University Distribution

[jimanyjim]

Hi there,

Firstly I want to say how much I appreciate the work that has gone into knoppix. I hope that someone will be able to help me with my problem.

Last night I had the idea that my university (Sheffield,UK) should produce its own linux live-cd to give to new students. I figured it would benefit the reputation of the university, and also the students and staff. This morning I pitched the idea to the head of computer science, who basically said no, but I really don't think he needs much more persuading to at least entertain the idea. His problem is the work load he sees in creating a linux distro, and he thinks that if it is not updated every three months the reputation of the uni would be tarnished.

What I need to swing the balance is a polished, university branded disc to show him. Now I am certainly no linux expert , but I am willing to learn to 'get the ball rolling' because I believe this could be truly beneficial for everyone at the uni. I am also hoping that once the idea has acceptance from the uni, students will run with the idea and make my initial rebranding something much more.

A few questions:

Are there any legal implications of a uni customising and rebranding knoppix?

Would Klaus or anyone qualified be interested in assisting me in a rebrand? (I understand this is a big ask, but it could benefit knoppix too)

Is there anything else I should consider?



thanks in advance

[UnderScore]

Are there any legal implications of a uni customising and rebranding knoppix?

None as far as I can tell. I wrote a guide for making your own customized Knoppix HOWTO: Remaster the easy way using menu based scripts have had nothing but good positive feedback from it. I also wrote a review of the book "Knoppix Hacks" for Newsforge.com Review: "Knoppix Hacks". In book, Klaus Knopper finishes the forward with:

Perhaps some part of this book will encourage you to create your own live CD with your own toolkit collection installed. You can do this using the included Knoppix CD as a base or by downloading a fresh version from the Internet. This book shows you how. Happy Hacking!

From this I gather that we all are OK to make derivatives of Knoppix. See also this list of Debian dervived distros http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=independence. Check that list and you will find at least a dozen Knoppix dervived distros.

From a legal point of view (in my opinion), all materials distributed on a Knoppix dervived CD should be Free as in freedom: either licensed under GPL, LGPL, BSD, and other Free licenses. A legal grey area is the combination of Free software pieces and proprietary or tightly controlled pieces. If a user was given a live CD that included closed/Not-Free software, then the user can not legally distribute this live CD and this takes the away the freedom to give away Knoppix to anyone and only empowers the original creator of the closed/Not-Free software. The question , to which I don't have an answer is: Does a closed Not-Free proprietary program on live CD trump the GPL and other FreeSoftware on the live CD? We received Knoppix for Free & all derivatives should remain Free.

Would Klaus or anyone qualified be interested in assisting me in a rebrand? (I understand this is a big ask, but it could benefit knoppix too)

Probably best if you find his email & ask him, but for myself, I am too busy to get involved in other people's projects.

Is there anything else I should consider?

Time & responsibility. Do you have the time to make & test a live CD distro? As someone who has written a HOWTO and knows this subject, I can assure you that it takes a heap of time do make something different than standard Knoppix and worthy of being distributed. Do you have the time to support it? Would you want the responsibility to support it? If very little was changed (icons, wallpapers, sounds) from Knoppix in your live CD, then most often the members of this forum are eager to help since the impact of the changes would be minimal.

I hope this helps.
James

[jimanyjim]

Thanks very much for replying.

I think that initially, the disc would be very much a 'rebranding' as apposed to one with whole-sale changes. That is, icons changed, theme changed, background and KDE loading screen changed. Perhaps I could rearrange the start-menu so that apps are arranged by subject?
My hope is that students who like the idea will jump on board and create a community like you have here.

thanks

[nelsongs]

jimanyjim,
On http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18222 I am making available a script I developed with the important help of some friends. It´s named knxhdremaster_en-1.2.sh. It´s aimedl to remaster the knoppix box you customize on your hd. That means, you install knoopix, take out whatever you want, install additional packages at your own discretion, configure the panel, the splash screen, the menu, the background, etc... and simply run the script. It will build a live CD exactly as you have customized. It´s like you are doing the"rebrand" you mentioned. If you´re gonna trying it, please, pickup the last one available on the address mentioned on the 2nd page of that topic. You should also follow the instructions I presented there, not mentioning that you must have available at least 1GB of combined RAM+SWAP in order to run it properly. It means, if you have, say, 256MB RAM you´ll need to set a partition or a swap file of about 750MB.
Any doubts, please post and I´ll appreciate to help you as far as my knowledge alllows me.
Cheers.

[paradocs]

Hi jimanyjim,

I have a simple step by step dialog to make a clone of a KNOPPIX/KANOTIX
live boot-able CD or DVD. Basically you can add content, background, boot
options, change the intial html introduction, and save desktop preferences.
This might be a simple way to start.
http://grow-knoppix.berlios.de/
Best Wishes
paradocs