[SOLVED] Where did JAMD linux go?

[GnomeProject]

It appears that J.A.M.D Linux has dissappeared?? Gasp! I went searching for the website earlier today because I really like that distribution, and it seems they merged with Blue Linux? and formed Ares Desktop? But now when I try to pull Ares Desktop's site up it can't find it...and searching on www.google.com/linux leads no where! ANYONE? Where did my beloved i686 optimized distribution go?

Any help would be appreciated...thanks...

[Icarus]

Lets see...
Distrowatch.com (http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=jamd) varifies that they merged with Ares (and the old http://www.jamd-linux.com/ link redirects to a new web host company http://www.lunarpages.com/)

The link to http://ares-linux.com is now dead and distrowatch reports that Ares is dead (http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=ares)
Status This distribution appears to have been discontinued.

Sorry, your beloved i686 optimized distribution is toast.

[GnomeProject]

Thanks Icarus...so...tell me this? how hard do you think it would be to "assume" development on this Just Another Modified Distribution (JAMD)??? It can't be more than a few scripts modified here, recompiling kernels, releasing updates and so on... I just don't know where I might get started other than "unpackaging" the old ISO images I have... :-? Not sure though...just kicking this idea around... I just don't think it would take "a lot" because it really isn't a "different" distribution, just a modified RedHat version.

[Icarus]

Being based off Red Hat, should be no problem to pick out the src.rpms and compile them for i686

The real problem are a couple things
A) Taking the time to recompile every update for every package release
B) web space to put all the recompiled binaries
C) Community support is always useful, and when maintaining a large project like this...needed

Honestly, I would repackage Fedora with a 'regular' kernel, none of that SELinux stuff.

Just toss in your own logo's and icon set and BAM! You have your own distro :)

[blobaugh]

Icarus == cheater;)

[GnomeProject]

That's definitely a tantalizing idea Icarus. But I would primarily be interested in making a distribution that say...has all multimedia plugins, to include JAVA working out of the box, is optimized for i686 and maybe 64bit computing and a light wm that's very well done with say openbox running rox filer and superkaramba??? and potentially a fancy menu on the bottom? I have webspace and so forth, so no issue there, and free time, so I guess I need to setup a community...haha... :-) But I am thinking something slack based... Icarus, would you be willing to hash some ideas out with me...not necessarily more than that...just hash some ideas out?

[hard candy]

I think one of the best things you can do is go to distrowatch and go down the list of distros and look at some. See what they are doing. Some I would look at are Vidalinux, Uhbantu, Mepis, EvilEntity, Turbolinux,etc and see what can be done. Then look at the Linux from Scratch site docs and see how distros are set up and some things you can do with the scripts and run levels.

[Icarus]

Originally posted by blobaugh
Icarus == cheater;) And? Isn't that what 90% of the distros out there are anyway?

SuSE and Mandrake were based off Red Hat
Knoppix and it's 1000's of offspring are Debian
Vector is Slackware
Gentoo is mostly unique, but portage based came from BSD

That's all distros are, they take the ideas of others and build off of it...that's what Open Source is about

But that's about all I'm willing to give to this :)

[bwkaz]

Originally posted by GnomeProject
But I would primarily be interested in making a distribution that say...has all multimedia plugins, to include JAVA working out of the box, Err, you would want to read up on the terms of the licenses that your web browser uses before doing that.

Sun's Community Source License (the license that Java is distributed under) is NOT compatible with most open source licenses. Therefore, it would be illegal to redistribute the Java plugin with any browser using an incompatible license (that's why no distro does it today; it's illegal).

It's legal to use Java with Firefox (as an end user), for example, but it's not legal to distribute Firefox with an included Java plugin. The GPL license doesn't allow it, and the MPL/LGPL might (but that depends on the terms of the SCSL).

Also see http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/let-java-go.html:

Sun's terms are so restrictive that Linux distributions cannot even include Java binaries for use as a browser plugin, let alone as a standalone development tool.

[GnomeProject]

Sun's Community Source License (the license that Java is distributed under) is NOT compatible with most open source licenses. Therefore, it would be illegal to redistribute the Java plugin with any browser using an incompatible license (that's why no distro does it today; it's illegal).

Well that just sucks!!! Thanks y'all for your help. Maybe I can gather all those plugins up and have them on the box with a handy tutorial on how to install them when people boot their OS for the first time? Ehh, I'll get a crackin' on this or maybe just join another distro. like icarus and hard candy suggested. Thanks again!

-Adam

[hard candy]

Even gentoo uses blackdown java. And if you choose "doc" as a use flag, it requires you to go to Sun's site, agree to the license, download the extra docs, and then continue with "emerge system".
I think most distros start out with blackdown java and then you have to pick Suns java as an extra download. So you could use Blackdown java to start.

[GnomeProject]

I also use blackdown JAVA, but off the top of my head I guess I don't know the major differences between the two. I'll have to read up on them; however, do you know much about the licensing for Real? or any other multimedia plugins? or would it be better for me to go to their individual sites and examine their licensing schemes individually.

The only reason I am "harping" on the specific are of multimedia is because it's a major cause for complaint for many of my friends and family members who want to "try" a distribution, but don't want to put forth the "GNU/Linux Effort" it takes to "learn" more about their system; they merely want their machine to boot and work, much like those other OS's on the market. NOW, DON'T get me wrong! I am not saying other OS' are better or worse -- I personally love Linux -- but, not everyone that uses a computer has the capacity for learning much more or even the DESIRE. And yes, I just touched on two big flame categories, but I really don't want this thread to get off on that foot, all I want is to find a distro. geared heavily towards multimedia, maybe like EvilEntity? that the average Joe or Jenna can use like their current OS'.

Any ideas on what plugins would be ideal and best to have? and possibly any distros. that maybe I can look into starting with or possibly helping other than EvilEntity (I say other than them because I think development has significantly slowed with that distro -- BUT I COULD BE WRONG!)?

[bwkaz]

You would want to make SURE you've read the Blackdown license terms... last time I checked, I thought they were still distributing it under the SCSL also, though.

Originally posted by GnomeProject
I also use blackdown JAVA, but off the top of my head I guess I don't know the major differences between the two. There isn't much difference. Blackdown takes the SCSL-licensed JDK source code, and recompiles it. They have one version using gcc 2.95, and one using gcc 3.2.

I don't know if this gives them the right to redistribute the resulting product under non-SCSL terms. I highly doubt it.