[Live-demo] Re: Disk Priorities

[Hamish]

Alex wrote:
> > FYI, keeping the total iso size to 3.2-ish GB before adding
> > the Windows/Mac installers actually helps ensure it will
> > also fit on a 4GB USB flash drive with enough room to save
> > files.
...
> > Natural Earth  1

how much room does that want?

> > Marble add-ons  0 (not sure what it would add)

marble-data is already installed, nothing more to do.

> > NASA WorldWind -0 (Isn't it a programming api, not an actual
> > application, or did people mean to include a sample
> > application? I'm concerned it would be a behemoth of
> > uncompiled code)

I would consider WW if an active user stepped up willing to
maintain it, and it wasn't too big. else it just sits on the
wish list. Of course we can have installer scripts and disable
them in a particular build. (users could roll their own custom
discs)


Brian wrote:
> keeping things down to 3.2 GB is good, because... ??

As Alex wrote, "with enough room to save files."

* The USB stick is a persistent install, so you want a little
workspace to play with.
* The current ubuntu USB-live tool forces you to format the
usb stick as vfat first, which is not efficient for large
volumes and so you lose a couple hundred MB in file system
overheads.
* The base image is immutable. Any changes to it get saved to
the user-space and get applied over the top. So the free space gets gobbled up a lot faster than a normal hard-drive install.
* The base image is compressed, the user space is not.


> contents: I think a collection of installers for other
> platforms, and a LiveDVD that boots Linux, are just different.

Perhaps, but for something that is handed out at conferences
as a demo they both contribute to the goal of wider visibility
and use of OSGeo tools. Which is why we are here..

By making things like Firefox and OpenOffice available on all
platforms, it makes the particular operating system you are
using less important and any later transition less painful.
If the base operating system becomes less important/irrelevant
any one with a monopoly loses power (aka why MS fears Google). 

Handing out FOSS4G installers to Mac users is an easy win,
they'll be willing to try new & lesser known software if it
means they can get through their work day without needing a
second machine, dual boot, or virtual session running MS ware.


Cameron:
> > * Develop a powerpoint presentation of the LiveDVD
> > which can be used by anyone wanting to show off GeoSpatial
> > Open Source at their local conference or workplace. This
> > could be complemented by a Video of the same powerpoint.

use full-screen PDF instead of PPT. looks the same, works
better, and works everywhere. screencasts are easy & efficient
in flash for video, but I'm not sure if there is a better tool.
I'm hoping there is.


Cameron:
> > Infrastructure:
> > =========
> > * Formalise our project organisation somewhat, formalising
> > some of our processes (similar to OSGeo project
> > requirements).

as stated earlier, I am luke-cold on the idea of us going down
the path of applying for incubation status.

IMHO for a small project such as ourselves it kills the vibrancy
of potential collaborators. Also I think the license issue is
a non-issue. All contributed scripts are required to have a
license statement, and let's face it- we're not really creating
a new and unique work here, we're making a conglomerate of other
people's original works, hopefully into something who's whole is
greater than the sum of its parts.

The power and the decisions need to come bottom-up from the
representatives of the contributing projects and the conference
organizers. Even the suspicion of top-down or inner-clique
decisions kills dead new+outside contributions. Keep it open,
keep it public, keep decisions based on technical consensus of
the group, not on strategy (aka politics). Anyone who wants to
contribute a voice and has a good idea should get a say IMO.

Which is a very long winded way of saying that when this project
no longer becomes fun to work on I'll drift away on to other
things with no hard feelings. I am interested in spending my
time making cool new tech, not having back room votes to decide
on which font to use or which wallpaper to use on the bike shed.

If we're doing this communication thing right, there should
never be an issue which requires a formal vote. At that point
the community is already fractured and the project is in real
trouble.


Also fwiw, I will not put my self in a position to take on legal
liability for something which pulls in binary blobs from the
four (respectable) corners of the internet and where someone
else has clicked-through license agreements for you, etc.


my 2c,
Hamish