Zach Welch
2003-07-08 11:42:50 UTC
Hi all, (please direct replies to the appropriate list)
Here are some initial goals that we need to achieve:
* LWESF and Short Term Goals
* What's Happening
* That Darn Paper
* The Relese Date
* Transtional Release - for developers only
* Tree Layout - Subversion team should report soon
* Porteus - release requires tree layout decisions
* Rsync system - needs finished porteus
* Legal matters - copyrights, bylaws, usage policies, etc.
= LWESF, Short Term Goals, and The Release Date =
As The Zynot Foundation will be attending the LinuxWorld Exposition in
San Francision in a little under four weeks, we have very little time to
prepare something to hand out in our booth.
While it would be highly desirable to have something ready, I want to
make it clear that I am not interested in pushing this project forward
any faster than it will go in order to produce something for that show.
That said, I feel that we certainly could produce something by then, if
even discs must be made right at the show (that would not be a new
experience). Even so, I would rather see that opportunity passed by if
we are not fully ready for it; it will still be a good show without CDs.
== What's Happening ==
First, we must have something to use for development. While that could
be a simple clone of the old Gentoo and portage, that would immediately
impose numerous painful restrictons.
As such, Jon Nall is making some rather significant changes to the
system to allow for multiple tree support, and completely documenting
the API while he is at it. This new version, dubbed Porteus by its new
caretaker, will serve as a transitional implementation.
These changes will take time to stabalize, but even then, there exist
fundamental reasons to rewrite the system from the ground up. This
rewrite will be done using C/C++, and it will aim to be the best
specified and designed package manager ever - all before a single line
of its code is ever written. Porteus will help guide our way.
== That Darn Paper ==
I have nearly completed my new software management paper; if it's timing
is any indication, its scope and lenth should provide a clear idea as to
why it has taken me so long.
Certainly, I hope its process will work better for determining our
releases than my own attempts have been to determine this paper's
readiness. On both accounts, I have stopped guessing for now - only time
will tell.
== The Release Date ==
Everyone wants to know when we will have our first release. The answer
is obviously, "it depends."
If I had my way, all releases using Porteus would be considered
developer releases; the new distribution will not be 1.0 worthy until we
have a new package manager, built from spec from the ground up. That
notion might get me in trouble (by Jon, at least), so I'm also willing
to consider making that Porteus 2.0 instead.
In either case, the initial releases will not be The Release. They will
be Development Previews, or whatever you would like to call them. We
will not have an "official 1.0" release until a whole lot of things come
together, and it might even continue to be premature to talk about a
release date even at LinuxWorld Expo - again, time will tell.
If you're still wondering when we'll have something, despite this clear
warning of the impending problems that need to be worked out, read on.
Replies to preceeding sections go to ***@lists.z.o.
= Transitional Release Cycle =
Our immediate need for the community is a transitional release -
something that allows our users to move fairly easily from Gentoo. We
need a foundation for the bridge we must build over the river between us
and the next big milestone - our new package management system.
The path from here to there is a very long one, but we have already
started and I have a good idea about where we're going. If you'll give
me the time, I can both draw us a map and help lead the way.
== Tree Layout, Porteus, and Rsync Mirrors ==
In order for the new developer community to begin contributing to our
new distribution, we need put some key ingredients in place. The final
mix has yet to be determined, because of a few unknowns:
1) We need to determine the best CVS/SVN tree structure. This is a
non-trivial design problem, but we have some of our finest minds working
on the problem (so I hear). I am expecting a summary to arrive on the
lists Real Soon Now. We can move quickly to deploy a new server, which
should be ready and on-line at OSU tomorrow afternoon.
2) Our new package manager, porteus, is still under heavy development,
and some aspects of its implementation will remain incomplete until the
tree layout issue is resolved. Of course, Jon Nall will keep us
appraised on the status here, and his wiki page has some of his estimates.
3) With the above accomplished, we need to provide an rsync system for
updating our mirror sites. I have come up with an improved system for
mirroring our trees that should scale much better than Gentoo's previous
methods while also providing opportunities for better (and easier)
security. I have not put my thoughts into the wiki yet, but this delay
has allowed the ideas to grow into something even better since we don't
yet have something to mirror. Stay tuned.
Replies to this section go to zynot-***@lists.z.o.
= Legal Matters =
Before we can proceed with any release, we must be sure that we have
cleared up all potential legal roadblocks that might otherwise get us in
trouble. I have another mail on its way to the zynot-law list to help
try to address some of these immediate concerns. This includes copyright
notices, documentation licensing, and other non-development but critical
tasks and other details that must be carefully examined.
There are numerous individuals working on these matters, and I would
like to see a new ZynotLaw wiki page create to organize the process.
This should be structured something like the following:
ZynotLegal <-- general overview, with links to sub-pages
ZynotLegal/Copyright <-- general over view with links to:
ZynotLegal/Copyright/SourceCode <-- source license and idioms
ZynotLegal/Copyright/Documentation <-- content license and idioms
ZynotLegal/Bylaws <-- with appropriate sub-pages
ZynotLegal/Policies <-- sub-pages give details
ZynotLegal/Policies/WebSiteUsage
ZynotLegal/Policies/IrcUsage
ZynotLegal/Policies/WikiUsage
ZynotLegal/Policies/MailingListUsage
ZynotLegal/Policies/PrivacyPolicy
There are probabaly more sections I've missed, but these are good ones
to use to start.
Replies to this section go to zynot-***@lists.z.o.
Cheers,
Zach Welch
Zynot Foundation
Here are some initial goals that we need to achieve:
* LWESF and Short Term Goals
* What's Happening
* That Darn Paper
* The Relese Date
* Transtional Release - for developers only
* Tree Layout - Subversion team should report soon
* Porteus - release requires tree layout decisions
* Rsync system - needs finished porteus
* Legal matters - copyrights, bylaws, usage policies, etc.
= LWESF, Short Term Goals, and The Release Date =
As The Zynot Foundation will be attending the LinuxWorld Exposition in
San Francision in a little under four weeks, we have very little time to
prepare something to hand out in our booth.
While it would be highly desirable to have something ready, I want to
make it clear that I am not interested in pushing this project forward
any faster than it will go in order to produce something for that show.
That said, I feel that we certainly could produce something by then, if
even discs must be made right at the show (that would not be a new
experience). Even so, I would rather see that opportunity passed by if
we are not fully ready for it; it will still be a good show without CDs.
== What's Happening ==
First, we must have something to use for development. While that could
be a simple clone of the old Gentoo and portage, that would immediately
impose numerous painful restrictons.
As such, Jon Nall is making some rather significant changes to the
system to allow for multiple tree support, and completely documenting
the API while he is at it. This new version, dubbed Porteus by its new
caretaker, will serve as a transitional implementation.
These changes will take time to stabalize, but even then, there exist
fundamental reasons to rewrite the system from the ground up. This
rewrite will be done using C/C++, and it will aim to be the best
specified and designed package manager ever - all before a single line
of its code is ever written. Porteus will help guide our way.
== That Darn Paper ==
I have nearly completed my new software management paper; if it's timing
is any indication, its scope and lenth should provide a clear idea as to
why it has taken me so long.
Certainly, I hope its process will work better for determining our
releases than my own attempts have been to determine this paper's
readiness. On both accounts, I have stopped guessing for now - only time
will tell.
== The Release Date ==
Everyone wants to know when we will have our first release. The answer
is obviously, "it depends."
If I had my way, all releases using Porteus would be considered
developer releases; the new distribution will not be 1.0 worthy until we
have a new package manager, built from spec from the ground up. That
notion might get me in trouble (by Jon, at least), so I'm also willing
to consider making that Porteus 2.0 instead.
In either case, the initial releases will not be The Release. They will
be Development Previews, or whatever you would like to call them. We
will not have an "official 1.0" release until a whole lot of things come
together, and it might even continue to be premature to talk about a
release date even at LinuxWorld Expo - again, time will tell.
If you're still wondering when we'll have something, despite this clear
warning of the impending problems that need to be worked out, read on.
Replies to preceeding sections go to ***@lists.z.o.
= Transitional Release Cycle =
Our immediate need for the community is a transitional release -
something that allows our users to move fairly easily from Gentoo. We
need a foundation for the bridge we must build over the river between us
and the next big milestone - our new package management system.
The path from here to there is a very long one, but we have already
started and I have a good idea about where we're going. If you'll give
me the time, I can both draw us a map and help lead the way.
== Tree Layout, Porteus, and Rsync Mirrors ==
In order for the new developer community to begin contributing to our
new distribution, we need put some key ingredients in place. The final
mix has yet to be determined, because of a few unknowns:
1) We need to determine the best CVS/SVN tree structure. This is a
non-trivial design problem, but we have some of our finest minds working
on the problem (so I hear). I am expecting a summary to arrive on the
lists Real Soon Now. We can move quickly to deploy a new server, which
should be ready and on-line at OSU tomorrow afternoon.
2) Our new package manager, porteus, is still under heavy development,
and some aspects of its implementation will remain incomplete until the
tree layout issue is resolved. Of course, Jon Nall will keep us
appraised on the status here, and his wiki page has some of his estimates.
3) With the above accomplished, we need to provide an rsync system for
updating our mirror sites. I have come up with an improved system for
mirroring our trees that should scale much better than Gentoo's previous
methods while also providing opportunities for better (and easier)
security. I have not put my thoughts into the wiki yet, but this delay
has allowed the ideas to grow into something even better since we don't
yet have something to mirror. Stay tuned.
Replies to this section go to zynot-***@lists.z.o.
= Legal Matters =
Before we can proceed with any release, we must be sure that we have
cleared up all potential legal roadblocks that might otherwise get us in
trouble. I have another mail on its way to the zynot-law list to help
try to address some of these immediate concerns. This includes copyright
notices, documentation licensing, and other non-development but critical
tasks and other details that must be carefully examined.
There are numerous individuals working on these matters, and I would
like to see a new ZynotLaw wiki page create to organize the process.
This should be structured something like the following:
ZynotLegal <-- general overview, with links to sub-pages
ZynotLegal/Copyright <-- general over view with links to:
ZynotLegal/Copyright/SourceCode <-- source license and idioms
ZynotLegal/Copyright/Documentation <-- content license and idioms
ZynotLegal/Bylaws <-- with appropriate sub-pages
ZynotLegal/Policies <-- sub-pages give details
ZynotLegal/Policies/WebSiteUsage
ZynotLegal/Policies/IrcUsage
ZynotLegal/Policies/WikiUsage
ZynotLegal/Policies/MailingListUsage
ZynotLegal/Policies/PrivacyPolicy
There are probabaly more sections I've missed, but these are good ones
to use to start.
Replies to this section go to zynot-***@lists.z.o.
Cheers,
Zach Welch
Zynot Foundation