[Ichthux-devel] The Future if IchthuX

[Ben Armstrong]

On 10/20/05, David Blue <linuxdave at frontiernet.net> wrote:
> 1)I think we should consider moving to (k)ubuntu as a base rather than knoppix
> because (k)ubuntu is supposed to have better laptop support

I'm not opposed to an Ichthux-derivative being kubuntu-based, but core
Ichthux should work in Debian main for the reasons we've already
discussed (broader support for Debian main, flexibility of also making
derivatives based on that work in main).  My worry in rushing too
quickly to a kubuntu-based derivative is it may draw energy away from
the essential Debian main work that will make this project successful.
 I'd advocate, therefore, some cautious experimentation of a kubuntu /
Ichthux derivative by those who consider it a priority, while in
parallel, keeping a strong commitment and development momentum in
producing both a livecd and an install CD from Debian main itself.  I
realize that pragmatism may drive some people impatient with waiting
for the Debian main livecd work to be finished to just forge ahead
with kubuntu, but caution that longer-term focus on such a product
will end up damaging the project by landing it right back in the
position we were in with the Knoppix-derivative-of-a-derivative.

> 2)We need better support for unicode, particularly for greek and hebrew (and
> possibly other biblical languages)

Agreed.  Again, this is consistent with Debian's own goals.  These
things need to be fixed from the core up and not layered on afterwards
as something we own & maintain (the cost of maintenance will be too
high otherwise).

> 3)Update to at least kde3.4. There have been a *lot* of usability enhancements
> and other fixes since the version we're currently using

Sure.  That's in Debian sid I think.

> 4)Artwork. I don't mind our current artwork, but the boot splash and ksplash
> and everything basically having the same design/layout doesn't help accent
> what's going on, perhaps we could switch to a different ksplash engine so the
> splash screen looks much more like the boot spalsh (which is what suse 10 has
> done)

No idea about this.  I have no talent here. :)  My tastes tend to be
conservative, though, so yes, consider this a vote for an artwork
change.

> 5)Packaging, just an idea I've been kicking around is to have a repository for
> the various installers (apt,yast,yum,urpmi,etc) for the various
> opensource/linux christian programs. So you could have something like

I'm not thrilled about this.  I think this diffuses our energies into
maintenance tasks that will drag us away from our core development
priorities.  What do yum and yast have to do with developing Ichthux
as a Debian CDD?  I think you have a different vision that may be
worth pursuing as a separate project, maybe a sister project to
Ichthux (or maybe under thefreelyproject.org, which has a broader
mandate).

Ben