SUSE Studio 1.0 Released 121
Posted
by
kdawson
from the make-me-one-with-everything dept.
from the make-me-one-with-everything dept.
apokryphos writes "Novell has just announced the release of SUSE Studio 1.0 — a user-friendly Web service that allows you to create your customized Linux distribution as a live CD, USB, Xen, or VMware image. Users have control over adding any repositories, packages, and files to the distribution. A new user can do the full creation and customization of the software appliance in roughly ten minutes. It also includes a Flash-based 'test drive' service, which allows you to try out your appliance in a Web browser before downloading it."
Nice except.... (Score:5, Informative)
Easily in the Top 5 innovations (Score:5, Informative)
I have been using this through Alpha and Beta, and it is the answer to many of the challenges I have faced when using tools like Debian's live-helper.
Less need to roll your own solutions to things like setting up repos, setting up a virtualization server, routines to handle changes/versioning (to some extent), storage, etc.
I have used it to pull out some demo environments to land a job (or intimidate the interviewers out of one), and grease the wheels on personal projects - things like a Live environment for Retail POS terminals, a LiveCD that boots into a 68K Mac emulator, and a playground for virtualized IBM s/390 and zSeries hardware with Hercules.
Seriously great tool. Nat Friedman and team have put a tremendous amount of effort and energy into this project, and they continue to be willing and open to lend a hand on IRC.
Hooray! I'd tele-cheers with a beer if I could!
This tool will hopefully end up on someone's short list of major Linux-related innovations of 2009.
Re:Sweet! (Score:3, Informative)
I don't think this is to make full fledged distros like ubuntu and fedora so much as software appliances like the gparted live cd.
"A software appliance is a full application stack containing the operating system, the application software and any required dependencies, and the configuration and data files required to operate. Everything is preinstalled, preintegrated, and ready to run.
You can think of this like an extreme form of static linking."
Although an easy way to make a full custom distro would be hot.
Re:Some questions (Score:4, Informative)
2) Just Xen images right now, but VBox/HyperVM can use the VirtualDisk export option on SUSE Studio
3) It lets you pick a kernel, and lets you add repos, so you could rollyourown and add it to a custom repo, then install on it.
Re:Nice except.... (Score:5, Informative)
It'll be interesting to see if it is made freely and broadly available, whether there will be any volume restrictions, or whether it will be a pay service.
Song? (Score:1, Informative)
Wasn't "SUSE Studio" a Phil Collins song?
Re:Some questions (Score:5, Informative)
1) does it force the use of RPM? Some prefer DEB, or even ebuilds.
It is SLE and openSUSE based distro's so yes, you will be best to use RPM.
2) potential for HyperVM, Virtualbox, etc images? Would be nice to see them.
You can make USB, ISO, Xen and VMware Virsual Machine images.
3) kernels? what about kernels? Can you config your own? How about patches?
This builds the image, not the software. You can point it to any repository you desire, so if you make your own repository with the kernel in it with e.g. https://build.opensuse.org/ [opensuse.org], you can use it.
What it does is 'just' make an image.
Some screenshots I have made here: http://houghi.org/susestudio/ [houghi.org]
Updates and patches will be gotten from openSUSE or Novell or somewhere else if you point it somewhere else.
Just go to http://susestudio.com/ [susestudio.com] and click on the "Watch a screencast" or go to http://susestudio.com/screencast [susestudio.com] for two more movies that explain just what and how things work.
Re:Just say the word... (Score:3, Informative)
He was trying to be funny, as sledgehammer was a popular song released by peter gabriel around the same time that phil collin's sussudio was released.
Re:And this is why Linux will eventually win (Score:3, Informative)
One day. Sheer flexibility in licensing and usage. Loading up Windows 7, it doesn't even want to pretend that you might want to dualboot. No repartitioning of existing partitions or anything.
Not true about Windows 7's installer, which does now give you the option to resize partitions in the GUI, the console is also accessible which gives you partitioning tools (which was always available on a windows installer disk). No support for ext and other file systems of course.
The new windows bootloader BCD is very powerful and a delight to work with, it *can* actually boot other OSes including linux. If grub is not in the root partition you need to ins
It would seem Microsoft is under pressure with the flexibility of linux, at some point they are going to be really playing catch-up with the free OS universe.
Re:there we go (Score:2, Informative)
Re:This is great (Score:3, Informative)
I would like to see someone use it to create a Linux gaming CD with popular open source games on it, to help convert the GameHeads to Linux from Windows.
This [linux-gamers.net] is one of the best I've seen so far.