From: dna@nntpxfer.psi.com (James Botte) Subject: Pre-Announcement (was Re: MWC response to UNIXWorld article) Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1993 00:22:25 GMT
Well, I guess it is time that I actually piped up... I am involved with
a group that is currently working on *yet another* Linux distribution (sigh)
In article <12100z-250293140044@kip-sn-16.dartmouth.edu>
12100z@d1.dartmouth.edu (Tom Buskey) writes:
> Let's see, Coherent has the following advantages over Linux:
> 1) Commercial support
> 2) Printed documentation
> 3) Easy installation process
> ... stuff deleted ...
> It's be nice to see an O'Reily Nutshell handbook on Linux come out. I'm
> sure there'd be a market for it. Even a boxed set of thier Unix books that
> would be of interest to Linuxers w/ a small book explaining Linux specifics
> such as partitioning, installation, and other quirks. This would be a nice
> step towards #2.
> How about the FSF making a bound volume of Linux documents available? It'd
> be nice for those of us w/o laser printer (& time to print!) and could
> bring in some money to support the FSF.
> And #3 could be solved by a company along the lines of Cygnus. They could
> sell a basic kit that included a Linux distribution, some printed
> documentation, and some support. $99 dollars seems a reasonable price if
> they provide the level of support that MWC does. This could be a real
> opportunity for someone.
> ... more stuff deleted ...
Well... since no-one has ever hit things quite this closely... nothing
has been said because it will be a while yet before *anything*
happens... but since talk is beginning in this direction I imagine that
I should make myself known. But please keep in mind while reading this
that nothing is currently available and that things are currently at a
standstill and that this is a "pre-announcement" and as such is SUBJECT
TO CHANGE OR CANCELLATION WITHOUT NOTICE ;-) as the saying goes. Pure
vaporware at best... but hopefully entertaining...
My name is James Botte and I am a partner in a Canadian company called
The Ottawa Advanced Software Group. We have been using and closely
following Linux since 0.12 and have wanted to do a release exactly as
you have described for a year and a half. I am the driving force behind
the project, so due to the fact that I have been on a contract from hell
in Paris (France) since last March (12 hour days, six days a week sort
of stuff for eleven months now), very little movement has actually
occured. But I am heading back home at the beginning of April and pretty
much everything is in place to get the ball rolling with "the plan".
Our /plan/ is to put together a distribution of Linux that is all of the
things you described above... literally, a nice box (for retail),
software (on disks, tape, or CD-ROM), a User's Guide and Reference
Manual, an Installation Guide, and one year telephone and on-line
support -- and our target price (retail price after going through the
the standard distribution chain) was going to be (gasp!) $99.95 Canadian
(which is about $80 U.S. these days??? I haven't been following since I
have been over here -- it's about 500 Francs w. shipping included).
We hope to try our hand at writing an installation procedure that can be
run by the worst MSDOG trained technophobe without causing too much
stress, and we are looking at the code to find out what needs to be done
to make it strictly (with extensions of course :-) POSIX compliant so it
might be palatable to the govt. I am writing (or possibly editing) the
User's Manual and Reference Guide, which will *not* be a "Nutshell type"
book (I agree that O'Reilly or someone really should do something like
that though!!!), but a User's Guide with lots of tutorial information
and a pared down Reference to get average computer users up and running
(if you need detailed information, there are always the man pages). For
those that do not have laser printers or the desire to tie up their
printer for a week to print out all of the excellent detailed on-line
documentation available, we are hoping to be able to provide
professionally printed and bound versions of these for ordering (those
that are copylefted only of course). If there is any interest, it is
possible that we could get this rolling the day I get back to Canada (we
will probably be able to accept certain credit cards as well -- which
would be our only advantage over the FSF because our versions would
probably be more expensive than theirs... see below).
And to tie things up, we want to do this in the Cygnus style:
professional distribution and support, and using it as a vehicle to
generate funds for the FSF and the Linux project. We intend to donate a
certain percentage of the profits to the FSF and via cash or equipment
to directly support Linux development (we haven't figured this last one
out yet... what do we do? ship everthing to Linus and let *him* figure
out what to do??? Maybe all you developers out there should form a Linux
Developers Cooperative or something :-). As for the GNU manuals, what we
would like to see is the FSF getting the same number of $$$ from each
sale of one of our versions as they would from distributing it
themselves... but this would mean that our versions would probably be
more expensive than theirs... but, as a service company, hopefully it
would be worth the extra couple of quid. Also, and this should go
without saying (but just in case), any software work that we do would be
fed back into the Linux development effort.
How's that for a /really/ well rounded *vaporware* package, eh? Now the
trick is to actually do anything... [ah, and we come up against the hard
reality of the situation :-].
Please do not post any responses to the net (unless they really are of
general interest), I can be reached at the above mail address until
March 31st, 1993 (after which time, I'll be getting my own in the great
white north), and will summarize if anything interesting comes my way.
P.S. Anyone seriously interested in getting involved???