Linux a la Carte [LWN.net]

March 11, 2004

This article was contributed by Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier.

Progeny is proposing a different way to look at Linux distributions. According to Progeny's Ian Murdock, the traditional Linux distribution follows a "top-down" "one-size-fits-all" model that doesn't meet the needs of many Linux users.

For those who view Linux not as a product but as a platform on which to build their own products, the monolithic nature of the typical distribution is a particularly bad fit. The typical Linux-as-product distribution optimizes for breadth--because it is "one-size-fits-all", it needs to include a huge assortment of features and technologies to satisfy the widest possible audience, only a few of which may be important to any given project (and the few that are important will always vary). Ideally, for Linux-as-platform users, a distribution should optimize for depth, i.e., to excel in those few features and technologies important to the project at hand.

The new approach, then, is to "componentize" Linux by allowing the user to choose only the bits that they need. We spoke with Murdock about Progeny's plans for componentized Linux to see where the company is headed. Is componentized Linux yet another Linux distribution? Emphatically not, according to Murdock:

One thing that's very important to point out, it's not a distribution per se -- it's more of a template above an existing distribution like Red Hat or Debian...someone can come in and say 'this is what I want' and then it becomes a question of 'which distribution foundation do I want under that?' ... It's a much smaller job to come in and say 'I want an LSB 2.0-compliant runtime and Active Directory integration module' instead of having to go in to Debian to figure out what packages you need.

Besides, Progeny has already been there and done that with regards to the distribution business. The company started with Progeny Linux, a "commercialized" version of Debian, and eventually moved on to a business model of helping other companies customize Linux to fit their needs. Customization, according to Murdock, often involved a lot of time removing components from "monolithic" distributions that their customers had started with -- which in turn led to the concept of componentized Linux.

For users who are interested in seeing componentized Linux in action, Progeny has released "Componentized Linux Core" ISOs based on Debian Sarge. There are two ISO images available, only the first is necessary to perform an install -- the second contains the remainder of source code for the distribution that didn't fit on the first ISO. They provide an early glimpse of the concept, though the release is a bit short on actual components. The Componentized Linux Core uses Progeny's Anaconda for Debian installer and allows the user to install a short list of components: XFree86 4.2, GNOME 2.4, a 2.4 or 2.6 kernel, and an LSB runtime and devel component.

Why is Progeny making Componentized Linux public now? For one thing, the company is looking to highlight Progeny's approach to customizing Linux. Murdock also said that he's noticed a number of people developing custom distributions, and that they'd like to give something back to the community -- and to prevent others in the community from having to re-do the same work that Progeny has already done. He also said that he hopes that Progeny will be able to build a community around Componentized Linux that will help the project evolve to everyone's benefit. Murdock noted that the response thus far has been positive:

I think it's a concept that resonates with people, because Linux is a fundamentally different OS. The leading commercial distributions are looking more and more like the proprietary OSes that they are replacing...people are looking at this and saying 'it's a good fit, and it'll save me a lot of time.'

Though Progeny's first release is based on Debian, Murdock said that the company also hopes to have a Fedora-based Componentized Linux and "possibly more than that."

It will be interesting to see if the à la Carte approach gains widespread appeal. No doubt, part of the distribution proliferation problem stems from the difficulty of customizing "major" distributions to specific tasks. Instead of seeing hundreds of different Linux distributions -- each with their own installer, administration tools and assorted quirks -- perhaps we could look forward to a day when most distributions utilize a single common core and distinguish themselves through package repositories. For users who have had to master multiple distributions, package formats and admin tools, it's an attractive prospect indeed.

(Log in to post comments)

Linux a la Carte

Posted Mar 11, 2004 12:33 UTC (Thu) by rise (guest, #5045) [Link]

I think the point isn't that CL doesn't let you do anything that was impossible before, instead it makes special purpose setups easier. It's similar to the "Turing Complete" aspect of most programming languages - external interfaces aside you can perform any operation that one T.C. language can do in any other language, but some languages make certain tasks far easier. The Progeny folks seem to be trying to move the dividing line between "we could theoretically build our own distro for this" and "I'll throw together the setup we need this week" pretty far in the direction of greater ease.

Linux a la Carte

Posted Mar 11, 2004 14:46 UTC (Thu) by jeremiah (subscriber, #1221) [Link]

This sounds great actually. I hate being in the business of trying to pair down redhat/fedora for our clients, as well as our servers. I'd love a 'java/cipe/tn5250/cron' machine out of the box. I know all this can be done with kickstart etc, but I get tired of doing it, and would like to have someone else save me that time. It's cheaper for me to be writing code and using an out of box solution, than having to figure out the latest dependencies for my own mini-special purpose distro.

I think that's probaly what will happen too. Fedora will add more options to there initial setup list. Not just Server, Workstation, Laptop, but also Router, VPN client, Mailserver, Webserver etc. It would just simplify things a little. Of course you'll still have to customeize them to get hings just right, thus defeating the entire purpose, but just maybe it'll make it a little eaiser.

I need my morning Jolt don't I?

Linux a la Gentoo?

Posted Mar 12, 2004 12:07 UTC (Fri) by Duncan (guest, #6647) [Link]

Actually, as I'm currently reading up on Gentoo myself in preparation for
installing it alongside Mandrake and possibly eventually switching*, the
same question occurred to me here.

The difference, it would seem, is between a source based distribution that
also happenss to have binary packages available (Gentoo), and a binary
package distribution that also happens to have source available
(traditional distributions such as Mandrake, Red Hat/Fedora, Debian,
etc.).

Also, writing as one who hasn't actually done the Gentoo install as yet
and is still researching, I'm not yet sure Gentoo has a good component
oriented layout where all the customization steps (use keywords and the
various cflags) can be easily and fully chosen in advance, without having
to (re-) emerge -e world after getting everything set up just so. (I've
not yet covered that in the install portion of the handbook, yet, or
actually done the install.) The practical implication here is that I'm
still undecided as to whether I'll be doing a stage-1 install, hoping to
get everything tweaked to my satisfaction the first time around, or
whether I'll be better off with a stage-3 plus potential package CD
installation, then when everything is tweaked to my satisfaction for a
perfect rebuild, only THEN doing going back and doing a full recompilation
install, using emerge -e world.

Duncan

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* The original motivation for the possible switch was lack of current KDE
in Mandrake for AMD64, even in cooker, DESPITE Mandrake's supposedly
bleeding edge distribution reputation.. maybe on i586 but certainly not on
AMD64.. KDE just released 3.2.1, while Mdk for AMD64 is stuck on 3.1.4.