On 1 May 1998, Jim Pick wrote: > I'd like to see more people announce that they want to develop their > own "subset" Linux distributions based on Debian. I'd be willing to > collaborate on tools to make this easier.
Interesting. I'm starting up an ISP with a Debian focus, and planning to produce configuration-packages which will be added into the local Debian mirror, producing a (barely) derivative Linux distribution. I suspect many consultants and ISPs will begin doing this. I worry about name collisions in real derivatives though. We may need some new policies with respect to derivatives, so we avoid clashes. Off the top of my head: 1) Derivatives are allocated a subdirectory in /opt by Debian. 2) Derivatives should place files only in /opt. Links into the main /usr/bin directories may be made via alternatives and diversions, or perhaps we'll need a third method to manage the merge (adding directories to the default environment seems second-class, and will complicate things for the derivative-users). 3) Derivative package names should start with "[derivative]-". We'll promise not to produce any packages that start with registered derivative names. Package sources that are easy to redirect to /opt would also be useful for producing .debs for non-Debian systems. It would be great to have /opt/debian on Irix (I'm always slipping behind keeping the free software up-to-date on it). Of coure, derivatives would be free to ignore any guidelines. They just wouldn't get much sympathy when things broke. :) > The Debian distribution "proper" may never have more market share than > the commercial distributions such as Red Hat, Caldera, and SuSe. > However, it is entirely possible that derivative subset distributions > of Debian could dominate the Linux marketplace (especially given the > technical superiority of Debian). Maybe. I suspect they'll be niche markets mostly, as the mainstream Debian is such a moving target, and will likely be ahead of a derivative in most applications. It just wouldn't have the focus. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
