Sabayon Linux "Business Edition" Wishlist

[slmeyer]

The focus here does not seem to be especially crisp. It feels more like "What would I like my machine at work to include?" rather than an attempt to zero-in on the expectations of clearly identified/targetted groups of users or deployment scenarios. What is the basis for believing that enterprises are writing off gnome? That premise in the original post revealed an enthusiast's (as opposed to an IT manager's) perspective.

Well - the premise seems to be to include software that opens the possibility of several use scenarios:

include any software that is needed to build a server or a business workstation.

I am an IT manager in a rather small company, and I don't find it unreasonable to make one cd or dvd that includes both the server and the workstation possibilities. On the contrary it is a convenience to only have to handle and test one medium, specially given the Sabayon tradition of providing different install or use scenarios with one medium.
A business workstation is not a very well defined term, and some people, like myself need to handle graphics others need other things.
Regarding Gnome/Kde - there are distros that offer both - but not in a very error free way.
I think for a business edition based on stable the most important feature will be to be free of errors and that is most realistically achieved focusing on either one or the other. Personally I never liked thus never used Gnome. (Just to mention one thing I never found a way to navigate and operate it without the mouse)

Regarding use scenarios the natural thing would be to be able to install a server or a workstation, and very nice things would be to be able to choose the packages during installation - maybe the choice could be limited to applications that run on top of a base set that are always installed. Another very cool thing would be an easy way to remaster a new dvd from the installed and updated packages.

[node_one]

I am not sure, but maybe Dark_MaGe needs to clarify a couple of things. How large are the businesses that would be using this edition? Smaller businesses may not have the same IT resources, in terms of capital and personal, as larger businesses. Is this distribution for IT-centric businesses only? What kind of users is it targeting, IT managers only or every open-minded employee?

Here are some comments based on what I have observed while working in a small business.

* As a KDE user, I would recommend having Gnome as an install option. Choice expands your userbase. Colleagues of mine would not use KDE at all.
* Have a remote connection offering like a NX or VNC server that is secure and simple to setup and use. You are competing with RDP.
* Would highly recommend having wine and/or some virtualization. Legacy and proprietary apps can be a painful necessity, especially if they cost a lot of money and training time.
* Would recommend peer software. IM clients, samba, ftp server for sharing files easily. Not everyone will spend money and time on dedicated servers.
* Graphical/Publishing software is a definite plus.
* Would recommend mono and related tools.
* Have a streaming radio capable app. Morale booster.

Finally, I think this edition should be more focused on being a workstation than a dedicated server. I think the new Sabayon Linux Core Environment will fill-in the server needs effectively. However, an out of the box LAMP looks like a must-have to me.

[slmeyer]

I am not sure, but maybe Dark_MaGe needs to clarify a couple of things. How large are the businesses that would be using this edition? Smaller businesses may not have the same IT resources, in terms of capital and personal, as larger businesses. Is this distribution for IT-centric businesses only? What kind of users is it targeting, IT managers only or every open-minded employee?

Here are some comments based on what I have observed while working in a small business.
[list]* As a KDE user, I would recommend having Gnome as an install option. Choice expands your userbase. Colleagues of mine would not use KDE at all.

Were these users ordinary business users or rather powerusers that would maybe rather run unstable anyway or could install Gnome by themselves?

Finally, I think this edition should be more focused on being a workstation than a dedicated server. I think the new Sabayon Linux Core Environment will fill-in the server needs effectively.

OH -Yes - I didn't see that one - sure

[node_one]

Were these users ordinary business users or rather powerusers that would maybe rather run unstable anyway or could install Gnome by themselves?

They were capable and could probably install Gnome by themselves. I am not familiar with the process myself and what, if anything, can go wrong to have a better idea. However, I do not think they would try this "Business Edition" if they had to emerge Gnome as an additional step in the installation process.

[Dark_MaGe]

am not sure, but maybe Dark_MaGe needs to clarify a couple of things. How large are the businesses that would be using this edition? Smaller businesses may not have the same IT resources, in terms of capital and personal, as larger businesses. Is this distribution for IT-centric businesses only? What kind of users is it targeting, IT managers only or every open-minded employee?

Here are some comments based on what I have observed while working in a small business.

* As a KDE user, I would recommend having Gnome as an install option. Choice expands your userbase. Colleagues of mine would not use KDE at all.
* Have a remote connection offering like a NX or VNC server that is secure and simple to setup and use. You are competing with RDP.
* Would highly recommend having wine and/or some virtualization. Legacy and proprietary apps can be a painful necessity, especially if they cost a lot of money and training time.
* Would recommend peer software. IM clients, samba, ftp server for sharing files easily. Not everyone will spend money and time on dedicated servers.
* Graphical/Publishing software is a definite plus.
* Would recommend mono and related tools.
* Have a streaming radio capable app. Morale booster.


Finally, I think this edition should be more focused on being a workstation than a dedicated server. I think the new Sabayon Linux Core Environment will fill-in the server needs effectively. However, an out of the box LAMP looks like a must-have to me.

-wine inclued
-size about 2 gb
-vnc included
-nx included
-proprietary drivers included

[gaffu]

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