[K12OSN] Fedora 9 Live LTSP Server, Beta 1

[Warren Togami]

Hey folks,

Below is a LiveUSB or LiveDVD image containing Fedora 9 LTSP server and
the client chroot pre-installed and pre-configured.  This is the easiest
way to get started with Fedora LTSP5, or to try it without installing
onto your hard drive.

Simply boot this Live image and follow the simple README, and you can
within minutes demo serving of thin clients.  You can also install onto
a hard drive to create a permanent server.  It is all surprisingly
self-explanatory once you have booted to the Desktop.

https://fedorahosted.org/k12linux/
LTSP on Fedora 9 w/ Updates is currently considered to be production
ready, and development of improved features continues rapidly.  Check
out our homepage for the latest news and updated instructions.

Download
========
http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/ltsp/beta1/i686/
This image is based on Fedora 9 w/ Updates as of August 8th, 2008.  It
seems to work great for me in limited tests.

How to Use LiveUSB?
===================
https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator
* From Windows you can use LiveUSB creator to make a USB stick bootable
containing this Live image.  From Linux, within the ISO is the
livecd-iso-to-disk script which you can use in Linux to make a bootable
USB stick.  It is highly recommended that you use a persistent overlay
file of at least 900MB because this reduces the amount of memory needed
for your demo.  For this reason you should have at least 2GB free on
your USB stick (~920MB image + 900MB overlay).
* LiveDVD works, but is not recommended unless you have at least 2GB RAM
for your demo.
* Be warned that serving clients from a Live image will eat up your
overlay and RAM rapidly, causing the demo to eventually fail.  It should
be fine for a number of client logins.  You should install to your hard
drive if you want to do more than just a quick demo.

FAQ
===
1) Why is this not called K12LTSP?
It is the plan for Fedora LTSP5 technology to be the successor of Eric
Harrison's highly successful K12LTSP distribution.  However we had
planned on changing the name to "K12Linux" to be friendlier sounding and
easier to pronounce when people explain it at educator conferences.
Unfortunately the naming issue remains a bit uncertain because we have
not yet received ownership of k12linux domains from the current owner.
Warren's fault for getting busy and forgetting to follow up in past months.

2) Is this the only way to install a Fedora LTSP5 server?
This Live LTSP Server image is only a convenient way for new users to
get started with Fedora LTSP5.  Note that it is always possible to
enable LTSP5 on any existing Fedora 9 server by following the
instructions on the above homepage.

3) Why not LiveCD?
LiveCD was not possible because we simply cannot fit Server, Client and
apps onto a single disc.  If all you have is a CD drive then your
hardware is unlikely powerful enough to serve as a LTSP server.  In any
case you should be able to install from the LiveUSB without dealing with
discs at all.

Release Plan for Fedora 9 Live LTSP Server
==========================================
If we do not run into any serious problems, I plan on doing a Release
Candidate ISO spin on Thursday, August 21st.  If no problems are found
with the RC image, then it will be redubbed as "final" without any changes.

I hope to get Fedora branding onto the login screen, and the naming
issue straightened out before this release.  Delays in the final release
may occur due to this branding stuff.  In the mean time, this Beta 1
spin seems to work well for me.  Please give it a try and let me know.

https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/k12linux-devel-list
Please send questions or comments to the k12linus-devel-list.

Warren Togami
wtogami at redhat.com