On 9/10/07, Dave Miner <Dave.Miner at sun.com> wrote: > Anil Gulecha wrote: > > On 9/10/07, Eric Ray <Eric.Ray at sun.com> wrote: > >> > >> Anil Gulecha wrote: > >>>> It's not clear to me that this needs to be a specific feature. IMHO > >>>> branding should be supplied in packages dedicated to the purpose, and if > >>>> that's done then it's just a matter of selecting the desired package. > >>>> > >>> Is the disto constructor aimed at distro makers(those who make > >>> distributions for large section of the community) or the users who > >>> want to create their own custom/minimal OS base. > >>> > >>> If its the former, then your suggestion is right. > >>> > >>> If it's the latter, then you cannot expect the user to learn how to > >>> create packages. The solution here would be to create another utility > >>> that takes various inputs (Name/logo/etc) and generates the package. > >>> The better option would be to integrate this (at least minimally) into > >>> the distro constructor. So creating a whole new distro is just a > >>> matter of clicking Next>Next>... and selecting various options. Add a > >>> "Built on opensolaris" somewhere in.. > >>> > >>> I'm looking forward to the distro constructor project (as I'm sure > >>> many others are). Branding (even minimalistic) would be a very > >>> attractive feature. I've looked a bit and haven't found any linux tool > >>> that does this (other than RH revisor and Knoppix remastering > >>> projects). "Another great feature in Opensolaris" > >>> > >> +1 > >> > >> I believe the target audience is both the former (distro/derivative > >> makers) and the latter (custom/minimal CDs for various purposes). > >> > >> Karen and I discussed this offline, so she's heard more of my opinion > >> on this than she likely wants to hear ;-) Fundamentally, I agree with > >> your comments, Anil. Moreover, of the ~5 different people/groups that > >> I discussed this project with last week, ALL wanted to be able to > >> rebrand, and most only wanted to make minimal changes to the distro > >> proper (e.g., adding a couple of packages and information files, > >> rebranding, shipping/distributing). > >> > >> I'd say that the minimal desired rebranding features would be: > >> * Replace desktop background image > >> * Add symlinks to Desktop linked to arbitrary files/URLs. > >> * Reset default Firefox homepage > >> > > > > * Grub startup image is another visible component. > > > > Regards, > > Anil > > > >> For minimal changes, I do think it'd be nice to be able to get there > >> without having to overhaul packages manually. > >> > > I will stand by my assertion that branding needs to be consumed by the > Distro Constructor as one or more packages. That doesn't mean they have > to be hard to construct; to the contrary, I would expect a tool to be > built or imported which will make it easy to do so (and I expect that > construction of packages will be much easier under the new system than > the existing SVR4 process, anyway). Whether that tool is something the > Distro Constructor project should include is a fair question to discuss, > but let us agree that packages are the basic unit of delivery. > > Dave >
Either solution should be agreeable, as long as branding isnt sidelined as an "additional" feature and is looked into as a "required". It has the potential of attracting users unlike any other. Regards Anil
