

Some of you might be asking, “Well, what about Firefox…everyone hopped on THAT bandwagon and look at it!” Yep…it’s doing great. Now how many open source projects can do what firefox did? How many did it before them? Now you should understand what I’m getting at. If you support a distro and get caught up in the mix with those that are there just because its cool…then that will blind and maim intentions and directions. A distro or open source project must stay true to itself and not allow itself to become a prada bag or gucci tailored pants…that was never and isn’t the intention of Linux…and it isn’t and never will be the intention of the GPL…let’s face it, prada and gucci aren’t free.

So the YayHoos will be out in full force touting X project as the best…pouring their “wisdom” about like a salt shaker dropped on the floor. Unfortunately, this means that for all the good and knowledgeable people that use Linux, there will be just as many evil idiots that do as well…bah, they don’t even need to be evil…they can just be idiots and cause the same problems. The only thing positive I have to say about it is…at least they’re running Linux…so they’re only half of an idiot…but for some, that is more than enough.

That’s my two cents…stay true to yourself and your choice and don’t buy into the hype.

Why I Hate Mainstream originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on February 8, 2005.