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SUSE Studio 1.0 Released
apokryphos writes "Novell has just announced the release of SUSE Studio 1.0 — a user-friendly Web service that allows you to create your customized Linux distribution as a live CD, USB, Xen, or VMware image. Users have control over adding any repositories, packages, and files to the distribution. A new user can do the full creation and customization of the software appliance in roughly ten minutes. It also includes a Flash-based 'test drive' service, which allows you to try out your appliance in a Web browser before downloading it."
Oh if she called me Id be there Id come running anywhere Shes all I need, all my life I feel so good if I just say the word SuSE Studio, just say the word Oh SuSE Studio
I'll use the service to make a Fedora 11 clone!
"SUSE Studio is currently available to invited users only. Request an invitation on our user sign in page, and we'll send you an email soon!"
This seems like a big step forward in distro design and customization. The ability to specify exactly what you want included and where you want to run it makes a lot of installations easier.
The time to download a .iso, then install, then add packages and repositories was always a significant portion of any new distro testing/adaptation.
I especially like the ability to get a pre-loaded VMware image, because that is where I test new releases.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
I use sidux with fromiso booting and persistence. While not as elegant as configuring your distro, it allows to make live usb bootable pens/disk with customized settings/documents.
KDE is very promising but needs polish with the 4.3 release. Now here is my request:
Let's focus on making the default KDE install not only beautiful but also functional to the fullest extent KDE allows. In other words, we need meaningful defaults.
I am doing my part helping out with KDE help files.
I have been using this through Alpha and Beta, and it is the answer to many of the challenges I have faced when using tools like Debian's live-helper.
Less need to roll your own solutions to things like setting up repos, setting up a virtualization server, routines to handle changes/versioning (to some extent), storage, etc.
I have used it to pull out some demo environments to land a job (or intimidate the interviewers out of one), and grease the wheels on personal projects - things like a Live environment for Retail POS terminals, a LiveCD that boots into a 68K Mac emulator, and a playground for virtualized IBM s/390 and zSeries hardware with Hercules.
Seriously great tool. Nat Friedman and team have put a tremendous amount of effort and energy into this project, and they continue to be willing and open to lend a hand on IRC.
Hooray! I'd tele-cheers with a beer if I could!
This tool will hopefully end up on someone's short list of major Linux-related innovations of 2009.
1) does it force the use of RPM? Some prefer DEB, or even ebuilds.
2) potential for HyperVM, Virtualbox, etc images? Would be nice to see them.
3) kernels? what about kernels? Can you config your own? How about patches?
If it can't do these, it sounds like it's more of a toy for new comers. Not saying that's a bad thing, it just won't be as useful as I had hoped.
IMO the larger distrobutions, such as Ubuntu and Red Hat, can be even more inuitive to use than Windows. No "advanced" certifications required.
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Wasn't "SUSE Studio" a Phil Collins song?
In my experience, Windows has the largest learning curve of any OS. Just because it is the most popular doesn't make it easy, sensible, or the best.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
first, you can create a bootable thumb drive distro.
second, you can test your distro in a VM on the website. Though resources are limited.
They're using their grammar skills there.
"Stereotypical?"
Anyway, I challenge you to do the same on a Windows machine. As the other reply to your comment says, Windows does not have an easier learning curve.
Maurice Wilkes, debugging, 1949
Now you can go shower, shave, and have something other than bugs and rats on the menu. Trim those nails, too, you look awfully Hughes-like !!
"In my experience" is another variation of the "some people say" opener. It's a hollow attempt to increase the credibility of an upcoming statement. Your experience doesn't carry much weight because we have no idea who you are except that you post on Slashdot. To make matters worse, your tag line suggests that you are a Linux zealot. As such, you will degrade Windows at every possible opportunity in order to promote GNU/Linux. Your "experience" is nothing more than heavily biased opinion.
It's nice to see this come from the Suse folks, sounds like it would be a nice tool for the Suse users/admins that don't want to use something like:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FedoraLiveCD/LiveCDHowTo (which can create another distribution livecd)
The web test drive stuff really looks neat as well.
Have a squat over at the hobo house.
Why has it taken so long for this to exist?
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
One day. Sheer flexibility in licensing and usage. Loading up Windows 7, it doesn't even want to pretend that you might want to dualboot. No repartitioning of existing partitions or anything.
Linux is the equivalent of a contortionist acrobat and Windows is a quadriplegic that makes everyone's life hell if you don't accomodate it's needs just right. Which would you rather marry and hang around all day?
... with Red Hat Developer Studio ? No contest.
... says AC. Now THAT is a credible source of information!
"DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
Then allow me to give you some insight. I'm a Network Administrator at an all Windows workplace. I handle systems running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Server 2003, Server 2003 R2, Server 2008, used to handle Windows 2000 and Server 2000. Handle Windows Domain Controllers, IIS, Office Sharepoint Server (2003 and 2007), Exchange, and MS SQL Server (2000, 2005, and 2008).
On the home front, when dealing with people who are not very tech savvy (take my Grandmother, Cousin and a few others) they have had an easier time using systems running Fedora and Slackware then Windows XP. They use KOffice and Open Office without issue, complain that Office 2007 is too different to be comfortable, complain that MS Office is too incompatible with itself. They are the people who I draw opinions from. I see Windows XP take several minutes to boot on my Pentium 4 and Linux boot in under 20 seconds. My bias, like many others, comes from experience. Linux and Solaris offer the same and sometimes better experience then Windows, and without the price tag.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
It's a hollow attempt to increase the credibility of an upcoming statement.
No, it's an accurate description of where the information comes from.
Your experience doesn't carry much weight because we have no idea who you are
Well, your experience or the experience of Microsoft's paid marketing drones carry even less weight.
To make matters worse, your tag line suggests that you are a Linux zealot. As such, you will degrade Windows at every possible opportunity in order to promote GNU/Linux.
I don't know about him, but I certainly am a Linux zealot. What's wrong with that? Our zealotry is based on experience.
Doing the above with windows technologies is trivial and does not require editing any config files by hand. Windows most certainly does have an easier learning curve when you don't have to constantly resort to doc.
Apparently you missed GPs point. Try posting some actual evidence instead of your anecdotal hearsay garbage.
No, that isn't true. I wouldn't hand a LiveCD to a complete novice, and expect him to install successfully. But, an intermediate user can certainly do so. A novice could get through it, if he were willing to learn as he goes. Of course, learning is a benefit, in and of itself. Once that novice has managed to get his Linux set up, he is no longer a novice, and no longer dependent on the local computer shop that charges a hundred bucks to clean up a virus, or reconfigure the internet connection when it's been buggered up.
I'm afraid that you are either behind the times, or you are helping to spread FUD.
Of course, Linux is NOT for people whose IQ's are smaller than their shoe (or bra) size. I don't think it ever will be. Of course, to be fair, neither is Windows.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
This conversation just sounded like:
No sig for the moment.
Yeah! Who's heard of Red Hat Developer Studio, anyway?
The SUSE STUDIO was available for some time.. I have an account there for quite a while... Now they released version 1.0 but only available through invitation. Anyway it's a good service IMO.
No, you're right. So instead you spend half a freaking hour looking through tabs trying to find the option that you're sure you saw a while back, hoping that it is actually going to fix the problem you're having. Oh, and the forums to get help? They're full of people having the same damn problem and no one has the answer yet. I have yet to have as much problem with a Linux box. Give me a config file that I can search any day of the week.
Better then the forums with lunix zealots telling you to patch the million lines of source code. Searching is useless if you don't know the string to look for.
someone can now develop their own Linux application and use SuSE Studio to create a LiveCD for it. They can pick only the things they need to run their program to create a demo CD or use it as a Live Distro that installs their Linux application with it.
I would like to see someone use it to create a Linux gaming CD with popular open source games on it, to help convert the GameHeads to Linux from Windows. At the very least they can boot the SuSE Studio LiveCD to play the games, if not run it in a Virtual Machine.
When my father's Windows XP computer had problems, I gave him a Linspire 5.0 LiveCD of mine and he was able to use the Internet for email and web access until I could get back to fix his Windows XP problems. But now I can build an SuSE Studio LiveCD with applications he may want to use as well with it, for example he likes card games and plays virtual pool, I could include those on a LiveCD as well as an OpenOffice.Org to work with his documents and a Scanner program to use his All in One Inkjet Printer, Scanner, and Fax machine. Giving him a LiveCD to use when his computer is down until I can come over there to fix it is a good idea, and I might even dual boot Linux and Windows for him as well if he likes it enough.
I am thinking of developing business applications for Linux, and this would be a good way to create a Demo CD or LiveCD with the software on it to promote it. It would have to include a database like MySQL or PostgresSQL with data in it to run the Demo, and then when it gets installed on the system the Database would be read/write and work as an actual install. Doing things that way might help a company decide to migrate away from Windows and consider a few Linux workstations to see how well they run next to the Windows versions. I was trying to figure out a way to make the server end with the database easy enough to install for non-technical people and the LiveCD route may be the way to go.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
And what version of Windows includes a web server and ftp server, and how much does it cost?
Sounds a bit like LinuxCOE, which has been around for a while, and supports a bunch of different distros.
So is the SuSE offering completely FOSS?
Bob
One of our project managers just received his beta login this week and he showed it to me and I have to say it is pretty amazing. He is totally a non-techie type but in one day he had custom ISO's made and deployed (something he had been trying to get another engineer to do for month's). Heck, he even had non-RPM'd tarballs stuffed in there (good for those things you don't quite want to go through learning RPM spec files, but still a temp solution for him).
There is a huge difference between Free as in lack of restrictions and Free as in easy access to sophisitcated features. This is a step in opening access up to the more sophisticated things Linux can do (that OSX/Windows can't do), without uncessary complexity and barriers like command line usage. Linux becoming really 'open' in that it is finally becoming accessible to people of all skill levels.
I'm waiting to try this out. Exciting.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
And what version of Windows includes a web server and ftp server
Wouldn't that be Windows 2003 Server? While it's not my preferred platform, I've been serving a lot of files and pages off of windows for many years, without ever paying extra for the privilege.
I prefer linux, but windows is a decent alternative if you have the money.
I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.
Windows has the largest learning curve of any OS
Would you pass whatever it is you're smoking? I love linux, but denying it has a higher learning curve than windows is hallucination. How about MVS/Z-OS, Solaris, HP-UX, VMS, MPE? You would assert that windows is harder for the novice or even the well travelled geek to learn than these? You be crazy, boy.
I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.
KDE help files.
Yeah, they have a lot to do with advancing KDE 4.3.
If you haven't been doing your part to make Linux 'usable' in your view, what do you think is missing, and why is it beyond your capacity to deliver the change?
Don't you have work to do?
Oh, and who wants things to be painlessly simple? Maybe a Wii is your speed?
http://en.opensuse.org/SUSE_Studio_API
http://susestudio.com/help/api/v1
You can do pretty much everything with curl.
Also, you can export to KIWI from Studio.
I think some of the questions about feature availability, costs, etc. have been answered by Nat & Team, and should be available in channel logs, along with a bunch of other good stuff.
Actually, Windows 2008. The small-business version costs $1,089 and includes 5 CALs. Additional CALs are $77 each.
Great.
Just what we need.
A way to create an unlimited amount of distros.
As if Linux doesn't have enough fragmentation problems already.
I really really don't see any need for this. This screams SOLUTION LOOKING FOR A PROBLEM to me.
Y
something that is by invitation only can be a release.
In the mean time, I'll keep playing with Kiwi even if it does re-boot my system when I try to make a USB version
Small Business Server certainly does. It comes with IIS, and is included in the price.
Windows Vista anbd Windows 7 both include IIS, which includes an FTP server.
This seems like the ideal application for monetizing FOSS. They could easily charge a small fee for this, as you would be paying for CPU/bandwidth costs, and a custom product. It would be difficult for someone to do it for free without a big bankroll, and people distributing the product would not devalue the service (as the service is custom and the redistributions would be simple ISOs).
"Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" -Journal of Political Econom
What's a CAL? Why do I need them? How many do I need? Why do they cost money?
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
At least with a LiveCD a novice can try it for awhile before deciding if it suits his experience level. The idea that Linux is too hard and only for geeks goes away when the user actually uses it, and says "hey I can do this". The only real difficulty in installing, in most cases, is a little knowledge of what is going on with hard drives and partitions. Some distros are easier than others in conveying hard drive setup. This is the only real worry for the uninformed, but as you say it is just as bad if not worse when doing the same thing on Windows.
waiting for ad.doubleclick.net
What's a CAL ?
Charlotte Abigail Lux
Squirrel!
Thanks so much. I love Doctor Who and I have seen this episode but forgot about CAL. It all makes sense now.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Then allow me to give you some insight. I'm a Network Administrator at an all Windows workplace.
[...]
I see Windows XP take several minutes to boot on my Pentium 4.
There's something wrong with your setup, then. I dual-boot between XP and Linux Mint and they both take roughly the same time (around 30 seconds). Seriously, as a professional administrator you should be diagnosing the problems with your home machine's Windows configuration.
Squirrel!
On the off chance that you're serious, it's a Client Access License. It's effectively a user seat via remote desktop. You need as many as you are going to have concurrent user logins to the machine. It's rare that you need more than what the OS comes with. They cost money because MSFT is an evil profit-seeking commercial business who has the nerve to expect to be able to charge people for using their product.
I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.
it is nice, you can make a distro with a predefined your very own background
This looks like it just moves the normal SuSE installer onto a website, why all the excitement?
I've been able to make a "customized linux installation" since...forever because that's kind of how they come.
If you wanted to make a basic template system to install in a few different places, you can already do that with autoyast.
The build and test stage is interesting, but not anything you couldn't do yourself inside of a VM.
What does this service offer that didn't exist before?
Thanks for this informative post. I had some vague idea of what a CAL was so my question was part serious and part to point out the oddity of the idea that you should have to pay extra to use the software 'more' which just doesn't happen in the Linux world.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
1) does it force the use of RPM? Some prefer DEB, or even ebuilds.
Yes, because it produces a openSUSE derivative.
Fortunately, openSUSE also comes with zypper as high level tool. It's quite like apt is a high level tool to dpkg and DEB packages.
For a comparison:
Zypper is also just as fast as apt-get. So it may not be that bad after all. :-)
Secondly the openSUSE build service allows you to search for an insane number of packages in community / addon repositories.
The best way to accelerate a windows server is by 9.81 m/s2
honestly, i'm in windows xp right now and using firefox 3.5.1 and trying to choose the Google authentication doesn't work(don't do anything) and using internet explorer 8 shows an error page telling me that browser isn't supported, well i think i'm gonna give it a try in home using ubuntu and firefox/konqueror.
Slashdot ya no es que lo era!
According to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Information_Services, IIS in Windows Vista only allowed 10 concurrent connections.
I should add, CALs can affect pricing of other MSFT products as well, notably SQL Server. It's also a pretty standard component of pricing other things like CRM and ERP software, where per seat costs are common. We use Perforce at my office, and they are even worse, where it's $700/seat/year!
I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.
Right, you have a problem with Windows because yet another installer (which you downloaded from a completely unknown source off the web) stuffed up the registry, and needs its own particular dll and there was no way to tell that beforehand. Well, no problem! Just figure out which dll it needs, search the web, download and install it (hope it's clean!), then edit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\Current and change value 0x762A63 to (obviously!) 0x77H4B45.
It's easy! Windows: Ready for the desktop!
mirrorshades radio -- darkwave, industrial, futurepop, ebm.
IIS started shipping in XP Media Center edition. It can be had for $110. Getting a version of Windows with a web and ftp server is very easy to do.
If you don't want to buy a more expensive version, you can also simply download a free web and ftp server. There's plenty out there that run on Windows.
Really? Normally, if I have a major problem, a quick Google search of the error message will take me right to Microsoft's support page with the solution.
Or I can do it the Linux way. Where I need to change something, but I can't remember where the damn web server config file is. I know it's in /etc somewhere (due to experience, otherwise I'd really be fucked). Hmm, maybe it's under "web". Nope, not there. Oh, that's right, it's probably under "apache" since that's the server for Linux. Whoops, not there either. Hmm, maybe the process list will give me a hint. Oh, that's right, it's under httpd. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Mind you that I searched for it for several minutes.
I actually had the above scenario happen to me. I don't configure Linux boxes on a regular basis, but I'm not exactly a n00b either. It had just been a while since I'd had to touch one, so it took me a while to find the file. I don't even bother with the GUI config tools under Linux unless I'm working on a machine that's not in the building.
At least with Windows all the GUI programs are in one spot (everything's under Administrative Tools) and Microsoft has plenty of support articles on how to edit the registry (when it's necessary and it often is) and exactly what needs to be changed.
I have seen plenty of forums, for both platforms, with people having the same damn problem and not getting any answers. That isn't strictly a Windows or Linux issue. That applies to every OS.
Are you kidding? With Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003, it practically does this for you. Insert the CD and click on each step. The installer tells you exactly what to do. Open Add or Remove Programs. Click on Add/Remove Windows Programs. Select SMTP, IIS, and whatever else the installer is telling you to do. Finish installing Exchange. That gives you POP3, IMAP, SMTP, synced calendaring, and web.
PHP and MySQL can be installed as msi's. You could install wamp if you wanted. You may have to tweak the php.ini after installing php, but that's about it.
The firewall is turned on by default.
Right-click "My Computer", select Properties, then select "Remote". Click "Enable Remote Desktop on this Computer". There's your RDP. This can also be done via the registry from a system on the same domain logged into by an admin if you know where it's at.
Seriously, I think I've had to hit an actual config file all of once when setting up a Windows server. It's on a regular basis when working on a Linux server. About the only time I need to edit the registry for something like this is to change a port number (for RDP). Everything else can easily be done through the GUI.
Yes, Apache (among others) is available on Windows, but doesn't that require hand editing configuration files? Which is actually what the OP wanted to avoid.
You never asked about limitations.