Re: [K12OSN] perhaps a radical idea

[Quentin Hartman <qhartman lane k12 or us>]

On Fri, 2004-01-30 at 09:55, Jim Hays wrote:
> While I agree with some of your points about commecial distributions (which
> Fedora is not not one), I disagree with the idea of turning K12LTSP into a set
> of "scripts" that you can put on top of another disctibution.

> Here is a case in point:
> 
> A couple of weeks ago, several "Tech-Geeks" (http://www.tech-geeks.org) gathered
> at a small grade school in a small town in SE Illinois.  We installed K12LTSP in
> their media center lab to "recover" some older hardware (and release them from
> the grips of a certain software company).  The tech person at this school is not
> a Linux "geek".  If she had to add scripts to the top of a distribution, she
> never would have agreed to, nor convinced her sup't to agree to, trying K12LTSP.
>  There are many more tech coordinators in schools that have NO Linux experience
> that there are who have Linux experience.  The ones that I know with Linux
> experience at all gained that experience from trying K12LTSP.

I think you misunderstood my idea, or the more likely case, I did not
express it clearly enough. Making scripts that are aware of various
distros installation methods and config file locations would allow
K12LTSP to be easily installed on any distro. It would:

1-Fetch the appropriate packages using that distros package management
system
2-Install said packages
3-Configure said packages 

So that once the script has run you end up with exactly what you have
now.

> Having K12LTSP as a complete package - tied to a particular Linux distribution
> with the simple install - is EXACTLY what makes it palatible to many people.  

I agree that this would reduce the impact of tossing in a few CD's in a
computer and having a terminal server magically appear, but even that is
adressable.

> K12LTSP is a great project as it is.  It has legs.  It is growing.  (I know that
> I convinced my Sup't to increase the number of K12LTSP clients that we are
> runnign for next year.)

And that is exaclty why I think that the direction that the project
takes needs to be carefully considered. It is quickly becoming more work
than what one person can handle. And let's face it, this project is
almost exclusively the fruits of Eric's (and the LTSP group's) efforts.
Because it is growing and is likely to continue to do so, making it feel
more like an application than a distribution will greatly simplify
support of it down the road. I position this as a long-term strategy,
and would never suggest that we just throw away what has been built.

<snip>

> If you are enough of a Linux guru to add the LTSP pacakges to the top of Debian,
> or Gentoo, or Mandrake, that is wonderful.  Most people who use K12LTSP would
> not want to do that.
> 
> Please let me keep my simple, Fedora, install.  
> 

See, that's the thing, the packages that K12LTSP consists of already
exist on most distros. All that would need to be done is the custom
configs to get it all setup into the cohesive system that you see now.
You can keep your simple fedora install, ultimately what I am proposing
would take, at most, one more step. 

> I think I read this somewhere:
> 
> "It works. It's free. Duh..."

And positioning this as an "application" that can be used with many
distros will help ensure that those things remain true, and also make it
so that the whole community is not thrown into a spin again on the whims
of one upstream distro provider.

-- 
   -Regards-

-Quentin Hartman-

Academic Computing and Networking Services Coordinator
Fern Ridge School District 28J
Elmira, OR
Office: 541-935-2253 x429
Cell: 541-914-2989
qhartman lane k12 or us
www.fernridge.k12.or.us