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David Corbin wrote: |
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> |
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> I've considered the idea of a custom distribution to do this. There is no |
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> doubt in my mind, that any such distribtuion would be based on an existing |
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> one, with tweaks that deal with where updates come from, and what packages |
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> are availble, etc. Gentoo or Debian are the two likely candidates. I'm not |
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> *sure* a customized distribution is appropriate. |
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There's an excellent reason why Gentoo is seriously leaning towards |
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calling itself a "metadistribution". Look into tools such as catalyst. |
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You can build LiveCDs for installing into a known-good environment, |
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"Stage 4" archives that require minimal configuration after |
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installation, or even (since, as you mentioned, the targets fall into a |
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few distinct categories) full disc images on (a) local staging box(es) |
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and simply image everything across to the targets. If you're |
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uncomfortable with having a production system loaded with gcc, portage, |
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and such, you can build your own "releases" locally, and simply batch |
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update the targets when convenient. The images built by catalyst are |
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*not* required to contain portage or the portage tree. |
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Portage and catalyst are *very* powerful tools if you look into their |
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depths. Rsync and friends used in conjunction with a local staging |
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system can IMO make maintaining such a system incredibly easy. |
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Yes, I'm available for consulting. :P |
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-- |
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