23 replies to this topic

[+Stocker360]

So here it is, the discussion to find out what to use as the base for Shift²

[+Brando212]

I vote Arch base as from the messing around with it i have done, it is very stable and I personally prefer the pacman package manager over any of the others

[n_K]

Arch base with suggestions on how to compile/get packages (like with arch, what is generic is what you get, want xawtv, you've got to get useless crap like LIRC whereas utilzing gentoo's USE flags if you get it on gentoo, you don't need it at all... I'd like a concept based around that somehow)

[Syanide]

What's your niche / What are the goals of the distro / Who are you trying to "sell" this to?

[+Majesticmerc]

Voting for an Arch base. Arch is pretty barebones as it is, so building off it would be the easiest way of creating a bloat-free distro.

[Max Norris]

Personally I'd go with Arch. Minimal out of the box so it'll be easier to build on, rolling releases so you don't need to constantly churn out new ISO's, packages are typically 100% true to the author with no third party modifications, great support, centralized BSD-like configuration, a ports-like system is available, BSD style init system, etc.

[firey]

my vote goes to Arch, it gives us the most stable base, with the freedom to do what we want without the pre-loaded bloat/apps of a ubuntu style base. Much of the apps we can write if need be no real risk of breaking things that are used by 1001 other apps.

[Matthew_Thepc]

I voted for Debian just because I think it would be easier to implement with Wubi (which I do think is going to be an important plus in terms of user installs). But other than that, I really don't have much of a preference. Debian's just one I've heard talked about a lot.

[Enron]

Android

[sanctified]

Arch would be the best choice but correct me if I'm wrong... isn't Pacman a command line-only app?

Most probably I'm wrong. I've only used Arch superficially in a friend's laptop.

Also, we can't ignore Ubuntu's repos. The best app variety around (And still quite configurable as a base).

[Barney]

Our last version of Shift tried to use Arch, but we ran into major issues with branding. Couldn't get it to do what we wanted. I just wanted to give you that little tidbit. Maybe you guys have worked with it longer and can make it do what you want it to. I also agree with sanctified that Ubuntu reops can't be beat. They are updated very quickly and are fairly easy to roll into a Debian / Ubuntu based system....

[Syanide]

Is there even a friendly GUI way to install Arch? Throwing a text installer at noobs in 2012 is a no-go, but again, depends on the target audience -- if this is just a forum project makes sense to respect the poll results, but if you're in for user-friendliness, either Debian or Ubuntu.

I'm still holding my vote until I learn more about the goals of the distro.

[+Mephistopheles]

My vote goes to Debian Testing alias 'Wheezy'. Reason? Stable foundation (its development has been frozen for the next stable release on June 30th) while allowing for relatively easy backporting of packages from Debian Unstable/Experimental.

Arch has its merits, but the lack of GUI installer and configuration tools make it a no-go. Then there are the difficulties with rebasing the original Shift on Arch Barney mentioned above.

[pers3us]

Syanide, on 04 July 2012 - 11:32, said:

Is there even a friendly GUI way to install Arch?

Yes there is, please check out Chakra Project. Now i do not know how feasible it is to implement.
Though, I voted for ubuntu, as it is really easy to implement and has huge support/package base.

[+Stocker360]

It seems to be at the minute that we have more people voting for Arch. I also voted for Arch because of the fact it is a barebones system and then can be set the way we want it to.