Project Karuna! Please read and give feedback and ideas!

[jclmusic]

this is an idea i had for a new Linux or BSD distro:

Linux or BSD Kernel: was going to use Linux, but i heard BSD is soemtimes faster?
Autopackage, Alien and Gdebi installed by default to handle all package types: i want it to be as compatible as possible with all package types for ease of use.
Filesystem:i want an option where you can switch between the GoboLinux style filesystem for beginners and the usual unix type one for us linux heads :)
Eye Candy: i don't want to overdo it, but it's a known fact (and perhaps a sad one) that eye candy is popular! i heard compiz is rather unstable at the moment, what about integrating some bits from e16 or e17 into it?
Desktop Environment / Window Manager: i'd like to have aq very user-friendly and intuitive DE/WM, soemthing with the ease of use of gnome or kde, but with eye candy and originality. it might be hard to make bits work together well, though.
Cross-compatibility:All audio and video codecs installed by default, and wine and an equivalent apple emulator installed by default.

please give feedback and ideas and feel free to contribute!
oh and one more thing: it will of course be released under the GPL, and firstly only for x86 computers. maybe we can port it to others later, but i'd like to start with x86.

[jclmusic]

bump!

[jclmusic]

nobody interested? :(

[Nonno Bassotto]

Maybe you should first explain us what is the idea behind this new distro. I mean, there are so many distro available, what would make yours different?

[MetalMusicAddict]

You wont be able to release everything under the GPL because some of the things you want to do arent GPL'ed.

Why do you want to do this? What niche does it serve?

[mykalreborn]

there are so many distros out there i fail to see the point in making another one. don't get me wrong, it's a good thing you're trying to contribute to the comunity, but it seems your distro doesn't have anything other distros don't have. i mean there are already distros easy to use, stable distros, GPL-ed. i doubt Karuna will be better than Debian for example.
anyway. i wish you good luck in finding an original idea.:D

[jclmusic]

thanks for your replies.

let me explain. i would like a very user-friendly distro. debian is user-friendly for someone who knows linux, but for 'outsiders', it's a learning curve. i want to make the curve as quick and smooth as several people i know who have recently migrated from windows to mac osx. also hence the eye-candy. easy to use and has that wow effect to make people switch. this distro would obviously not suit everyone (including me to be honest!), but i think for beginners etc this would be a perfect distro. for instance the eye candy in e16 and e17, especially e17, wows everybody i've shown it to, but they find it impossible to use without lots of help!

i would also be giving out free live/install cds and iso's online because i also know several people who are fed up of windows, find linux too hard and can't afford a mac. i guess they're position is the one i'd like this distro to fill :)

as for the license, what is it that is not GPL? i know BSD has a different license, but i assumed it was compatible (i.e. a similar license).

since typing the first post, i have found a program that lets you change several desktop themes at once (i.e. GTK, WM, QT). i think this would fit in well with my vision. :)

[seijuro]

It sounds a lot like the mint (http://lt.k1011.nutime.de/about.html) project.

[jclmusic]

mint is still gnome or kde based, not to mention is basically just ubuntu with a few extras. beleive me, as much as i love ubuntu, i am not looking to make yet another ubuntu clone!

[MetalMusicAddict]

as for the license, what is it that is not GPL? i know BSD has a different license, but i assumed it was compatible (i.e. a similar license).)

The "codecs" you want to include would be one example.

How much experience do you have with these things?

[jclmusic]

The "codecs" you want to include would be one example.

How much experience do you have with these things?

ah yeah that's true! sorry lol. well the codecs would have to be under their respective licenses. just out of interest, how do distros like mepis do it?

[kripkenstein]

as for the license, what is it that is not GPL?

Plenty.

Python, Apache, OpenSSL, (original) Bittorrent, Latex. And those are just things I am very familiar with.

[ting]

I'm more or less an experienced beginner;) , and I prefer e17.
Benefits of e17 as I see them.

Memory and speed. Nothing with these looks come close.

Ability to use the entire desktop easily. Ive attached some pictures showing what the desktop looks like when browsing opera and when all apps are closed. (I think I did, but ive never done it before, so i hope I did:rolleyes: )

Anyway using virtual desktops like this is very productive for me anyway(move the mouse to another desktop to launch a new aplication).

One problem Is tweaking the menus. I think it's a combination of bugs and features. But in the beginning I had some problems getting apps in the menus.

But of course there are probably som features it lacks, that I don't miss anyway.:mrgreen:

Anyway, I like the idea of using the gobolinux directory structure, it makes more sense.

One thing I've always looked for in linux is an easier way to switch view modes.

For me that would meen an easily accessible button to change the way i get things done.

For example: For me gnome is easy, but for more advanced features it gets complicated due to options you need not being a click away.

KDE is too cluttered, but it has the more advanced options that are nice to have easily accessible when you have learned a bit more.

Perhaps an EASY default with gnome like simplicity and gobolinux file structure.
An intermediate/ MEDIUM level with more available configurations options and the gobolinux file structure.
An ADVANCED option whith the KDE like clutter and linux file system.
An EXPERT option with ..... something expert:mrgreen:

All with the switch of a button(perhaps like the red exit button in gnome).

Should be doable, but who knows.

Anyway just my ideas. God luck with your project!:D

[jclmusic]

I'm more or less an experienced beginner;) , and I prefer e17.
Benefits of e17 as I see them.

Memory and speed. Nothing with these looks come close.

Ability to use the entire desktop easily. Ive attached some pictures showing what the desktop looks like when browsing opera and when all apps are closed. (I think I did, but ive never done it before, so i hope I did:rolleyes: )

Anyway using virtual desktops like this is very productive for me anyway(move the mouse to another desktop to launch a new aplication).

One problem Is tweaking the menus. I think it's a combination of bugs and features. But in the beginning I had some problems getting apps in the menus.

But of course there are probably som features it lacks, that I don't miss anyway.:mrgreen:

Anyway, I like the idea of using the gobolinux directory structure, it makes more sense.

One thing I've always looked for in linux is an easier way to switch view modes.

For me that would meen an easily accessible button to change the way i get things done.

For example: For me gnome is easy, but for more advanced features it gets complicated due to options you need not being a click away.

KDE is too cluttered, but it has the more advanced options that are nice to have easily accessible when you have learned a bit more.

Perhaps an EASY default with gnome like simplicity and gobolinux file structure.
An intermediate/ MEDIUM level with more available configurations options and the gobolinux file structure.
An ADVANCED option whith the KDE like clutter and linux file system.
An EXPERT option with ..... something expert:mrgreen:

All with the switch of a button(perhaps like the red exit button in gnome).

Should be doable, but who knows.

Anyway just my ideas. God luck with your project!:D

i think we are somewhat on the same way of thinking here :)
i however think we should stick with e17 as the window manager and desktop environment, and just add either a modified gnome/xfce menu bar or something like kxdocker or the gdesklets panel. i think that's the best way to make it very easy to use and configure and the same time look great! :)

[jclmusic]

just had a couple more ideas. to add to the user friendly eye candy, i'd like to use entrance instead of gdm/kdm and gag for a boot manager.

[ting]

My reference to gnome and kde were just examples. So we are in total agreement:mrgreen:

Ive never tried those panels though, so I might just give that a wirl sometime. Theres also Engage. I havent really gotten it configured in e17 though. Anyway I'm not quite shure what it does, except allow you to launch applications.:-k


As for gag, I use it on the mbr and I love it. Grub for me is to confusing to have on the mbr, especially since I reinstall distros so often.

Anyway would'nt it be better to build something related to ubuntu? Ubuntu has so many great things working under the hood. Suspend, cpu scaling, support, debian repos. Building a modern distro requires a lot of infrastructure as far as i understand.


A side note, my biggest problem with ubuntu has always been the memory footprint. I have a laptop with 256 shared memory. When booting into gnome with dapper I had about 20mb free(60 with e17). Now booting directly into e17 on feisty I think I have about 100mb free. I'ts seriously improving:D

[jclmusic]

Ive never tried those panels though, so I might just give that a wirl sometime. Theres also Engage. I havent really gotten it configured in e17 though. Anyway I'm not quite shure what it does, except allow you to launch applications.:-k

engage and most of the other e17 stuff is too hard to configure in my opinion, that's why i think we should just use e17 for the DE/WM, and add a menu/launcher/notification area/panel all in one area that is easy to use and configure. most people i know who have used mac osx for the first time pick it really quickly. why shouldn't linux be so easy? :)

As for gag, I use it on the mbr and I love it. Grub for me is to confusing to have on the mbr, especially since I reinstall distros so often.

agreed, the interface and ease of use of gag beats grub any day! :D

Anyway would'nt it be better to build something related to ubuntu? Ubuntu has so many great things working under the hood. Suspend, cpu scaling, support, debian repos. Building a modern distro requires a lot of infrastructure as far as i understand.

while i agree that ubuntu has many great features, it also lacks certain things which would make a newbie's experience that much easier :p! as i said earlier the GUI is not as intuitve as it could be, etc etc. i also think the package management and ease of installing programs could be so much better!

however an ubuntu or debian server install might be a good place to start :) i have since looked at how difficult it can prove to be to make linux binaries work on bsd, so that's out the question.

[MaximB]

you think e17 is easier then gnome or KDE ?
I've been using Linux for about a year now
I've tried every desktop/windows manager I could find
I always liked the e17 BUT I never thought it was easy
in fact, even now I cannot do things in e17 that I need to
like making a quick lunch buttons or even open my home directory in which I have programs and files I cannot open otherwise.
I like e17 but for me Gnome and KDE are much easier desktop managers.

[RAV TUX]

moving to other os forum

[mykalreborn]

i decided to join karuna project and i took the hard task (:P) of "advertising". so if anyone wants to join our project they can take a look at this temporary blog :http://karunadistro.wordpress.com/ and if you want to help, with anything, you can send an email to karuna_distro@linuxmail.org
thanks a lot!

[ting]

Maxdark.

E17 isn't as easy to set up as the alternatives. But I think that is due to it being under development. Also there are probably many features many users need that it lacks at the moment. There are maybe some features I miss. However I cant seem to remember them, so to me i guess their not that important;)

The feautures I miss in gnome and kde are present in e17, so for me it's a simple decision. (memory footprint, speed, easy access to cpu scaling controls, easy access to suspen/hibernate, ability to use the entire desktop for apps without compromizing usability, etc....)