Most, if not all, top distributions of Linux ship a live CD that allows an end user to preview the operating system without installing it.
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?
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