[Fedora-spins] RFC:Fedora Scientific Spin

[Amit Saha]

Hello all:

I am creating a Fedora spin for researchers and have previously
discussed this idea on the developers and release engineering mailing
list. However, with the hope that my spin will be officially accepted
for future releases, I am going to follow the process listed in [1].
As a first step, this email.

Background:
-----------------

I am a long-term Linux user and have been into full-time scientific
research for the past 3 years now. Everytime I have to do a
fresh-install of Linux (not so frequently, ofcourse), I have to
download a bunch of tools which I use regularly. For example, gnuplot,
xfig, LaTex compilers, numpy, etc.  Say hello to Fedora-Scientific.
The idea is to create a Fedora spin based on the default "Fedora GNOME
Desktop", but having additional tools which most researchers will use.

Current State
-----------------

After discussions on the release engineering mailing list with Bill
Nottingham, I proposed a patch to the comps-f16-xml.in file [2], which
basically adds a new set of mandatory packages in the "Engineering and
Scientific" group. Considering this new "Engineering and Scientific"
group, my current kickstart file looks like [3]. I have tested it with
the rawhide repository and it looks good to me. The ISO stands at ~1.2
G

Scope and Future
-----------------------

- I have decided upon the current set of applications based on my own
experience and likings. I am obviously open to include any other
application. I should point out here that my idea is to have a generic
toolset made available. The number of tools currently available in
different domains- Physics, Chemistry, Biology is just too many.

- I haven't actively looked into applications which may not be
available in the repository and is important to a spin such as this.
Needless to say, I am going to take upon the responsibility of
packaging such software.


Conclusion
--------------
That's all for now. I shall look forward to your comments and
suggestions and if this sounds like an interesting idea, will work
towards its acceptance by the Spins SIG.



[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Spins_Process

[2] http://git.fedorahosted.org/git/?p=comps.git;a=commitdiff;h=ebfe294e32736a3e3386ee9c55ffb7386821b902

[3] https://bitbucket.org/amitksaha/custom_linux/src/392dec59a13e/fedora-live-scientific.ks



Thanks!
-Amit

-- 
http://echorand.me