PC/OS Open Server System 2008 and general release

The general release of PC/OS OpenWorkstation 2008 and PC/OS OpenWorkstation 2008: Lite are still scheduled for a Monday download date.  Myself and the hosting parties are bringing everything on board so downloads are not interrupted and making sure everything is copacetic.

PC/OS Open Server System 2008 is now scheduled for general release with the workstation releases.  So why did I bypass RC1?  Simple, there were minimal to no downloads of Beta and I had little feedback regarding the Beta so I took it to the group that wants it, my local testers.  Testing and fine tuning went well with that group and I am going to say this release blows 7.10.2 out of the water.  Some interesting deployments will be happening, also this server based system is great for education and other testing, let me know of anything interesting.  The Server maintenance pack 1 will be released with the workstation maintenance pack.

Also the Server Addon ISO will be released with the general release.

PC/OS Appliance

Many have inquired about PC/OS Appliance and what its used for and why its not freely downloadable.  PC/OS Appliance is a flavor of PC/OS that can be used for the EeePC, can be used for a kiosk device or used to create a simple Internet Appliance.  PC/OS Appliance is set up so you can surf the web, edit documents but not spreadsheets or presentations, listen to music and watch videos.  For EeePC users all the hardware is supported out of the box and has support for that machines wireless card, APCI modules and OSD as well as the webcam and soundcard.support.  So what applications are used in appliance and whats been stripped.

Audio and video

PC/OS Appliance is not set up to edit audio or video but you can watch movies and listen to music. All multimedia codecs and flash support is available out of box. Rhythmbox and VLC are not available, for audio tools we use the Decibal player for music and for interfacing with your ipod GTKPod is included. For movie viewing Movie Player (Totem) is still the default and is the one that has given me the most success.

Web Browsing

Firefox and Thunderbird are not included, instead I use the opera web browser for web viewing and for e-mail. Opera is light on the resources and is excellent for Kiosk mode. Pidgin is still the default IM client for PC/OS Appliance.

Document editing, reading.

For document support AbiWord is included and Evince is still the default document viewer. Spreadsheet and presentation support is not included. OpenOffice is not included but if you wish to have it its downloadable.

Hardware support

A lot of hardware is supported out of box already but device specific drivers for the EeePC are included out of box. The Classmate and XO laptop are not supported but if you are successful in getting it to install on those machines do let me know.

Availability

Its available via CD-ROM or Installable USB key. The CD-ROM is $9.99 USD plus shipping and via a 1 gb USB key for $30.00 USD plus shipping, please contact me for purchasing.

If you are looking for a light distribution for a small formfactor PC or for a specific use, PC/OS Appliance is quite flexible. View the screenshots and as always Im open for feedback.

Differentiation from Ubuntu… PC/OS OpenWorkstation 2008

Several users have asked that the name reflect something that doesnt have anything to do with Ubuntu, to differentiate ourselves from Ubuntu. So I said first, lets drop the versioning, no more 8.04, so now we are looking at PC/OS 2008 as the name. Too simple and can confuse us with PCLinuxOS. So I decided PC/OS OpenDesktop 2008. Well unfortunately after some research, OpenDesktop was used already by SCO, is used by a chinese company and is a distro name for a KDE based distro. So into the desktop trash it goes. GlobalDesktop, my next choice just sounded plain stupid to me. So into the desktop trash it goes. So next, OpenWorkstation was my next choice, nice, simple, sounds a little corporate but heck with it. I like it, its different and the only other person using it is a web hosting company and they arent using it to describe an OS. So the new name is as follows:

PC/OS OpenWorkstation 2008

The new name for the minimal install is called:

PC/OS OpenWorkstation 2008: Lite

The new name for Appliance

PC/OS OpenWorkstation 2008: Appliance

and the new name for server.

PC/OS Open Server System 2008

Well thats the naming and yes, its legal. So why open?

I chose Open because users are ‘open’ to their system, ‘open’ to do what they want with their system.

The released ISO’s will have the changes before the next release and I hope this does help differentiate us from Ubuntu and shows that while yes, we use the Ubuntu kernel we are very much on our own.

PC/OS 7.10 moved

To the Archives folder on the ftp and http site.  7.10 Maintenance Pack 1 has also been moved to the archive folder as has the pc-os 804 KDE Beta 3, which I might add has today had its 122nd download.

Cafepress Update

CafePress has been updated to reflect the new logo for the merchandise.  If you bought previous merchandise before the update I will be glad to send you whatever merchandise you bought with the new logo free of charge.  You have to provide the receipt and the date has to be before June 6, 2008.

PC/OS Future Releases

PC/OS, PC/OS Appliance and PC/OS Minimal Install CD and PC/OS Server will solely be based on LTS releases. For right now 8.04 being the LTS will get the support of maintenance packs. There will only be a DVD and Appliance version of PC/OS 8.10 that will recieve all Maintenance Packs and no support options whatsoever except forum support, these interim releases will help build up to the LTS releases.

1. Why am I going this route?

No one has come on wanting to be a developer or to assist in the production of PC/OS. Im recieving minimal to no financial support Im one man and I cant support 5 different versions of PC/OS. I have a day job and I cant give that up to work on PC/OS solely, maybe someday but that someday is not today.

2. Does this mean PC/OS is dead?

No, the project will live on but I have to stabilize the releases and as one man I cant keep up with the thousands of Canonical developers without jepardizing my day job and I have to be able to support site hosting etc. Things will slow down a bit tho.

3. You just created PC/OS to try and make money!!!!!

Also untrue, I created PC/OS to create a Linux distribution that everyone can contribute to and that the average user can use. From the reviews and from the feedback I have recieved I have achieved that goal. People wanted a ufw GUI frontend and they got it, people wanted a Media Center solution and they got it, people wanted easy to use server management tools via Webmin and other tools shipped with server and they got it. try getting Canonical, Red Hat or Novell to listen to their users, they dont and they could care less. For example, users want multimedia codecs and playback to work out of the box, do the others do it? No. People want a user friendly experience and with PC/OS they got it. I also have to listen to my contributing users who use PC/OS in production environments who dont want to update every 6 months. Servers dont get updated every 6 months and I am not going to congest the download servers with OS releases no ones going to use. Im having a hard time getting people to test 8.04 Server because they inform me they are happy with 7.10.2 server. The plan to roll out new ISO images every 6 months will keep going as well.

You can get PC/OS commercial support for 7.10.2 and for 8.04 as well as forum support and I will gladly give e-mail support. I get close to 80 e-mails a day regarding PC/OS so if you e-mail me please be patient or ask in the forums. For users who have bought PC/OS merchandise through Cafepress, thank you very much.

Packages for PC/OS 8.04 Media Center has been released

I have been asked by PC/OS Users that own media center hardware if they can still use their PC/OS machines as a media center.  I have often referred them to Elisa in the Ubuntu repositories but today I have released the PC/OS 8.04 Media Center Extension.  This adds Elisa and all the codecs necessary to have a working Media Center out of the box.  I released it as an ISO so that all you have to do is burn the CD and install via CD-ROM.  Im looking at doing the same with MythTV.  These will never be part of the base ISO because not everyones hardware who runs PC/OS may have the horsepower so users will need the seperate ISO. To install view the readme for instructions.  You can get The PC/OS 8.04 Media Center frrom the downloads section on the pc-os.org website.

BTW, this is only for PC/OS 8.04 ONLY.  It will not work with PC/OS 7.10.2.  Im not planning a PC/OS 7.10.2 release.

Maintenance Pack 1 and PC/OS Server 8.04

I am now concentrating on Maintenance Pack 1 and PC/OS Server 8.04.  PC/OS Server 8.04 is coming along with tons of new features and one of the most important is a GUI for ufw, users have been requesting it, I found 1 that works fantabulously gufw and it will be included in PC/OS Server System.  It will be rolled into the PC/OS 8.04 Maintenance Pack for Appliance and Workstation users.

An important note, if you download or buy PC/OS 8.04 resist the urge to upgrade the kernel to 2.6.24-18.  Its fairly untested, I just recently set up the test bed and I cant say for sure how its going to act yet.  Wait for the maintenance pack.  If you update your kernel and have issues I may be unable to provide support due to the fact I dont know much about the revision yet.  However, if you feel adventurous and want to help out with testing go right ahead and send me any bug reports.  I know for certain that with the last two kernel revisions you had to uninstall the proprietary NVIDIA and ATI drivers so by all means do that before you upgrade the kernel.  the first maintenance pack will be released around mid July.

PC/OS 8.04 Now available

At on-disk.com

As I stated, 30 days e-mail support for installation comes with every unit sold.  The DVD version is available and the Minimal Install CD is coming very soon.

The proceeds go to support the project including but not limited to getting a 64 bit machine for building a 64 bit version of PC/OS, web hosting costs, etc.  Getting more developers on board is crucial and necessary and I am willing to talk to anyone willing to join the project.

PC/OS Evangelism

A few of my users have sent me e-mail that they have written a review of PC/OS but the site they submitted it to, ie OSNews, Distrowatch, and Linux.com havent published it yet.

While I appreciate evangelism and you guys wanting to spread the good word about PC/OS in short there is nothing I can do.  I dont control the content of those sites.  Lisa Hoover is in charge of Linux.com, Thom is in charge of OSNews and I dont even know who is in charge of Distrowatch.  So if you have questions regarding the status of your review contact those guys but please be aware, PC/OS is not very popular with the Linux community.  They see PC/OS as a waste of time because “You can set up Ubuntu to do the same thing” well, thats the point You have to set up Ubuntu to do the same thing, with PC/OS its done already.  I dont know if that has anything to do with it.  Despite what the Linux community says or thinks, if I have one user, to me thats a reason to keep the distro alive.

I am working on a pay version of PC/OS.  This has to do with the fact that some software programs I want to include, LinDVD, RealBasic Professional, Crossover Office and Nero for Linux require a license fee and I cant distribute them like I can any other .deb package.  And I have to be able to pay for them.

But back to evangelism, I do plan to work on some Powered by banners and some other initiatives so stay tuned for that and by all means I appreciate the support.