A fun thought I had today - how about a PLUG Linux distro?

[gmiller1977]

I was splitting a ton(ne) of firewood today; and the conversation about Unity, vs other DTEs got me thinking..... how about we build a PLUG distro/desktop?  It would be interesting to see how we all use the system, and the choices that are made.

I figure we can use a free tier cloud provider, it's just for fun, afterall.

Thoughts?

Let's see what type of monster we can make

[ssfc72]

For a custom Distro, I would want to have a 1 click Shutdown button, on the Desktop.
Non of the nonsense, were you have to click an series of actions 2 or 3 times to shutdown the OS and computer.

[gmiller1977]

For a custom Distro, I would want to have a 1 click Shutdown button, on the Desktop.
Non of the nonsense, were you have to click an series of actions 2 or 3 times to shutdown the OS and computer.

LOL - we can write a custom applet called PowerCord.  Doubleclick and it turns the power off without warning.

[buster]

I was splitting a ton(ne) of firewood today; and the conversation about Unity, vs other DTEs got me thinking..... how about we build a PLUG distro/desktop?  It would be interesting to see how we all use the system, and the choices that are made.

There used to be popular distros that allowed you to make all kinds of changes to their distro, including software selection, themes, and whatever, and then you could save it as an iso. That seems like a pleasant way to do it rather than building from the ground up. (My religion doesn't allow me to use the command line more than necessary.)

A desktop like a mac would be interesting, as was being done by Pear Linux a few years ago until it was shut down. That could be built fairly easily on a plasma base using Plank. Personally for building I would shy away from Gnome or Xfce for selfish reasons. And the default wall paper would have to be the lift-lock, preferably with a canoe in the foreground.

[fox]

There used to be popular distros that allowed you to make all kinds of changes to their distro, including software selection, themes, and whatever, and then you could save it as an iso. That seems like a pleasant way to do it rather than building from the ground up.
....

I think that you are referring to Linux from Scratch. I wouldn't say that it is popular (#136 on DistroWatch), but it is being maintained (last update 3/2021), and even better, it's Canadian!

[buster]

"I think that you are referring to Linux from Scratch. I wouldn't say that it is popular (#136 on DistroWatch), but it is being maintained (last update 3/2021), and even better, it's Canadian!"

Heavens no! Using Linux from Scratch would never cross my mind in a million years. (Nor would building a car from a box of parts.) This was a popular distro that had it as a feature maybe five, six year ago (?), but in all my searches today I cannot find it. But doggedly your intrepid warrior will keek looking.

[buster]

I did find this a few minutes ago, and it holds some promise. If it does what it sort of says, we could modify a Ubuntu system, back it up to one sort of file, and from this make a bootable iso. However I do admit I skimmed the article, but if it works it would be pretty easy, and could be done from Kubuntu, Xubuntu or any offshoot besides the base Ubuntu I suspect.

https://linuxhint.com/create-iso-current-installation-ubuntu/

Quote: "Users can create a backup of their current installation in an ISO file format. The ISO file can also be used as an external drive, or you can make a bootable USB. "

[Jason]

I did find this a few minutes ago, and it holds some promise. If it does what it sort of says, we could modify a Ubuntu system, back it up to one sort of file, and from this make a bootable iso.

That's pretty cool, Buster. There are a few distros that offer something that sort of modification. PCLinuxOS does (or did) that as well. Thanks for the link.

[gmiller1977]

I did find this a few minutes ago, and it holds some promise. If it does what it sort of says, we could modify a Ubuntu system, back it up to one sort of file, and from this make a bootable iso. However I do admit I skimmed the article, but if it works it would be pretty easy, and could be done from Kubuntu, Xubuntu or any offshoot besides the base Ubuntu I suspect.

https://linuxhint.com/create-iso-current-installation-ubuntu/

Quote: "Users can create a backup of their current installation in an ISO file format. The ISO file can also be used as an external drive, or you can make a bootable USB. "

Cool stuff indeed.

So, how about we make a list of applications that we'll need in this build?

What are your top open source applications that you can't live without? 

Should we try to keep to just FOSS software or expand to allow closed source?

[buster]

"What are your top open source applications that you can't live without? "

In my opinion the best torrent system is Qtorrent, which can be set to a default shut off when torrents finish. Also Synaptic is a must for me. We like software that can be used both in Win10 and Linux, like Thunderbird and Firefox.

However, there should be more important decisions at a lower level, because these are easy to add anyway. I do like the idea of a Linux Pear clone.

And Bill wants a one click 'off'. (This cannot be at the expense of other options - Marilyn's machine goes to sleep each night with a one key click. Wouldn't like to lose that.)

[gmiller1977]

"What are your top open source applications that you can't live without? "

In my opinion the best torrent system is Qtorrent, which can be set to a default shut off when torrents finish. Also Synaptic is a must for me. We like software that can be used both in Win10 and Linux, like Thunderbird and Firefox.

However, there should be more important decisions at a lower level, because these are easy to add anyway. I do like the idea of a Linux Pear clone.

And Bill wants a one click 'off'. (This cannot be at the expense of other options - Marilyn's machine goes to sleep each night with a one key click. Wouldn't like to lose that.)

Agree on Qtorrent! 

I'm good with a MacOS looking interface.

[Jason]

What are your top open source applications that you can't live without? 

Should we try to keep to just FOSS software or expand to allow closed source?

Brave for browsing, Tutanota for secure email/calendar, Timeshift, a notes app - Joplin is nice, Spotify, SpiderOak One Backup, Veracrypt, Zoom obviously , a basic image editor/viewer - cropping, resizing, rotating.

I like using Open Source whenever I can but I have nothing against proprietary software. But if we wanted to distribute the software, we'd likely have to stick with Open Source, I believe.

[buster]

"Brave for browsing, Tutanota for secure email/calendar, Timeshift, a notes app - Joplin is nice, Spotify, SpiderOak One Backup, Veracrypt, Zoom obviously , a basic image editor/viewer - cropping, resizing, rotating."

Personal preference, but I like the idea of having all the necessary apps covered by vanilla, popular software as much as possible. BUT I think it is most important that we place a note on the desktop that can be opened and lists other software,  for examples, under the heading browser we could point out the advantages of other browsers and why they might be chosen.

Some of those I've never even heard of Jason. Doesn't mean they're not good or even excellent, but I can see us arguing for the next year about choices. I like one app per function, with the above note explaining how to get some other ones recommended by others.

I think Mac works to simplify.

[ssfc72]

Here is the Link to my post about a Link for instructions, on how to create a one mouse click shutdown of the Mint distro.
https://plugintolinux.ca/forum/index.php/topic,198.msg1021.html#msg1021

I will have to install a virtual Ubuntu distro, to see if it works with Ubuntu, also.

Our PLUG distro maybe could include this modification.

[buster]

Curious to hear if it works Bill.