[clue-talk] North Topic Track

[Brian Gibson]

I'd like to first say despite the low attendance that
Zach did a good job with facilitating the meeting this
past Monday.  I think the fact we went past the
alotted time should attest to that.

To help with the planned topic track it might help if
I explain what I hope to get out of it.   

a) a setup suitable for SOHO use but can scale as
needed

b) a centralized server with optional fail-over. My
biggest pet peave with maintaining a windows network
or any network based on workstations is having to
maintain each workstation individually. 

c) a heterogeneous network that can support terminals
(LTSP) and workstations (Windows, Mac, Linux).  For
the home, I picture network terminals for basic apps
and internet access side-by-side with purpose built
desktops e.g. a gaming rig, PVR front-end.  Dedicated
servers as well e.g. FTP server in a DMZ, PVR
back-end.  

d) single CD installation with preconfigured
best-of-breed services and applications.  Works
out-of-the-box, just add users and permissions.  Think
Windows SBS.  One of Linux's strengths is the plethora
of software available but it's also a weakness. 
Remember most users don't bother or don't know how to
change even their desktop background.  They'll use
what you give them.  Apple certainly did it right that
90%+ of what you need is already included and it's all
seamlessly integrated.  Linux distros tend to install
everything including multiple kinds of the same thing
i.e. different window managers, different term
windows, different editors, different browsers, etc. 
And people say Windows is bloated.

e) web administration (Webmin?).  I want a network
appliance.  Think Linksys Router.  I would prefer
avoiding the command line or config files as much as
possible.  Remote administration is a must as well as
having a way to walk a non-technical person (manager,
significant other, grandparent) through
administration.  A browser is much less intimidating
to a user.

f) Best-practice hardware specification.  The single
CD installation will expect certain hardware to
optimally install itself.  Partitioning should be
automatic (but certainly tweakable).  

g) read-only filesystem?  Devil-Linux is interesting
in that it's meant to boot off of a CD/read-only USB
drive and requires a writable filesystem for those
applications/services that need them e.g.
configuration stored on floppy. 


I've been playing with SkoleLinux
(http://www.skolelinux.org/) which addresses some of
the above but certainly not all of it, and it lacks
the slant for a SOHO environment.  Regardless it was
one of the most painless Linux installs I've dealt
with and it probably has a lot to do with its liberal
use of cfengine scripts.  I plan on bringing the box
to the InstallFest.  Creating a network boot floppy to
connect to a linux terminal server is a very quick way
for someone to get their feet wet with Linux.  I think
it's better than a LiveCD in some respects especially
when you have machines of modest specs by today's
standard.

Monday's meeting was cool to see how easy it is to
roll your own LiveCD.  How hard would it be to extend
that to rolling a new distro?  For example, take
SkoleLinux as a base and customize it for SOHO.


Brian Gibson

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