Re: tlug: Caldera Japanese version (Clearification)

["Marc E. Christensen" <marc@example.com>]

On Tue, 16 Nov 1999, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:

> Sigh.  "Finds `the' partition"?  It is a very very bad idea to have
> _one_ partition, unless one wants to lock oneself into a given
> vendor.  You really want /home and /usr/local on separate partitions
> for smooth transitions (it's not always possible to do a smooth
> upgrade even for a new version of the same distribution), and to avoid 
> data loss /var and /tmp probably should be on different partitions
> (you could `ln -s /var/tmp /tmp' if you wanted though and just have one).

Hi ya all.  I just finished doing Q&A testing for the COL2.3J
distribution.  The Caldera 2.3 product allows for very flexible
partitioning.  You can create any custom partitioning setup you like.  To
do this you create partitions using Lizard.  The "install from MS Windows" 
option uses Partition Magic which does create only one main partition and
a swap partition on a drive.  This was done basically to accommodate two
things.  Newbies coming from the Windows world who are looking for an
easy to set up system and the Partition Magic which ships as a "limited
version" of their software which is not as flexible as their full
product.

Caldera OpenLinux is actually extremely flexible.  It has some very good
polishing which makes it attractive to people who are use to the bright and
shiny.  Under the hood, it's Linux as usual. 

> I'm beginning to think Caldera just doesn't get it.  Their "available
> to anybody no-redistribution beta" program including GPLed software,
> Windows-style "last OS you'll ever have the nerve to install"
> installers....

I don't know what you're saying here.  Caldera's distribution is always
available on their FTP site free and 100% redistributable.  They provide
iso images as well.  Their latest server product (which will be released
rsn...) beta has also been released on their web site fully
re-distributable for over a month.  This distribution is optimized for
x686, a very tight and 100% free distribution.  Their installer Lizard is
open source as well. 

The way they do things is: Distributions will typically come in three
disks for ease in separation of roles.  

   CD1 is the completely redistributable and a 100% complete distribution.
It includes all the software you usually find on any distribution.  It by
itself is considered "The Distribution".

   CD2 is the source CD for CD1 and contains all the SRPMS for every
package on CD1.

   CD3 is the commercial software CD.  It is packaged separately because
it contains software that is non-redistributable, mostly because the
packages are commercial or require license fees or other license
restrictions.  It is only available in boxed, off the shelf packages.  For
example the third CD of Japanese distribution of OpenLinux will contain
commercial fonts, input methods, word processors, etc. (you get the gist).

> Turbolinux and Debian to my certain knowledge allow flexible
> partitioning using fdisk or cfdisk; Partition Magic is smarter about
> existing Windows95 partitions, though.

The PM packaged with OpenLinux is meant only for the install of Linux.  It
makes it easy to install onto an existing MS Windows based system.  These
are typically one to two disks IDE disk systems with generic components. 
However, the flexibility is there to do what ever you want, just as it
always has been - experienced user will have no problem setting up a
partition layout as they want.

Oh, so, I may mention that I started working at Caldera (after them
talking to me for three years now) shortly after I returned from Japan as
a software engineer (thanks to every one!  I had a blast and it was great
to see everyone again - where are the pictures on the web site???). 

Caldera has been soaking up local and not-so-remote talent like crazy.  So
far, of my close associates, they have taken Kurt Wall (author of a few
Linux books, Uvae Pres of SLLUG), Erik Anderson (past long-time maintainer
of the Linux IDE CDROM driver and current President of SLLUG) among
others.. Things are really cool here! 

Ja ne...

--
Marc Christensen
marc@example.com
http://www.calderasystems.com

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