Newsletter Volume 1 Livecd


 * Luca Casagrande
 * luca.casagrande@gmail.com
 * http://ominiverdi.org

=Introduction=

What is a Livecd
As Wikipedia reports, LiveCd is a "generic term for an operating system distribution that is executed upon boot, without installation on a hard drive. Typically, it is stored on bootable media such as a CD-ROM (Live CD), DVD (Live DVD), USB flash drive (Live USB), among others". By using this technology, users can get a "taste" of a full GNU/Linux box without fighting with any setup or installation. Once the LiveCd has been booted, everything is loaded in RAM, keeping the hard disk safe. Of course, once the machine shuts down, every change is lost.

Applications
There are many applications that can be satisfied through the use of a livecd:


 * 1) Running your favorite system anywhere you can find a PC. With a Pen Drive to save your data, you will have a perfect survival kit.
 * 2) For teaching purposes: During a workshop, your audience can have anything you think is appropriate to increase the learning process.
 * 3) Using an old machine: liveCd can be run on an old machine and also without a HD!
 * 4) Spreading data: it's a very cool way to distribute your work. You deliver your work ( for example output of complex elaboration ) and all applications needed, configured to appreciate it best!

Limitations of a Livecd
Inside a livecd we have the kernel, drivers, WM and all the applications required for a working environment. Of course it is rather impossible to put all the drivers that would suit all the machines that have been created. It can happen that, during boot, the CD stops or something else goes wrong (e.g. missing lan detection). Thanks to the work of a lot of people ( in primis Knoppix ) we have very good software that detects hardware during boot but, like every software application, there can still be bugs. As you can understand, the idea of having a universal machine is a high expectation and the road to achieving this is still long.

On the other hand, no information is saved while working in the LiveCd environment. If this is a favorable aspect (e.g. keeping your hard disk safe), it can be tedious from another point of view. A solution is to use a Storage Device (like a USB HD, for example) to store all your output. This approach could also be used to save configuration files, so that you can keep your settings after rebooting.

=LiveCd and open source geospatial software=

LiveCd can be a valid tool if applied with open source geospatial software.

An example of an application of liveCd and GIS FLOSS is run a workstation that will allow the user to explore data inside it or, for example, in a remote Postgis DB. You could use old machines to make access points to the database and set up them with the viewer that is always opened (as Internet Points do with browser), allowing saving of data on a storage device.

During the FOSS4G 2007 at Lausanne we used 2 LiveCds during seminaries (ka-Map and Grass 3d). We've allowed attendants to test immediately what they had just seeing in the slideshow. Once the workshop ended, they were able to take away their liveCd and use it at home or at their office. This is a good example of the great potential of liveCd in Educational purpose.

=Ominiverdi Livecd=

Objective
Our livecd will always try to offer to users those things:


 * 1) Keep all software up to date with every single official release
 * 2) Include Guide, Documents and Tutorial
 * 3) Grant a good hardware compatibilty

Tecnical development
We decided to use the same tool that Gentoo Release Engineering Team use: Catalyst.

This choice as been made for 2 main reasons:


 * 1) Use a system that will keep the updating stage fast and safe
 * 2) Allow the customization of everything inside the CD

Desktop 2007.0
Our first release for 2007 contains these software:

* QGIS 0.8 * GRASS 6.2.1 * PostgreSQL 8.1.5 * PostGIS 1.1.4 * GDAL 1.3.2

The system runs a 2.6.18 Linux kernel and use GNOME as Desktop Manager.

While writing this abstract, we are waiting for Qgis 0.8.1 for releasing version 2007.1.

=Future Development and task= Our goal is to keep the CD updated, creating new versions with a regular schedule or at least as soon as major update or included softwares will come out.

Right now we are working on two tasks:


 * 1) An Installer for the livecd
 * 2) A server edition with mapserver and some webgis application

LiveCD installer
The installer will be accessible trough an icon on the desktop. The installation process will guide the user to the setup of the GNU/Linux distribution in his computer. Installing on the hard disk will allow better performances and the possibility to update all packages, thanks to the core of the Gentoo Linux system.

Server Edition
The server edition will target a server machine with minimum graphical support but a full featured set of applications to offer OCG Web Services and UMN Mapserver front ends (ka-Map, Open Layers, p.Mapper, ecc.).

More Infos

 * Ominiverdi Livecd Project
 * Gentoo Catalyst Project