I am posting here a discussion with Yehuda from Israel. I asked him to continue our little email-conversation here on the forum:





Next posting is his article I received.

.... read on ....

The article.

_________________

in Tel-Aviv-Yaffo
April 22nd. 2007

Hi chris,

I decided to write down my ideas about where we all might be going IN PRACTICE.
You have my permission to publish it or quote from it "as is". If you publish it - please do it in chapters. By this didactive way - I presume - more MCNLive users will be more bennefited.
Yehuda.

What's next, MCNLive ? - Chapter One: intro.

OKAY ! we've already proved we have "it" bigger stronger +++ chipper, lighter and faster than others do blah blah blah. So, what's next ? more toying around ?? Who is REALLY going to change into MCNLive from Windows. Why not just live with this Extra-la-XPista as we do with taxes or weather-changes ? After all (as one I know said to me): "It took us as users so many years to get used to the old stuff illnesses and finally live with it. Why changing now, why urge our children to change ?". So - again - what will another OS change anyway ?"

Nevertheless, users all over the net try and drop GNU/Linux for lack of real friendly support. Support, again. Too many written words, but not a single living soul available when you need one NOWWWWW.

You know, I know "support" has different n' deep meanning in the GNU/Linux world. Why trying to 'patronate' newbees with our alegedly-progressive-colonialistic-missionaire state of mind, so they are simply BUZZOUT after a day or two, whipping complaining and 'shtinkering' their horrible experience and negligence feelings (mixed with all their other traumas, real and imaginary all mixed-up) among other potentials.

In simple words I retorically ask: Where are the masses (proletarion/ users) ?
and my answer is: They won't come, unless ...

1. We motivate potentials P2P the way nobody else ever done before.
2. Each one of us will be personally motivated, somehow, in acceptable means.
3. Either to buy Britney's face for billion$$$, either count on some smartass
politicians, see OLPC naive model, or ... establish tiny business nets
- based on small home businesses. There we sell ANYTHING SURROUNDS
the OS (like hardware, special tailormade-support etc.).

Schubert died miserably 10 years before technology enabled playing his music (that 'tech' was: concert halls). Einstein had more luck ! and he was not a full time genious as considered. He simply clashed all known knowledge into one BAANNNGGG !!! E=mc2 at ONE moment of enlightenment to Human kind back in 1905. You know, Chris, even Einstein was sceptical about his reveals till the end of his life. His theory was proved absolutely true by a computer program in about late 70's.

You, Chris (and crew), have the tool AND technology to make the change. I am not the flattering type for nothing. See, all Desktop GNU/Linux distros offer - basically - "more of the same" stuff, others-tinyones have it partially with some 'pearls' here and there (Puppy, Slax) and part of the job for us is to track what to adopt and what to drop. MCNLive has it all to be the next generation of ... a new ERA in which operating a computer will be as easy as switching a common electrical toaster ! - and in reasonable price.
_________________________________________________________
What's next, MCNLive ? - Chapter Two: improve it !


People who read my 1st. page here can get easily impressed MCNLive - in my POV - is 'ready' to make a major change for Human kind as it is. Wehhheeellll ... YES and NO.

Why YES ? because - MCNLive is innovative. The team "only" meant to minimize writings on a flash drive media. What actually you created is a new reality in which HDDs are no longer a 'must do' for installing large OSes. From now on - HDDs are for assisting jobs such as SWAPing / tmp-foldering use, or storage-purposes only. NO MORE KERNEL PANICS and system mechanical fails, because in the MCNLive flash drive kernel and system are non-writable (unless you are forced to disturb the 'holiness' and save .zip file to sda1, such a naughty and bug-generating idea. Who thought such a thing ?).

Why NOT YET ? because - not all advantages of the system are maximized in enough nanner to tell others we have done everything possible to match eveyone's needs with best tools we have handy.

Therefore, I will suggest some improvements in MCNLive system, all based on existing tech. It relates to system and Hardware too. I hope "Lente" is taking care of some.

System, software and data on media

Watching other OSes makes me think about the media we use, and try to take advantage of it in better n' efficient ways. Take a look on 2 Slackware-based distros: Slax and Puppy.

Slax has 3 advantages caught my eyes there: 1st advantage is in the ability of mounting directly from ISO file, the 2nd is its capability to save changes on a ftp server somewhere and upload it during next mount with a command-line, but an easy wizard can be written for it by SB. The 3rd. one is: the simplicity of moduling. Just imagine, a full module for gaming or a module for all what a British/Dutch/Chinese accountant needs - ready for download. Let's see to a better user experience rather than this 'timeswallower' software management tool or 'googling' (which is faster but recommended for experts only).

Puppylinux is one I personally admire ! a devine Slackware-based distro - which was written all over again from scratch. In its basis there is a system on a live CD/DVD with a flashdrive wizard. It is a small distro of about 60 Mb running totally from RAM as default. For their tinyness they had to develop special versions of known *.tar.gz to suit them. MCNLive is bigger, full featured and less limited in this field - and that's its greatness over Puppy. Yet Puppy can teach us a lot about pushing their limits the way - I wish MCNLive could do. Let's see how ...

The OS itself stays intact on media. how they store changes and data ? by what they call "*.sfs" file. In shutdown/reboot you are asked if to save. If you choose 'Yes" it is saved to a track on CD/DVD and mounted by default with the data and other new 'goodies'. Theoretically there are up to 99 tracks where each track-info 'rides' on those before it. When media is full - a wizard tells you to change media to a new 'empty' - a naked distro burned on a new CD/DVD. Those actions are limited by RAM available and data limits on media.

And now - listen to THIS: You can mount your modified Puppy, then put a CD/DVD with a newer naked version of Puppy (from main release) and KEEP ALL DATA on newer CD/DVD at a new shiny added 01 track as nothing happened !!! - Just keep on using. Wow !

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If MCNLive could do as both distro above do - I would be a very happy guy, and you people could say you exeeded the known limits and won ! For a distro such as MCNLive - which releases new versions rapidly - it is also a 'must do' to survive as an active distro in the tough world out there.

Now, in short terms - what to add to next MCNLive versions ?

1. More boot options (boot from ISO and ftp - essential). Default option remain
the same.

Have mercy on keboard-challanged guys from elsewhere and make a splash screen
in jpg with options 1=default 2=copy2ram etc. Local teams will appreciate it and
change this jpg for their own various needs. See also "2" ahead as a continuation.

2. When system already mounted - let ME as user decide whether next times it will
be the copy2ram option by default (a tiny wizard in already-mounted system ?).


3. A(nother) wizard will be made to save *.zip in many options: CD/DVD tracks,
ftp server as user defines, or to sda2, hda3, burning to my nose etc. FLEXIBILITY.
Leave sda1 pure intact. When user decides - he puts a newer version into sda1
or new CD/DVD media, copy the former CD/DVD from RAMdisk without to worry.

Personally, I don't think we should restore data automatically on mount. I do think
it should be defended by unique password, apart from other system passwords.

I open a discussion: should a newer uni-file.zip erase the former one by default ?
- or maybe a new 170407.zip should stay nearby 160407.zip and will be an
accomplishment to create - in fact - a full historical zips library riding each other ?

- and shouldn't THAT be a matter of user's wizard too ?

What about the HARDWARE for it ? Should we name one too ??

From OLPC site I took this: specification for reference purposes only.,

With MCNLive instead of (this isoteric) Fedora light, with some HW modifications could it be satisfying ? Let's see ... Battery / Manuelle power backup, put there up to 1024-2048 RAM, some upgraded cards, 56K modem, TV card, 100/10 ethernet card, DVD burner +++.

Maybe that's it. Cheap and coooool, THE RAM "TOASTER-PC" IS BORN ! Our dream machine is ready to meet its destiny. However, I think there are more moderate ways to accompany MCNLive with HW without a full functional laptop around.


Next part(s) will be following in a week or so, probably after our Memorial & Independence day.
Chris, I know some of my ideas look like Everest to a guy with family and a normal job. I am in more or less the same status as you are. That's why it's so essential to add brains to effort along with trying to create some 'deligation of power', as Jethro advised Moses. Try writing more wishing lists to the world. More SBs will see and respond. Good luck MCNL Lente (?), I'm waiting.

- Yehuda.

Interesting discussion.
MCNLive in Hebrew? (another collectors item)

Why do you want to 'boot' something?
Just run the OS you are currently using. And start the MCNLive iso, as a second OS.

Regarding the USB boot and cd media ...

It is not that hard to tell the BIOS to boot from USB. You only have to do this once. Next time it will remember, if it is a recent BIOS. And on many system you just hit a function key to tell how to boot. No messing with the BIOS.

For older computers or for people who are still not comfortable or who have no access to the BIOS, MCNLive is an all-in-one system. Start with the burned CD and the usb stick, type: livecd fromusb, and the bootprocess will continue without CD medium.

It is sad that in your country an usbstick is so expensive. Here we get a 1 GB stick for under 10 euro, a 2 GB for 14 euro. On the long run it is much cheaper than any cd medium.
And something personal: I hate CD's. In particular in a notebook. They are noisy, terrible slow, after a short while they are damaged anyway ... My next PC will be without cd- or dvd-drive.

I am still not sure if I understand your wish to store something on a ftp server.
You mean that people have their own personal ftp or storage somewhere? So it is not a centralized server?
Hmm, when they do own something like this, they can just use it, no?
With MCNLIve they would run the 'Backup/Restore Home wizard' that build an archive .tar.gz, they can transfer it to their personal storage, does not matter where it is, on a ftp server, or google gmail, on the hard disk, an usb stick or they can burn it on a cd-rw or dvd-rw.

But maybe I don't understand you?