[clue-talk] new Distro

[Brian Gibson]

I wish you luck.  If you do plan on optimizing for PII and PIII class machines I hope you recompile the kernel for those machines rather than distribute a generic x86 kernel. 

I can see how this will differentiate itself from DeLi Linux (which targets 486) but how will it be different from something like, Vector (other than Debian vs Slackware)?  For these light distros, I agree with DeLi Linux's philosophy in maintaining it's own repository and handpicking the software that's included rather than piggy-backing on something upstream.  

If a distro's goal is supposed to be light it's silly to include access to software that will slow the system down, unless you have a sufficient way to inform the user that that's what's going to happen.  For example, there was nothing preventing me from installing the Flash plugin on my Xubuntu PIII 700Mhz laptop, but boy did I regret it afterwards when it brought it to a crawl.  It would be cool if package managers had a bit of intelligence in order to check your system's specs against the system requirements of a piece of software.  With DeLi Linux that's not a concern because the repository is very limited.

As for icons, you're probably better off defaulting to one of the more popular icon sets like Nuvola, Crystal, or Tango.  I believe all of them include the color palettes for extending the icon set if you need to add something custom, like say a branding icon.  

----- Original Message ----
From: Patrick P <parspe at hotmail.com>
To: clue-talk at cluedenver.org
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 6:46:37 PM
Subject: [clue-talk] new Distro


 I am working on a project to create a lightweight Linux workstation distro for older hardware, mainly PII and PIII machines. The goal is a functional desktop with easy installation and configuration. This is not a LiveCD like damn small linux but a complete installation distro which uses IceWM for the window manager. All of the applications from Debian stable are available post install for those who need additional software. We could use a little help with testing and a few details if anyone has time or wants to.
 Deb-Ice is a customized Debian distribution uses apt for package management and the 2.6 kernel. Deb-Ice simplifys the process of installing Debian on an older machine. Currently we just have an installer which uses the Debian repositories. Once we get to version 1.0 we will release an iso for offline installation. The IceWM window manager is installed along with a selection of applications for everyday use, most of which are selected for low memory usage, although familar applications such as a Mozilla browser suite are also included for those who would rather use them. We are working on getting together the needed graphical configuration utilities as well. It is a desktop workstation distribution to simple functionality and performance on older hardware.
 Basically everything is together but we need to make sure nothing important is missing or see if anyone can think of some other applications that need to be added. Things we need help with include:
* testing sound, printing
* Getting together some information (documentation and HowTos) about getting these things working for the distribution. 
* There are a few broken pieces of software lying around that we would like to get included if anyone that can program in C++ or C would like to work on. These are basically just configuration utilities which are missing. debian packaging expertise would also be helpful here.
* We could use some prople who are good with graphics to create icons for the menu items, which are not completed yet.
 
 Website is still under construction but can be found at http://icelinux.net If you would like to help out Just send me an email if you want to help out and then download the iso
https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=203391
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