Remaster SliTaz or build an OS based on Slitaz

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Remaster SliTaz or build an OS based on Slitaz

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Started 13 years ago by Anonymous
Latest reply from compostela
This topic is not a support question

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Bellard

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Key Master

Let's say you want to:
1- add firefox (and some software already packaged in Slitaz, see http://pkgs.slitaz.org/)
2- add you coolsoft software
3- provide the source of coolsoft

A: create a SliTaz package for coolsoft, see http://doc.slitaz.org/en:cookbook:start
you may push coolsoft in the undigest mercurial repsitory too.
B: Create a flavor http://pizza.slitaz.org/
In step 3 add the firefox package to the list (from available list)
C: Download the flavor
D: extract the flavor : (# tazlito extract-flavor <your-flavor>)
E: in /home/slitaz/flavors/<your-flavor> create rootfs directory
F: copy additionnal files in rootfs (home/slitaz/src/coolsoft-1.0.tar.gz,
home/slitaz/wok/coolsoft/ tree, and installed files of then coolsoft package)
G: in /home/slitaz/flavors/<your-flavor> create rootcd directory and add a README file into.
H: (re)pack the flavor : (# tazlito pack-flavor <your-flavor>)
Congratulation! you can publish the .flavor file to the mailing list!

To build the ISO image:
# tazlito get-flavor <your-flavor>
# tazlito gen-distro

That it !

Posted 13 years ago #
Black Rider

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Regarding the source code issue:

GPL licenses demand you to be able to provide the source code for those demanding.

If you package firefox, for example, you have to ensure that firefox's source code is availible for the version you are using. If it is availible in their web site, then you have to do nothing. If it isn't, then you must keep a copy and have it in your site for download, or otherwise make the public able to get it. The same goes if you include modified versions (patched, rebranded or whatever).

In practice, many upstream authors don't keep old source code in their sites. Take Snort as an example. When a new version of Snort is released, the previous version is thrashed away from their web. This forces you to update your packages or to provide a copy of the old sources by yourself.

If you use Slitaz official packages, Slitaz team has already solved this problem for you.

If you are packaging your software, then you surely have a copy of the source code, so it would be better to save a backup of it so you can provide it to whoever wants it. Having your own channel of sources distribution will save you the headache of finding out which open source apps keep old versions and which do not. Including the source in the iso image is not a bad idea, if the sources are small enough to prevent the iso from growing very much.

Never forget that GPL is not everything you will find. Other free licenses do not force you to provide the source. When packaging closed source software, TAKE CARE! (I say this because of wireless firmware). Many EULAs are stupid, impose stupid restrictions to distributors or allow distribution under some conditions only. You can have legal issues if you do not read their licenses carefuly. That is why you should avoid closed source things as if they where Satan, unless its license is acceptable for distribution. Nvidia's official .run file would be, for example, an acceptable one for me.

Don't take me worng, I'm not a sectarian from the FSF, but many non-free things are extremely unconvenient.

Posted 13 years ago #
compostela

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Member

HOO HAA: I'm no Guru but this is my humble advised. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. What you are trying to do could be done with Slitaz. If you are attractive to an small Linux distro. Slitaz is your best choice. Believe me, I have tried or looked into most of them. That doesn't mean that Slitaz doesn't need more development and polishing. But there is a buzz word among computer people; "tradeoff", which means that there is always pros ans cons in any computer solution. There is never 100% satisfaction. It takes some times to swallow this but that's the way it is.

Slitaz is linux. And Linux is a operating system with thousands of tools to do almost anything you want to do, customize or change. You don't need to be a Guru to do this. UNLESS you are planning to do something very low level, it doesn't make any sense to learn a low level language like C or C++ to do what you are trying to do. There is shell programming,(and other interpreters), that together with the tools, makes the whole system very powerful and flexible. Even Slitaz package manager is done in shell.

In the Unix/Linux universe you ride in the shoulder of other people. You copy from your neighbor. Its not unethical, It is even encourage. You don't reinvent the wheel. Just watch the licenses.

My advise. Don't!! Stay with Slitaz. It's your best shot. From Slitaz "a new os" can be develop by a person like you.

Posted 13 years ago #

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