PROPOSAL: Core redefinition

Michael Favia garbage at insitesinc.com
Tue Jul 27 18:21:51 UTC 2004


Alan Cox wrote:

> There are two things that convince me that shrinking it below the 4CD
>
>size we have now is not worthwhile
>
>1.	As several people pointed out DVD images are becoming the normal
>	thing now
>  
>
Yes. Eye toward the future and i agree. But now that most users (is this 
true? at least everyone i know) have to download their DVD/CD set from a 
bittorrent instead of purchasing it in a shrink wrapped box i think the 
"byte weight" of the distribution is more important then it has been in 
the past.

>2.	Providing we keep the situation where you can download CD#1 and
>	do a minimal install the extra CDs are not a drag on broadband
>	users. The tools would benefit from some better group understanding
>	but thats a separate issue
>  
>
I agree with your analysis here in fact this has been my MO for the last 
3 fedora releases. My suggestion however is this. Reduce the size of the 
first CD as much as possible. Instead of making the last CD 350 megs 
make the first one 350 megs. Put only those packages on the first cd 
that are required of a "minimal" CLI based  install or functional 
spartan "basic desktop install" (gnome, x.org etc). IMO the first cd of 
the set should provide only what is required to get both an advanced 
user (CLI based minimal) and a beginner user (X/Gnome based basic) into 
the driving seat with network connectivity and functional system 
devices. The additional downloads that are acquired through yum install 
or apt-get will use far less bandwidth and make more functional sense. 
Obviously anyone without network connectivity can still use the entire 
set of cd's.

First CD contains:
* Basic system and device functionality (kernel, device management, 
cups, everything like that)
* Network connectivity (including yum/apt)
* X.org and Gnome desktop (possibly KDE if it isnt a huge size hit but 
if we are embracing gnome as our desktop of choice then i think it is 
acceptable to put KDE on second CD with xfce and others as popularity 
dictates)
* Basic accessory set that emphasizes our "first choice" for the 
functionality (e.g. gThumb and not eye of gnome, GAIM not aMSN, etc)
* Others I am leaving out that you can think of. The point is small 
while still useful to both power users and new users.

Remaining CD's are assembled like so:
1. Order the applications from most popular to least popular (based on 
installed base or download numbers from various RPM repos)
2. For each most popular package add the dependencies then proceed to 
the next most popular package until you fill up each cd. (exceptions can 
and should be made if it makes sense)

That way the most popular applications are available with a minimal 
amount of extra CD downloading. As the ease of dependency resolution 
increases and YUM and apt become more popular everything along these 
lines just makes sense for the casual users and powers users alike. 
Maybe this will allow the let's drop KDE argument to disappear. There is 
no reason (short of compatability work which i now nothing about) that 
you cant keep it on the other cd's. That way the most popular 
applications are available with a minimal amount of extra CD 
downloading. As the ease of dependency resolution increases and YUM and 
apt become more popular everything along these lines just makes sense 
for the casual users and powers users alike. Please let me know what you 
think.

--
Michael Favia
Insites Incorporated
<www.insitesinc.com>






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