SEUL: Project Independence

[Roger Dingledine <arma@mit.edu>]

Project Independence is another linux distribution project, working
towards roughly the same goals we are. They're based on RedHat, and
have been doing a lot of work on finding and packaging useful
applications (similar to seul-dev-apps). They're not as concerned about
licenses, so they're focusing more on the KDE/Qt side of things.

Where SEUL is currently taking a top-down approach (making the world
a better place for an end-user linux distribution that will actually
reach the masses, through linux core standardization, linux advocacy,
contacting potential commercial developers, etc), Independence has been
taking the bottom-up approach of actually sitting down and creating
packages. Hopefully the two projects will merge somewhere down the road,
once some more work has been done on each side.

--Roger

***************************************************************************

Project Independence: Linux for the Masses

Rationale: 
__________

A system accessible only to a minority will remain a minority OS.

* Project Independence believes that this is not an acceptable fate for Linux.

* Project Independence aims to make Linux accessible to people with
    little computing experience.

* Project Independence aims to bring Linux to the masses.


A Call For Action:
__________________

*	If you want to make Linux usable 
*	If you favour a pragmatic approach 
*	If you believe in the bazaar model 
*	If you are unhappy when you are unable to recommend Linux to
	friends and relatives, 
*	If you want to act upon it

	Go straight to
				http://independence.dunadan.com/

ANYONE can help. You needn't be a programmer. We need:

-- 	Foreign language speakers 
--	People to test and review software 
--	People to contribute to the web site 
--	People to help make RPMs. 
--	People to download and test our packages.
--	People to do all kinds of other odd jobs.
--	Programmers are still welcome (-: 


> Goals.
_________

(0)	Project Independence believes in providing something useful from
day 1, as prescribed by the philosophy of the bazaar development model and
by our desire to be useful to the LINUX community.  True to our beliefs, we
have made a (skeletal) web site and a (skeletal) software repository
containing a selection of software targeted at the home user. The immediate
goal is to refine both the web site and the repository, and carefully prepare
the packages for our target audience.

The web site is intended as a focal point and a front end to our
software repository providing access to user friendly software for new
users. This, we hope , will save them from many of the frustrations
that beginning users frequently encounter (and which can lead users to
give up in frustration). We want to meke easier for them to find what
they need thanks to our site. We want software packaged by us be
easier to install than when got from the original site.


Independence package software with the user in mind. The
goal: simple plug and play solutions requiring no post installation
configuration from the user.



(1)  Having built a good repository, the next aim will be to build 
metapackages containing software tuned for interacting together and a
configurator. We aim to provide users with comprehensive  "solutions":
A networking solution, a graphics solution, a games solution, etc. 
our target audience don't want to surf the web for new software to
install, they want to install something that works, and then simply
use it. 

(2)   The next step will be replacing the installation routine in
existing distributions with a refined product.  With this step we
will have a complete distribution.


Project Status
______________

Currently, the "Independence Distribution" is a Red Hat 5 Distribution with
the extra RPMs we have added (though we also build libc RPMs compatible
with Caldera, SUSE, and Red Hat 4). We have a preliminary web site and a
software repository. 

Conclusion:
___________

As Linux is becoming more visible to the public, the growth potential is
now greater than ever. The time is right to help Linux fulfil its
potential as something that can be experienced by the masses. All
interested parties are invited to
 
http://independence.dunadan.com

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