Truly excited today, yes I am.
Shane and I get to buy and configure our prototype equipment today. The goal of this project is to have a simple Linux distribution that does six simple things well. In addition, it will be specialized to the resort rental community in that it will restore itself every Sunday night between rentals.
Since the code will be GPL, LGPL, or some other license, there’s no harm in identifying the ideas behind it:
The Five Simple Things:
Like Cobind, Contigo strives to make the best available choice to serve a specific function. This decision is made only because of the intended audience of the product, not because some anti-choice bias. The system is going to be used by folks that want a few simple functions and a high speed connection. The goal is simplicity.
- The five simple things are:
- Internet
- Instant Message
- Office Functions
- Play Music
User Interface:
Right now it seems that IceWM will be the window manager with Rox-Filer as the File Manager. Seems an odd combination to be sure, but the configuration of ice is just too simple to pass up.
I really like the idea of being able to use Alt+Tab and other shortcut keys and the goal is to preserve that. Its also intended to have the ability to search for files, but without the hugeness are resource requirements of nautilus (which I still love).
Another thing on the design scope is a detailed set of help documentation. It is hoped that considering my background in software training, that this documentation can be high quality, useful, and a model for other open source end-user documentation. This documentation will be step by step in three modes: graphics-based, text-only, and flash demonstrations. As time permits, there will even be a ‘sandbox’ for training so that end users can practice their skills without harm to the system.
Users will also have a simple graphical program to install new software, if they wish. However, to increase speed and control the envornment for future users, Contigo will install it’s own local yum repository, updated on Sundays during the restore process mentioned earlier. If individual users want to access others repositories, then they can set that up, but only for the week that the user is staying at the rental property.
Under the Hood:
Eventually, the system will all be compiled from source. First, its going to start as a customized Fedora(R) system, then a stage 1 gentoo(tm) install, and then finally a compile from source. The gentoo(tm) and source compiles will take advantage of the consistent hardware in all the computers. For now, the hardware may vary.
There’s more to come, but that’s the shape of things for now. Visit our company at Clerry Computers to get more details. Nothing yet, but who knows what the future holds.