New Commercial Linux Distro Based on Debian

We got a press release in the middle of the night touting Linux by Libranet, which is "based on the world acclaimed Linux release by Debian." They go on to say "Up to now the Debian distribution was a viable choice mostly for software developers and technical people. The Libranet release now brings Debian to the desktop, making it available to users with little or no Linux experience." Wouldn't it be just as easy to get an experienced friend help you install "pure" Debian and go from there? This robably won't be the last one of these we see, though.

Comments

Warning, another CITYOT* response

[rcw-work]

Call it the year of the Debian clones.

For years, Debian has maintained that it would be better for a developer to fork the distribution if you don't agree with them in a key political area (for example, the DFSG). However, it seems Corel was the only one who forked for this reason (Debian wouldn't have accepted wordperfect .debs into non-free without written permission that anyone -- like, oh, our mirror administrators -- can redistribute them).

Perhaps:

1. these other developers would just like their own sandbox to hack around in? This seems to be the case with Stormix, the developers have been associated with Debian for quite some time and the relationship between Stormix and Debian is fairly amicable.
   
2. they want to make and sell their own branded commercial distribution? (this would include both Stormix and Corel)
   
3. they want the fame of having their very own distribution?
   
4. some part of debian has become technically or politically hostile to them and they wish to fork because of that?

If it's #1, the best case would be to have the changes from their modifications put back into Debian itself, then everyone profits.
If it's #2, more power to ya.
If it's #3, sorry, you're going to be another also-ran.
If it's #4, then communication with an aspect of the Debian project has quite possibly failed. Typically these things can be worked out and a concensus reached, unless it's one of those things that just isn't open for discussion (like the DFSG). And there are a LOT of things you can do without being a developer (for example, take a look at http://master.debian.org/~wakkerma/bugs/, nail a few of them, and email patches to nnnnn@bugs.debian.org)

I'm sure there's lots of other reasons too. Whatever they are, more discussion about them couldn't hurt.

Re:Yet another distribution?

[bmetzler]

Instead of making more distributions and trying to have something better than another, why not focus on a few, rather than 30+?

That's right! I wish more companies would take that advice, especially car manufacturs. I mean, really, a sub-compact car is a sub-compact car, right? Why should we have 3 dozen different models of sub-compact cars, each with their dozen different options.

As I read somewhere "linux will kill linux".

Having so many model is killing the sub-compact car market. People are going back to horse and buggy, for heavens sake.

With this many distributions, there are really no standards, and will cause many problems in the future.

With every sub-compact car having its own peculiareties, its no wonder buyers are becoming disillusioned. Every engine is different, every dashboard is decided customized in placement, even the door locks are different. It's a real shame. Don't you think that buyers would be much more receptive if they had the choice of perhaps 2 or 3 models of a sub-compact car, and that even those models agreed on placement and engine type?

There's my two cents.

Mine too.

-Brent
--

Commerial Linux

[silvwolf]

It's all fine and dandy that a company is trying to make money off of Linux. Free enterprise and all that good stuff. But I don't quite get the point of this 'distribution.'

I really don't see anything that comes with the package that doesn't already come with a free distribution. It says you can download WP for StarOffice, big deal. I can do that with RedHat.

Our system includes window managers, word processing, spreadsheets, image processing/viewing, video and sound software and a selection of games, utilities and productivity tools. Also included is a variety of internet tools including browsers, mail, html editors, and streaming video and audio.

Isn't all of this stuff included on a RedHat CD that you can get for next to nothing from some online vendors? Mayber their installation process is somewhat easier (though a RH 6.1 ftp install was pretty simple for even me) than other distribtuions. Everything listed in the overview section of the site is avaliable free elsewhere, with the exception of the tech support (but that's what the HOWTO's and IRC channels are there for).

I don't see anything new with this company's distribution. They just see a way to make money off of the booming Linux marketplace.

Or maybe I'm just way off base here and am totally missing the point. . .

An experienced friend?

[Otter]

Wouldn't it be just as easy to get an experienced friend help you install "pure" Debian and go from there?

Just as easy? Maybe, if you're a 19 year old CS major. I doubt if the majority of people out there, or even of people likely to become new Linux users, have such a friend. I mean, I'm a scientist and have lots of geek friends and I don't know a single experienced Debian user.

Why does Debian has a hard-to-install reputation?

[Kaa]

First, I don't think that all that much attention should be paid to the ease of installation. Generally, a person who is not able to install software on a machine will not be able to use it properly. Besides, you install once an OS once, and then use it for years. Ease of use (as in updating, tweaking, etc.) counts for much more in my book than polished and chrome-laden install scripts.

Second, Debian was my first Linux (and, generally, the first Unix) that I installed and I didn't meet any insurmountable difficulties. As far as I can recall, the only problem I had was in configuring X (X-based tool got confused, but a terminal-based config program worked perfectly well). I have no clue why Debian is considered to be "for-geeks only" distribution.

Kaa

I asked Libranet what this distro was about...

[William Tanksley]

I asked Libranet what this distro was about, and they said that the main thing they changed was to take dselect out of the install and instead give apt-get a list of things to install.

IMO, this is WONDERFUL. These people are adding a lot of value to Debian in general by putting up a first-rate website with responsive service and nice general Linux propaganda.

Add to that the fact that they don't seem to want to create their own code fork, so they'll always be able to keep up with Debian (and vice versa).

I appreciate all that Corel's doing, but in a very real sense they _have_ to do it to make their proprietary system work. Libranet is in a sense much more in line with what Debian needs, because every minute of service they provide is a direct service to Debian itself, rather than some being a service to Debian and some to WordPerfect.

Of course, again, I like what Corel's doing. I just wanted to point out that these guys have their heads screwed on straight as well, and they're actually MORE useful to Debian.

-Billy