Remaining issues for the multi desktop DVD

[Jared K. Smith]

2011/1/12 "Jóhann B. Guðmundsson" <johannbg at gmail.com>:
> The showcase ( in this case Multi Live *DE DVD ) should reflect the
> final product ( tried and install Chosen Live *DE  ) as much as possible.
>
> Each *DE has it's own display manager thus the user experience would
> differ ( and cause disappointment from the end users ) from "tried and
> tested liked" to "chosen to install" ( since he would expect the same
> display manager he was presented with to begin with ) however this would
> make sense to me to do if all the *DE shared the same display manager.

There are definitely pros and cons to each method.

First, the current method that Christoph is proposing, where we put
the existing LiveCD ISOs on a DVD and use a syslinux menu to select
the desktop environment.  It has the advantage that it's already been
done and tested, it uses the existing LiveCD ISOs so there's not a lot
of additional QA work needed ("If it boots and presents the menu, it's
going to work!").  The disadvantage is that we end up with multiple
copies of the kernel, glibc, etc. on the DVD -- one for each desktop
environment.

A second alternative that was discussed earlier was to have one LiveCD
image on the DVD which had pre-configured users -- one user for each
desktop environment.  This has the advantages of having much more room
on the DVD for additional applications.  One drawback here, however,
is that we'll have to choose *one* display manager (GDM, KDM), which
obviously isn't ideal.  Another drawback is that since this is
essentially a completely new image, it'll require more testing from
QA.

Taking a step back and looking at the problem that Christoph is trying
to address (having *one* disc that can be handed out at events for new
users to be able to sample the various desktop environments and
spins), I think either of those two alternatives will do fine in the
short term.  Method number one is already basically done and requires
less preparation, so I propose that we do that for F14 media, as soon
as possible.  This will hopefully allow our European ambassadors to
have media produced in time for FOSDEM.  For F15 and beyond, I'd love
to investigate a more elegant solution, but I don't want perfection to
get in the way of us making progress now.

--
Jared Smith
Fedora Project Leader