Re: developing a K12 Linux distribution

[Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net>]

Bradley Burnside wrote:
> 
>     I think the best course of action would not be to make your own
> distribution but make a Software Suite.  There are plenty of good distributions
> which are made by highly qualified Linux professionals who develop Linux as a
> full time job, developing a distribution is complex, more complex than we
> probably think.
[...]
>     The idea of a new distribution is very novel at first...but it would end up
> being overkill.  You could probably accomplish the same thing by creating an
> application to install and configure the system for you.  It is an interesting
> idea...this will definitely be something to watch...

I agree with Bradley on this.  We don't want to be in the position of
creating yet another Linux distro (YALD).  Rather, we should be
developing distro-neutral programs that can easily be installed as an
application suite onto any Linux system.  That doesn't get us into
considerations of things not directly related to Linux in education,
things that other people are working on anyway.  We need to focus our
efforts on the educational aspect of things rather than trying to expand
the scope of what we're doing to encompass every aspect of Linux.

Personally, I think that work on modifying the configuration of Window
Maker, the GNOME panel, or [insert your favorite window manager/desktop
here] to make them better suited for the K12 environment (if that's
possible) would be more useful than YALD.

But if you're set on YALD, take a look at
<http://www.independence.seul.org>.  They've already done substantial
work on a new distro aimed specifically at home users.  I'm sure at
least some of the things they've worked through would be very applicable
to a K12 distro.

-- 
Doug Loss                 A life spent making mistakes is not only
Data Network Coordinator  more honorable, but more useful than a
Bloomsburg University     life spent doing nothing.
dloss@bloomu.edu                G. B. Shaw