Off the top of my head: Damn Small Linux Puppy Linux Vector Linux
I did a search for "lightweight distros" and found some others I'd never heard of before: Feather Linux DeLi Some lightweight distros are lightweight because of the window manager they use, and the applications they bundle. That won't help for LTSP. We need to find one that is lightweight based on its under-the-hood stuff (and I need some clarification on exactly what this entails). -Rob On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 09:52:02AM -0800, Jordan Erickson wrote: > Just a thought, are there any existing projects for any distros for > 'minimalist' kernels/friends? For example, would we be able to take > anything from Xubuntu and use it in Ubuntu chroot, without having to > think about using a completely different distro? > > It feels to me like we're trying to backtrack to the 4.2 days, wanting > to take *complete* chroot control back, and, well, I'm sure there were > some pretty good reasons to move away from that model (already described > previously in the thread). Maybe there's a happy medium here that > involves existing distro projects for older/smaller systems (like I > said, Xubuntu for Ubuntu being one of the 'minimalist, low power' > projects) :) > > > Cheers, > Jordan/Lns > > > Rob Owens wrote: > > On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 10:35:28PM -0800, Nicholas Metsovon wrote: > > > >> You know, this has all been real interesting. I downloaded Damn Small > >> Linux (DSL) tonight. I have a real old laptop that I've wanted to find a > >> better way to have it connect to our LTSP server for when I have to travel. > >> > >> I tried just the embedded version running on Windows, and it confirmed > >> that applications on the LTSP server would run just fine using ssh -X, if > >> I wanted to make some sort of menu system (or a whole bunch of links) to > >> call whatever programs I wanted to run. And I could even run multiple > >> programs at the same time that way. > >> > >> Then I had the idea to ssh -X to the LTSP server, calling NX client. I > >> used it to log right back into the LTSP server, and wha-la, I had my full > >> LTSP desktop! > >> > >> So, theoretically, a person could install DSL on some of these old > >> computers, and upon startup have it call NX (or FreeNX, if you need more > >> connections and don't want to pay NX for them). DSL didn't ask me for a > >> password, so when the NX login dialog box shows up, it'd be like the first > >> and only time the user would be asked to log in. Then, gee, you'd be > >> connected to the LTSP server very much like a regular LTSP implementation. > >> > >> > > An even easier way is to run DSL in text mode (I believe you type: DSL 2 > > at the boot prompt), then run X like this: X -query myltspserver > > > > That'll give you a full desktop gui from the ltsp server. I have to give > > credit to Les Mikesell on the K12LTSP list for teaching me this trick years > > ago. > > > > www.thesymbiont.com has a boot stick device which does basically what we > > have discussed. It loads a basic local operating system, and then connects > > to > > an LTSP server, and NX server, a VNC server, etc. It costs money, but the > > money goes to a company that participates in LTSP development. > > > > > >> Granted, theoretically, you'd have an operating system on the clients that > >> you might have to maintain; but I think that'd be minimal. (With the > >> embedded approach, you could probably get away from all of that.) At the > >> same time, you'd still have all of the advantages of having your LTSP > >> server as the one machine you have to maintain for software & security > >> updates. > >> > >> > > I'd just run it off the live cd and leave it at that. > > > > > >> You might have to tweak your DSL gui a little bit if you wanted to do away > >> with it's menu and desktop, etc. -- but this might not be a bad solution > >> for some of those old PC's out there. > >> > >> One thing - remote sound from the LTSP server didn't work on the embedded > >> DSL when I ran it. But when you're trying to eek out a little more life > >> from some really old machines, you might just have to be happy without > >> some of the bells and whistles. (Forgive the pun, please!) 'Not to say > >> that one might not be able to overcome that with a little work. > >> > >> > > I agree that not all features are necessarily required for the older > > clients. I think it's important to provide basic computing needs on old > > hardware, > > but things like flash and sound can probably be done without (or at least > > come later). > > > > > >> It's something to consider... > >> > >> -- > >> > >> Of course, I'd like to think that there should be a way to take the DSL > >> image, feed it back to a normal LTSP thin client at boot-up, so it doesn't > >> even need to be installed on the client, and somehow connect to the server > >> from it. > >> > >> -- > >> > >> So, Rob, if you have a couple of weeks off, does any of this sound like > >> anything you'd like to play with? Maybe it could be like an add-in > >> contribution for LTSP users needing this kind of remedy. > >> > >> > > I'll see what I can come up with. > > > > -Rob > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA > > -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise > > -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation > > -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H > > _____________________________________________________________________ > > Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss > > For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA > -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise > -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation > -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD > http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H > _____________________________________________________________________ > Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss > For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H _____________________________________________________________________ Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
