Re: [gentoo-soc] Online image builder

[Alec Warner]

On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 2:33 AM, Eitan Mosenkis <eitan@××××××××.net> wrote:
> 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?

Provided you are comfortable using putty (or similar) we can provide a
shell account for you if your application is accepted.

> 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