[GLLUG] Re: CD-burning box: suggestions needed!

[Matt Graham]

On Friday 17 June 2005 15:19, after a long battle with technology, Chick 
Tower wrote:
> After seeing the whole thing in action last night, I think it's a
> winner.  I think Penguicon attendees will use it, as well as patrons
> of the Gone Wired Cafe, as long as they know about it.

Thanks!  Well, there is at least one bug existing in the current version 
of the Perl script, which I've since fixed.  Hmm--maybe they need a 
sign on the monitor?  Or an xscreensaver running, with an image saying 
"CD Burning Station--Get any of 35 nifty open-source CDs here!" 
bouncing around?

> As a Slackware and Mandrake user, I was a
> little disappointed they haven't been included in the available ISO
> list, but I was hesitant to say anything 

We've still got space on the disk AFAIK.  No reason not to include them 
so long as they're freely distributable :-)

> Another idea I'd like to suggest is a CD of software that is in
> common use, gets updated frequently, and/or is a huge download.  I'm
> thinking of things like the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox and
> Thundebird, the Java SDK and run-time environment, the Linux kernel
> source, and media player codecs that frequently don't come with
> distros.  I'm sure there are other worthy candidates, too.

Firefox, Thunderbird, and the kernel source are freely distributable.  
The JRE/JDK stuff isn't, at least for the Blackdown and Sun JREs.  The 
codecs may not be freely distributable.  We've got to make sure the 
stuff available for burning is legally allowed to be distributed, 
otherwise we shouldn't put it on the menu.

> Maybe Matt would even consent to putting his CD-burning Perl script on 
> it, as I suspect others would want to set up similar rigs for other 
> shows. 

The script is going to be released to whoever wants it under the GPL or 
Artistic license, whichever is more appropriate.  I just want to clean 
it up a bit--there are some @#$%^ing global variables lurking and so 
forth.

The problem for distribution there isn't the script, but all the other 
ISO images.  It shouldn't be insanely difficult to put together a 
customized Ubuntu or Knoppix or something install that has the X, Perl, 
Gtk2::Perl, and cdrecord bits we need, and fits on a CD.  I don't know 
how much time I'll have to work on it though.

-- 
   That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
   --Trevor Goodchild, AEon Flux
There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see