[gentoo-soc] Online image builder

[Eitan Mosenkis]

Hi.
I already emailed a bit about the idea with the potential mentor (solar),
but I thought I'd say hi here on the mailing list too, since I don't expect
to have too much time before applications start going in to hang around the
IRC channel.

The way it looks to me, I'd like to implement the frontend in PHP.  The
first stage would be getting a functional frontend and backend (I might do
that in PHP for code reusability between the two parts, but the backend
language doesn't seem to really matter because it will really just be
deciding which helper programs to invoke) that is usable to generate an
image for the requested arch and with a few choices about packages
installed, etc.

The second stage would probably involve making a two-track frontend - one
for embedded systems use, and one for general/desktop use.  The embedded
system would focus more on base system choices such as various HTTP, FTP,
and other servers and cron/log daemons, while the general interface would
focus on generating an image that would simplify installing Gentoo for a
normal user - think a minimal install CD plus a server-generated script that
would do a lot of the more menial parts of Gentoo installation - offer a
nice checkbox interface to choosing your USE flags, let you preselect common
packages or groups of packages to be installed once bootstrapping is
complete, etc.

I just noticed the new guidelines on the top of the ideas page and I have a
bit of a problem.  I won't have my own computer until around the start of
the program and I don't have access to any linux machine that I could use to
patch a bug and submit it for linking to my application.  Obviously, all of
the tools needed to get the source, make a patch, etc. can be used on
Windows, but I'd really prefer not to try and make a patch without a testing
environment to find the problem and test the fix.  Suggestions?

Also, what am I going for when I link a mailing list post?  Just to show
that I posted on a mailing list, or am I supposed to impress everyone with
the witty rhetoric and astounding community relations skills I displayed in
my post also?

Eitan