Arch Linux

dirk2008

Member

Registered: 2015-04-02

Posts: 1

[Project - ArchLinux LiveCD] x86_64 only

Hi all,

I'd like to populate Archlinux in my region. Many friends are interested in Linux, but they have not had any contact with it yet. Some have tested *buntu, but they did not like the design of it.

So I was thinking about creating my own LiveCD with my favourite distro (ArchLinux ofc). I have read the article on the wiki > https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/archiso < and have got many questions.

First of all, is it possible to create a LiveCD for x86_64 only? I'd like to install KDE-minimal / Plasma-meta as standard desktop, and the image is should be about 2G. If I install KDE also for i686, it won't fit on a DVD anymore.

Second, I'd like to update the LiveCD every month. Do I have to rebuild the iso all the time, or is there a way to update the generated iso?

Third, is it possible to configure the LiveCD in advance? As I live in Europe and our keyboards are QWERTZ I'd like to enable it by default.

Cheers,

Dirk

tomk

Forum Fellow

From: Ireland

Registered: 2004-07-21

Posts: 9,839

Re: [Project - ArchLinux LiveCD] x86_64 only

Your enthusiasm is noted, but one of Arch's main points is the responsibility placed on the user to build their own system up from scratch, to choose their own configuration. If you start giving out a live cd based on Arch, but preconfigured with KDE, it will just look like KDE, and won't give users any idea what Arch is really like.

That said, everything you want to do there is definitely doable, so by all means go ahead.

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [Project - ArchLinux LiveCD] x86_64 only

The official iso http://www.archlinux.org/download/ is a liveCD :-) and it may embody the spirit of Arch better then a preconfigured KDE image.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,543

Website

Re: [Project - ArchLinux LiveCD] x86_64 only

Mod note: moved to Apps + DEs as these questions are more about how to use archiso than how to install archlinux itself.

To the question, I'd say while your motivation is admirable, I suspect the outcome would not be very good.  Tomk's point warrants repeating: you would not be introducing these users to archlinux, you'd simply be showing them your system.  But to me, what is even more important is the support.  Are you going to quit any job you have to provide full time support for all these users of your system?  How much time will you put into polishing it and fixing bugs?  What starts with good motivation will end in tragedy when you end up only convincing all your friends that archlinux is buggy and hard to work with - really it would only be your iso that was buggy and hard to work with, but they wont know the difference.  And this is no comment on your ability: no one person would be able to manage a project like this well.

On the flip side of that, though, a community can support such a project.  This community, however, doesn't - others do.  If you want an archlinux-based/archlinux-like live CD to show friends and neighbors, that has KDE on the live disk, then use Chakra.  Don't reinvent the wheel only to make it square: Chakra provides a nicely rounded wheel already to do just what you are looking for.

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman