Latest revision as of 23:19, 16 April 2009

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:

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.
For teaching purposes: During a workshop, your audience can have anything you think is appropriate to increase the learning process.
Using an old machine: liveCd can be run on an old machine and also without a HD!
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 can 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 to open source geospatial software.

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

During the FOSS4G 2007 at Lausanne, we used 2 LiveCds during seminars (ka-Map and Grass 3d). We also allowed participants to immediately test what they had just see in the slideshow. Once the workshop ended, they were able to keep their liveCd and use it at home or at their office. This is a good example of the great potential of a liveCd deployed for Educational purposes.

Ominiverdi Livecd

Objective

Our liveCd will always try to offer users the following:

Up to date software with every main official release
Included guides, documents and tutorials
Good hardware compatibility

Tecnical development

We decided to use Catalist: the same tool that the Gentoo Release Engineering Team uses.

This choice is based on 2 main reasons:

To use a system that will keep the updating stage fast and safe
To allow the customization of everything inside the CD

Desktop 2007.0

Our first release for 2007 contains this 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 uses GNOME as a Desktop Manager.

While writing this abstract, we are waiting for the release of the 2007.1 Qgis 0.8.1.

Future Development and Tasks

Our goal is to keep the CD updated by creating new versions on a regular schedule, or at least as soon as major updates or included software will be released.

At the moment we are working on two tasks:

An Installer for the livecd
A server edition with mapserver and some webgis applications

LiveCD installer

The installer will be accessible through an icon on the desktop. The installation process will guide the user to the setup of the GNU/Linux distribution on his/her computer. Hard disk installations will allow better performance and the possibility to update all packages, thanks to the core of the Gentoo Linux ( http://www.gentoo.org/ )system.

Server Edition

The server edition will target a server machine with minimal graphical support but with a fully-featured set of applications to offer OCG Web Services and UMN Mapserver frontends (ka-Map, Open Layers, p.Mapper, ecc.).

More Info

Ominiverdi Livecd Project: http://livecd.ominiverdi.org
Gentoo Catalyst Project: http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 :http://ominiverdi.org
-=Introducition=
+=Introduction=
-==What is a Livecd==
-As Wikipedia report, liveCd is a "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". using this kind of application user can get a "taste" of a full Linux box without fighting with any setup. Once the machine with the liveCd inside it has been booted, the OS is loaded in the RAM and nothing is written on the hard disk. Of course, just because all operation are made using ram inside of hard disk, all information are lost once the machine has been shut down.
-==Tasks==
+==What is a LiveCd==
-There are many application that can be satisfied by a livecd:
-#Using your favorite application everywhere you can find a pc
+As Wikipedia reports, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livecd 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.
-#Teaching purpose: people can have machine with the needed software in a boot time
-#
-==Limitation of a Livecd==
+==Applications==
-<s>I always talked about "machine" as the way for botting the livecd. Nothing has been said about the configuration.</s> Once the cd has been booted, it loads tool that detect the  hardware and configure everything to run smoothly. This is easier to say (or write ) then to be done. There are a lot of different kind of hardwares and sometimes the configuration process can go wrong. This can sound as a big problem, but people should remember that every hardware come with its driver packages. In a liveCd, all come inside a cd: Os,Driver and Application </s>:) (are you sure you want to use emoticons on the Newletter?)</s>
+There are many applications that can be satisfied through the use of a livecd:
-The other thing that should be remembered is that every works that has been done inside a liveCd is lost as soon as the machine has been shut down. To avoid this you can use a usb storage device to save all your works.
-=Livecd and open source geospatial software=
+#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.
+#For teaching purposes: During a workshop, your audience can have anything you think is appropriate to increase the learning process.
+#Using an old machine: liveCd can be run on an old machine and also without a HD!
+#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 [http://www.knoppix.net/ 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.
-The
+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 can also be used to save configuration files, so that you can keep your settings after rebooting.
-==Choice==
-==Technical Description==
+=LiveCd and open source geospatial software=
-For building the livecd, we decided to use Catalyst, the tool used by [http://www.gentoo.org Gentoo] Release Team. this choices come from 2 points:
+LiveCd can be a valid tool if applied to open source geospatial software.
-# Catalyst allow full customization
-# Upgrading the softwares
-This tool allows the creation of "highly customized liveCd" about architecture and softwares.
-Catalyst uses a text file that contains information about how creating the liveCd:
-*Architecture to use
-*Software to add
-Each application can be built with a custom configuration, adding or removing item from the  default configuration:
- [..]
- sci-libs/gdal -png gif
- [..]
-This mean that gdal will be built using default configuration with gif support, but not with
+An example of an application of liveCd and GIS FLOSS is to run a workstation that will allow users to explore data inside it or, for example, in a remote Postgis DB. Old machines can be used to make access points to the database and can be set up with a viewer that is always available (as Internet Points do with a browser), allowing the saving of data on a storage device.
- png support.
+During the FOSS4G 2007 at Lausanne, we used 2 LiveCds during seminars (ka-Map and Grass 3d). We also allowed participants to immediately test what they had just see in the slideshow. Once the workshop ended, they were able to keep their liveCd and use it at home or at their office. This is a good example of the great potential of a liveCd deployed for Educational purposes.
-Once the application list is read the softwares are installed using the configuration information described inside a file called packages.use
-=Future Development and task=
+=Ominiverdi Livecd=
-Our goal is to keep the cd updated, creating new version at regular times, or at least as soon as major update or included softwares will come out.
-Right now we are working on two tasks:
+==Objective==
+Our liveCd will always try to offer users the following:
+#Up to date software with every main official release
+#Included guides, documents and tutorials
+#Good hardware compatibility
+==Tecnical development==
+We decided to use [http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/ Catalist]: the same tool that the Gentoo Release Engineering Team uses.
+This choice is based on 2 main reasons:
+#To use a system that will keep the updating stage fast and safe
+#To allow the customization of everything inside the CD
+==Desktop 2007.0==
+Our first release for 2007 contains this 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 [http://www.kernel.org/ Linux kernel] and uses [http://www.gnome.org/ GNOME] as a Desktop Manager.
+While writing this abstract, we are waiting for the release of the 2007.1 Qgis 0.8.1.
+=Future Development and Tasks=
+Our goal is to keep the CD updated by creating new versions on a regular schedule, or at least as soon as major updates or included software will be released.
+At the moment we are working on two tasks:
 # An Installer for the livecd
-# A server edition with mapserver and some webgis application
+# A server edition with mapserver and some webgis applications
 ===LiveCD installer===
-The installer will be accessible trough an icon on the desktop. The installation process will guide the user to the set up of the linux distribution in his computer.
+The installer will be accessible through an icon on the desktop. The installation process will guide the user to the setup of the GNU/Linux distribution on his/her computer.
-Installing on the hard disk will allow better performances and the possibility to update all packages thanks to Gentoo systems.
+Hard disk installations will allow better performance and the possibility to update all packages, thanks to the core of the Gentoo Linux ( http://www.gentoo.org/ )system.
 ===Server Edition===
-The server edition will target a server machine with minimum graphical support but full featured set of application to offer OCG Web Services and UMN Mapserver front ends (ka-Map, Open Layers, p.Mapper, ecc.).
+The server edition will target a server machine with minimal graphical support but with a fully-featured set of applications to offer OCG Web Services and UMN Mapserver frontends (ka-Map, Open Layers, p.Mapper, ecc.).
+===More Info===
+* Ominiverdi Livecd Project: http://livecd.ominiverdi.org
+*Gentoo Catalyst Project: http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/
-===More Infos===
+[[Category: Live-demo]]
-*[http://livecd.ominiverdi.org Ominiverdi Livecd Project]
-*[http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/ Gentoo Catalyst Project]

Difference between revisions of "Newsletter Volume 1 Livecd"