[lubuntu-devel] Alternate Images

[Simon Quigley]

Greetings,

Phill. Whiteside wrote:
> Simon,
>
> lubuntu favours older computers. That has the side effect of it
> running like the wind on newer kit. Last cycle was the first time the
> alternate and desktop images became different in terms of what was on
> the finished install. The Desktop image is already a 'DVD ISO' with
> full language support. The Alternate image does not have this. Our
> default applications remain the same. Trying to support two versions
> of lubuntu of the same release is a recipe for confusion and disaster,
> not to mention we lack the human resources to do so.

That statement contradicts itself. We have the desktop and the alternate
images, yet, "Trying to support two versions of lubuntu of the same
release is a recipe for confusion and disaster, not to mention we lack
the human resources to do so."

> Do not forget, lubuntu is the only flavour in the family that people
> with machines that can only boot from CD can turn to. Something I'm
> proud of. Julien and the release team will support it for so long as
> it is tested. The massive help with the alternate image is that it is
> based on the debian installer which is exactly the same as the server
> image uses, so any bugs (as has happened this cycle), will be kindly
> looked at by one of the guys who look after the server installer and
> any lubuntu specific glitches will be addressed by the same nice
> people. Where this not the case, alternate images would have 'died' a
> couple of cycles back. 

What about the netboot image? The netboot image is *way* under CD size.
With this logic, if we really wanted a CD-sized image, there's a good
chance we could probably tweak the netboot installer to make it function
like the Lubuntu alternate installer and release that separately.

> If you, or anyone else, fancy rolling up their sleeves, it used to be
> possible to upgrade using the alternate image. The code is still
> there, but no one maintains it. I was told that if we were to maintain
> it, it could be switched back on specifically for lubuntu - which
> would be a boon for those with several computers to upgrade and who's
> bandwidth is either expensive or slow.

Debian has upgrade images. The code is there and supported by Debian. We
just need to tweak it for Lubuntu. But that would be a separate image
nonetheless.

--
Simon Quigley
tsimonq2 at ubuntu.com
tsimonq2 on Freenode