a crackpot idea i had

[Jim Conner]

Good idea Dennis!  Here's my thoughts.  Sorry for the length.

Well, I started with OL2.3(for a month or so) and went to eD2.4, I'm now 
running a modified version of W3.1.  There were quite a few things I liked 
about eD2.4 and some I didn't, especially after it got very dated.  I've 
noticed that there are some core libs and programs in W3.1 that are quite 
dated and need to be updated to install anything else.  Granted, I can 
install the tarball and get it working, but for a novice it's easier to 
install a RPM package to do this.  I'm running older hardware(P200 w/ 64mb of 
ram) and if I tried to compile KDE3 or some such large compile, it would take 
days.  I'd like a distro that was current and stable with all major programs, 
libs and the kernel, and kept up with making rpm packages for major programs. 
 These can be on an ftp site, yes I know about the soss ftp site for Caldera. 
 Also, it puts files where they make sense, using LSB and such standards.  
I've been using linux for over 2 years and have a decent grasp on most 
things, but I still look at linux distros as a decent desktop alternative.  
I've been contemplating on changing distros and Suse sounds tempting.  I'd 
like to try out Gentoo, but not on my production desktop.  Personally, I 
think we need to start a list of the features/programs/whatever and go from 
there.  Here's my $0.02 and a start of the list.  Please feel free to 
comment.  This is in no certain order, just in the order it came to mind.

Desktop edition(someone more qualified can comment about the server edition)
- Strict adherence to LSB and FHS and other standards so it's attractive for 
3rd party software companies.
- Latest stable kernel
- Latest stable compiler and libraries
- Latest stable XFree86
- Latest stable KDE, Gnome, xfce, and other popular window managers(optional 
install on each)
- Latest stable Mesa, SDL, and other 3D graphics stuff
- Latest stable iptables
- Latest stable grub & lilo(option on which to install)
- Good firewall on install, easy for a novice to setup correctly on 
install(well, most novices)
- Only the services/daemons turned on that the user wants turned on during 
install.
- Easy, understandable install.  A modified Lizard would be great.
- Support for ext2, ext3, reiserfs, xfs on install
- Latest stable OpenOffice
- Latest stable RealPlayer & Flash
- Good gui admin tools (like COAS2 and webmin)
- ncurses admin tool (like the old coastool in eD2.4)
- Optional install of Opera and Mozilla
- A personal finance program such as Gnucash & KMymoney2(or some such)
- Scribus or such for Desktop Publishing
- Include at least one well known 3D game that works out of the box as an 
optional install.
- Latest stable Python/ TCL/TK /Perl and other needed development languages.
- Latest stable sendmail(and option clones), Apache, bind and other daemons.
- Good gui firewall tool.  One that novices can understand without having to 
know iptables inside and out.  Experts can write their own using vi.
- Good set of printed manuals.  Useful for novices to experts.
- Good detection of hardware on install.  eD2.4 had this and would install on 
almost anything.  Granted some hardware had to be setup after install, but 
you had a working install to upgrade & configure.
- Good working packaging system.  Be it rpm, apt or portage.  One that works 
and is easily understood by novices, preferably with a gui front-end.
- KConfigure installed for those that want a good gui to compile tarballs.
- Ability to install on a minimal 486 to the latest/fastest processor.  Would 
tell user that installing KDE3(or latest) isn't a good idea on a 486 with 
16MB of ram and give some good options.
- Latest stable sane(and supporting scanner software/libs).
- Latest stable(devel if necessary) pda, digital camera support.
- Working CDRW/DVD on install.
- Latest stable pcmcia libraries for ease of laptop install.
- Included in printed documentation and on .txt file on cdrom is a list of 
where to go for help.  A list of web sites, newsgroups, mailing lists, 
chat-rooms, etc.  and a list of good web sites such as freshmeat, 
sourceforge, newsforge, linuxtoday and such.  Some novices don't have a local 
expert to consult and end up stumbling on to such things after much 
frustration.

After Install
- Create packages of all major programs/libraries/whatever for each of their 
stable releases.  These can be put on a FTP site such as Caldera's soss site. 
 I know other distros have similar.
- Have good marketing and advertizing.
- Communicate with the users regularly about upcomming releases and beta 
testing.
- Keep up on various security notices and release patched packages as needed. 
 Most distro's do this.
- Have a market presence(i.e. boxed editions in stores like Suse, Mandrake 
and Redhat).
- Affordable corporate tech support for the average person.
- Minor releases every ~6 months and major releases every 1.5-2 years.
- Ease of user to upgrade(via downloading packages) to each minor release.
- User may have to purchase/download iso for a major release depending on 
expertise.
- Ease of user to upgrade to a new major release with a cdrom either 
purchased or downloaded.

This is all I can think of for now.  I'm sure I'll think of some later, 
unless someone beats me to it.  Please feel free to comment or break my 
points down into sub-points.

Jim
-- 
 
 11:42am  up 7 days,  1:03,  3 users,  load average: 0.17, 0.17, 0.11
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Running Caldera W3.1 - Linux - because life is too short for reboots...