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."

Comments

Nice except....

[praseodym]

"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!"

Easily in the Top 5 innovations

[itomato]

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.

Re:Some questions

[houghi]

1) does it force the use of RPM? Some prefer DEB, or even ebuilds.
It is SLE and openSUSE based distro's so yes, you will be best to use RPM.

2) potential for HyperVM, Virtualbox, etc images? Would be nice to see them.
You can make USB, ISO, Xen and VMware Virsual Machine images.

3) kernels? what about kernels? Can you config your own? How about patches?
This builds the image, not the software. You can point it to any repository you desire, so if you make your own repository with the kernel in it with e.g. https://build.opensuse.org/, you can use it.

What it does is 'just' make an image.
Some screenshots I have made here: http://houghi.org/susestudio/

Updates and patches will be gotten from openSUSE or Novell or somewhere else if you point it somewhere else.

Just go to http://susestudio.com/ and click on the "Watch a screencast" or go to http://susestudio.com/screencast for two more movies that explain just what and how things work.