On Thu, Jun 14, 2012 at 2:42 PM, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky
Going forward, I proposed a three-layer strategy.
1. Switch to a Debian-like model for servers. Have a stable server core (kernel, bootloader, installer, LAMP stack, PostgreSQL, Perl/CPAN, Ruby/Rails/Sinatra, Python/Django and WebYast). This should look like Debian stable except a *lot* smaller. It might even fit on a 220 MB LiveCD and certainly should fit on a CD. Release this only when it's solid and stable and supply security and bug fixes via updates. This should be something that can compete with CentOS, Debian stable and Ubuntu Long-Term-Support in level of available support, documentation, security, performance and stability. Bonus points for a Platform-as-a-Service like Cloud Foundry's MicroCloud or Red Hat's OpenShift Origin. But don't have a fixed "release schedule" - release when all software quality gates have been met.
I can go over to SUSE Studio and build the media - minus the PaaS - in half an hour. I'm guessing nearly all of the QA and release engineering can be automated using existing infrastructure if we reduce the scope to the most commonly used and mature server stacks and change the commitment / social contract to Debian stable's "we will ship no distro before its time." ;-)
I just released this - "Core Stable Server". It has more than I think is really necessary but the only components I'd be willing to take out at the moment are Django and the documentation. The ISO image weighs in at 311 MB. If taking PostgreSQL and WebYast/Rails out gets it down to 220 MB it might well be worth doing, since you can install anything else you want / need over the Internet using zypper. In any event, I think a small-scope solid server stack with performance, security, documentation and support equal to or better than what you'd get from any other community distro is a worthwhile endeavor. http://susestudio.com/a/RQrRBY/core-stable-server I'm going to take a stab at building a VM with the equivalent media using the 12.2 repositories and the NET install CD just to see what happens. -- Twitter: http://twitter.com/znmeb Computational Journalism Server http://j.mp/compjournoserver Data is the new coal - abundant, dirty and difficult to mine. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org