Rob Owens wrote: > Off the top of my head: > > Damn Small Linux > Puppy Linux > Vector Linux > > I did a search for "lightweight distros" and found some others I'd never > heard of before: > > Feather Linux > DeLi > > Some lightweight distros are lightweight because of the window manager they > use, and the applications they bundle. That won't help for LTSP. We need > to find one that is lightweight based on its under-the-hood stuff (and I > need some clarification on exactly what this entails).
Unfortunately, there's not a document outlining everything you need to do. Best way to really get involved is to hang out on the #ltsp IRC channel on irc.freenode.net You'll find some extremely helpful people in that channel, willing to answer your questions and guide you in the right direction. Jim McQuillan j...@ltsp.org > > -Rob > > On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 09:52:02AM -0800, Jordan Erickson wrote: >> Just a thought, are there any existing projects for any distros for >> 'minimalist' kernels/friends? For example, would we be able to take >> anything from Xubuntu and use it in Ubuntu chroot, without having to >> think about using a completely different distro? >> >> It feels to me like we're trying to backtrack to the 4.2 days, wanting >> to take *complete* chroot control back, and, well, I'm sure there were >> some pretty good reasons to move away from that model (already described >> previously in the thread). Maybe there's a happy medium here that >> involves existing distro projects for older/smaller systems (like I >> said, Xubuntu for Ubuntu being one of the 'minimalist, low power' >> projects) :) >> >> >> Cheers, >> Jordan/Lns >> >> >> Rob Owens wrote: >>> On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 10:35:28PM -0800, Nicholas Metsovon wrote: >>> >>>> You know, this has all been real interesting. I downloaded Damn Small >>>> Linux (DSL) tonight. I have a real old laptop that I've wanted to find a >>>> better way to have it connect to our LTSP server for when I have to travel. >>>> >>>> I tried just the embedded version running on Windows, and it confirmed >>>> that applications on the LTSP server would run just fine using ssh -X, if >>>> I wanted to make some sort of menu system (or a whole bunch of links) to >>>> call whatever programs I wanted to run. And I could even run multiple >>>> programs at the same time that way. >>>> >>>> Then I had the idea to ssh -X to the LTSP server, calling NX client. I >>>> used it to log right back into the LTSP server, and wha-la, I had my full >>>> LTSP desktop! >>>> >>>> So, theoretically, a person could install DSL on some of these old >>>> computers, and upon startup have it call NX (or FreeNX, if you need more >>>> connections and don't want to pay NX for them). DSL didn't ask me for a >>>> password, so when the NX login dialog box shows up, it'd be like the first >>>> and only time the user would be asked to log in. Then, gee, you'd be >>>> connected to the LTSP server very much like a regular LTSP implementation. >>>> >>>> >>> An even easier way is to run DSL in text mode (I believe you type: DSL 2 >>> at the boot prompt), then run X like this: X -query myltspserver >>> >>> That'll give you a full desktop gui from the ltsp server. I have to give >>> credit to Les Mikesell on the K12LTSP list for teaching me this trick years >>> ago. >>> >>> www.thesymbiont.com has a boot stick device which does basically what we >>> have discussed. It loads a basic local operating system, and then connects >>> to >>> an LTSP server, and NX server, a VNC server, etc. It costs money, but the >>> money goes to a company that participates in LTSP development. >>> >>> >>>> Granted, theoretically, you'd have an operating system on the clients that >>>> you might have to maintain; but I think that'd be minimal. (With the >>>> embedded approach, you could probably get away from all of that.) At the >>>> same time, you'd still have all of the advantages of having your LTSP >>>> server as the one machine you have to maintain for software & security >>>> updates. >>>> >>>> >>> I'd just run it off the live cd and leave it at that. >>> >>> >>>> You might have to tweak your DSL gui a little bit if you wanted to do away >>>> with it's menu and desktop, etc. -- but this might not be a bad solution >>>> for some of those old PC's out there. >>>> >>>> One thing - remote sound from the LTSP server didn't work on the embedded >>>> DSL when I ran it. But when you're trying to eek out a little more life >>>> from some really old machines, you might just have to be happy without >>>> some of the bells and whistles. (Forgive the pun, please!) 'Not to say >>>> that one might not be able to overcome that with a little work. >>>> >>>> >>> I agree that not all features are necessarily required for the older >>> clients. I think it's important to provide basic computing needs on old >>> hardware, >>> but things like flash and sound can probably be done without (or at least >>> come later). >>> >>> >>>> It's something to consider... >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> Of course, I'd like to think that there should be a way to take the DSL >>>> image, feed it back to a normal LTSP thin client at boot-up, so it doesn't >>>> even need to be installed on the client, and somehow connect to the server >>>> from it. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> So, Rob, if you have a couple of weeks off, does any of this sound like >>>> anything you'd like to play with? Maybe it could be like an add-in >>>> contribution for LTSP users needing this kind of remedy. >>>> >>>> >>> I'll see what I can come up with. >>> >>> -Rob >>> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>> Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA >>> -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise >>> -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation >>> -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD >>> http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H >>> _____________________________________________________________________ >>> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: >>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss >>> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net >>> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA >> -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise >> -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation >> -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD >> http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H >> _____________________________________________________________________ >> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss >> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA > -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise > -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation > -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD > http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H > _____________________________________________________________________ > Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss > For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H _____________________________________________________________________ Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
