Debian történet
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A legtöbb Debian felhasználó nem tudja, hogy a Debian a Deborah (Ian Murdock felesége) és az Ian (DebIan) szavakból áll össze. Ian Murdock az az ember, aki 10 éve útnak indította a világ legnagyobb nem kereskedelmi Linux terjesztését, a Debiant.
Az indulás az alábbi levéllel kezdődött, amelyet 1993. augusztus 16-án Ian elpostázott a comp.os.linux.development hírcsoportba.
Feladó: Ian A Murdock (imurdock@shell.portal.com)
Tárgy: New release under development; suggestions requested
Fellow Linuxers,
This is just to announce the imminent completion of a brand-new Linux release, which I'm calling the Debian Linux Release. This is a release that I have put together basically from scratch; in other words, I didn't simply make some changes to SLS and call it a new release. I was inspired to put together this release after running SLS and generally being dissatisfied with much of it, and after much altering of SLS I decided that it would be easier to start from scratch. The base system is now virtually complete (though I'm still looking around to make sure that I grabbed the most recent sources for everything), and I'd like to get some feedback before I add the "fancy" stuff.
Please note that this release is not yet completed and may not be for several more weeks; however, I thought I'd post now to perhaps draw a few people out of the woodwork. Specifically, I'm looking for:
1) someone who will eventually be willing to allow me to upload the release to their anonymous ftp-site. Please contact me. Be warned that it will be rather large :)
2) comments, suggestions, advice, etc. from the Linux community. This is your chance to suggest specific packages, series, or anything you'd like to see part of the final release.
Don't assume that because a package is in SLS that it will necessarily be included in the Debian release! Things like ls and cat are a given, but if there's anything that's in SLS that you couldn't live without please let me know!
I'd also like suggestions for specific features for the release. For example, a friend of mine here suggested that undesired packages should be selected BEFORE the installation procedure begins so the installer doesn't have to babysit the installation. Suggestions along that line are also welcomed.
What will make this release better than SLS? This:
1) Debian will be sleeker and slimmer. No more multiple binaries and manpages. 2) Debian will contain the most up-to-date of everything. The system will be easy to keep up-to-date with a 'upgrading' script in the base system which will allow complete integration of upgrade packages. 3) Debian will contain a installation procedure that doesn't need to be babysat; simply install the basedisk, copy the distribution disks to the harddrive, answer some question about what packages you want or don't want installed, and let the machine install the release while you do more interesting things. 4) Debian will contain a system setup procedure that will attempt to setup and configure everything from fstab to Xconfig. 5) Debian will contain a menu system that WORKS... menu-driven package installation and upgrading utility, menu-driven system setup, menu-driven help system, and menu-driven system administration. 6) Debian will make Linux easier for users who don't have access to the Internet. Currently, users are stuck with whatever comes with SLS. Non-Internet users will have the option of receiving periodic upgrade packages to apply to their system. They will also have the option of selecting from a huge library of additional packages that will not be included in the base system. This library will contain packages like the S3 X-server, nethack and Seyon; basically packages that you and I can ftp but non-netters cannot access. 7) Debian will be extensively documented (more than just a few READMEs). 8) As I put together Debian, I am keeping a meticulous record of where I got everything. This will allow the end-user to not only know where to get the source, but whether or not the most recent version is a part of Debian. This record will help to keep the Debian release as up-to-date as possible. 9) Lots more, but I'll detail later...
Anyway, I'll provide more specifics in a week or so after I receive enough replies.
Please, all replies by mail. I'll post a followup. If you wish to discuss this in the newsgroup, please don't turn it into a flamewar. :)
Until later,
Ian -- Ian Murdock Internet: imurdock@shell.portal.com The Linux Warehouse
Please mail me for more information on the status of the Debian Linux Release.
Akkoriban még csak néhány tízezer rajongó használt Linuxot, nagy részük valamilyen homebrew rendszert, vagy Peter MacDonald nevével fémjelzett SLS-t (Softlanding Linux System) használt.
Ian 1993 januárjától használt Linuxot. Egy idő után azonban elégedetlen lett. Mint a legtöbb Linux felhasználó, Ő sem a Linuxszal kapcsolatban volt elégedetlen, hanem a körülötte formálódó közösséggel.
Akkoriban a Linux fejlesztések teljesen logikátlanok voltak. Az emberek különösebb tervek nélkül, a világ minden pontján elszórva, különböző nyelveket beszélve, fizetés nélkül hogyan akarhattak volna komplett operációs rendszert fejleszteni?
Ezt felismerve Ian 1993 közepén megfogalmazta célját: egy szépen csomagolt Linux terjesztést kell létrehozni.
Abban az időben néhány más terjeztés is létezett. Ilyenek voltak az MCC Interim a Manchester Computing Centre-től, vagy a TAMU a Texas A&M Egyetemtől, de ezek a fejlesztések szép csendben eltűntek. 1993 elején kétségtelenül a SLS volt a király.
Minek köszönhette az SLS a népszerűségét?
Annak, hogy a legtöbb disztribúció akkoriban nem tartalmazott mást, mint a Linux kernelt, az alaprendszert és a fejlesztéshez használt alapvető programokat (toolchain). Az SLS volt az első olyan disztribúció, amely Linuxot szállított a szélesebb közönségnek, és nem csak a fejlesztőknek. A SLS tartalmazott ablakozó rendszert, dokumentum formázó programokat, játékokat és más olyan programokat amelyet a szélesebb felhasználói réteg igényelt.
Ennek ellenére az SLS számos dologban hiányt szenvedett, és ezt ismerte fel Ian Murdock. Összeszedte az SLS hiányosságait, kijavította azokat, különböző patcheket készített az SLS-hez, amelyek később a Debian alapját képezték. Ekkortájt született a cikk elején említett levél.
Aztán néhány " majdnem kész" levél után Ian rájött, hogy ezt egyedül nem tudja csinálni. Úgy gondolta, hogy itt az ideje annak, hogy elővegye a korai elképzeléseit, és implementálja a nyílt fejlesztési modellt a munkájában.
1993. augusztus 27-én megszületett az a levél, amelynek a subject-jében már a Debian szó szerepelt, és amely már egy formális státusz jelentés volt a projekt állásáról.
Feladó:Ian A Murdock (imurdock@shell.portal.com)
Tárgy:Debian: a brief status report
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who dropped me a line with comments and suggestions. I'm sorry that I didn't have time to respond to them all, but there was simply no way for me to do so and make progress on the Debian release at the same time :)
I'm going to keep this brief, but I just wanted everyone to know how things were going. Sorry I've been so quiet for the last few weeks, but I've been extremely busy (to say the least). First of all, two requests:
1) I have a generic IDE controller and drive, so if there are kernel patches for your SCSI board that are not yet a part of the standard kernel then please let me know. Please tell me the *exact* name of the package and it's *exact* location. I will patch the bootdisk kernel with all available SCSI patches to ensure that as few people as possible have trouble with the initial install. I don't keep up with SCSI developments so please help me out. :)
2) Would everyone prefer a distribution in 'package' format (i.e. base.tgz, bin.tgz, etc.) or 'disk' format (i.e. disk1, disk2, etc.)? The latter 'disk' format would consist of Linux disk images that would need to be either rawritten (under DOS) or dd'ed (under UNIX). I would personally prefer the latter, but if everyone else likes the 'package' format then I will use it instead. The 'series' format, ala SLS and Slackware, will not be used. Please let me know what you would prefer.
I would like to point out here that I would like this distribution to develop in the same way as much of the rest of Linux has developed. In other words, I want everyone to *contribute* to this effort and not simply use something that one man or team has put together. This distribution will be improved by the Linux community as a whole, and I will simply serve as the coordinator of the effort.
For this reason, the first release of the Debian distribution will only be a TESTING release. It will be available to everyone who wants it (the exact location will be disclosed when an official announcement is made on c.o.l.a.), but I strongly recommend that anyone who does not want to be involved in its initial development wait until Debian has left the TESTING phase. Please remember that I started this release from scratch and that thus far only a few others have seen it. I want to get some input and make some changes before I deem the distribution suitable for the 'end-user'.
Anyway, that's all for now. Keep an eye out for an official announcement on c.o.l.a. at the beginning of next week. Please drop me a line if you're interested in 'joining the team'.
See you on c.o.l.a.,
Ian -- Ian Murdock Internet: imurdock@shell.portal.com The Linux Warehouse
Bővebben a Debian indulásáról Ian Murdock levelében.
