Oh snap! I have the honor to officially announce a new distro: Netrunner!
This is something that’s been cooking for a while now and we are finally ready to serve it up to a hungry world!
Highlights
Here’s the bullet points:
- Based on Ubuntu
- GNOME
- Includes Wine by default
- No Mono
- Some QT/KDE apps by default
- More you, less them
(More) In Depth
So, the basic idea is to build on top of a “de-corporatized” Ubuntu: we want to capture the strong parts of Ubuntu while being able to explore some areas that stock Ubuntu won’t go, and maybe “un-do” a few questionable decisions.
This first release – n1, codenamed “Albedo” – is a very basic starting point where we can get our tools and starting infrastructure in place, gauge interest and welcome others, clarify our goals and prepare for the 10.04 release of Ubuntu as the foundation for the next Netrunner release, n2.
On a personal note
This is an exciting undertaking, and a bit scary because I know nothing about putting together a distro! Fortunately we have top men working on it now! Who? TOP. MEN.
I invite you all to help us shape Netrunner into a great distro, and I especially welcome pointers from those with experience!
We’ll have more details later, but I wanted to get the announcement out there today while it is still March, rather than tomorrow!
Linkage
#1 by Rahul Sundaram on April 1, 2010 - 4:58 am
Do we really another Ubuntu derivative? Fedora doesn’t include Mono apps by default and has a growing KDE community you could have been part of
#2 by Jason on April 1, 2010 - 6:37 am
Rahul,
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
First off, I have much love for Fedora – it worked a treat on my netbook last time I had it installed and the community seems great. I’m looking forward to trying out Goddard.
In the case of Netrunner, things were already in motion and I was approached and asked to participate; mainly in helping to get the word out, provide some ideas, some documentation – things like that.
The people that actually know how to do this already had a foundation in mind, and I think it’s flexible enough to be interesting. At the very least, I hope to actually learn something!
#3 by Goblin on April 9, 2010 - 12:27 pm
All the best with your project, Im currently looking at it now for an Openbytes article on the weekend. Great stuff.
What I would say to Rahul in respect of the Fedora comment – Of course you are right, Fedora is a great project free of mono and its a distro I would certainly champion, however I think (rightly or wrongly) that Ubuntu has the "hearts and minds" of many new users and Linux vets alike (as being rock solid out of the box).. I think to base a distro off that AND remove any of the Mono issues instantly makes it less of a "big step" to move to it and a realistic consideration for people who love Ubuntu but don't like the idea of a Mono inclusion.
Jason, I wish you all the best with the project and maybe after my article is published you would consider a little Q&A for a followup?
#4 by Jason on April 9, 2010 - 10:05 pm
Goblin,
Thanks for the comments!
Of course I would be glad to answer any questions I can about Netrunner! Please don't hesitate to contact me via email / XMPP / smoke signals! (Usually email is best because of the time zone issues)