Monday, December 20, 2010

On Distro Watch Wait Listing

If you have been exploring the world of Linux for any amount of time then odds are you have come across the website Distro Watch at some point or another.



Distro Watch performs a great service for the FOS operating system community. They document releases, package lists, and a host of other information about Linux, BSD, and other FOS operating systems. It is the one stop shop to helping you find the perfect FOS operating system for you. A person can loose days (weeks, months) sorting through all the choices there.

My own project, Bodhi Linux, is really up and rolling now. My small team and I have a website setup, forums, our own debian repository and torrent tracker. As such I have been asked by a number of people as to why the distribution still isn't listed on Distro Watch. For those who are unaware, Distro Watch has a waiting list for new distributions. They currently receive between two and four distributions per week - the waiting list allows them sort out which distributions are going to last and which will simply fade away quickly. A distribution must sit on the waiting list for a year or until someone someone purchases a 200$ ad for it.

Bodhi was added to the waiting list on 11/18/10, so unless I find a spare 200$ laying around in my sock drawer there are only eleven more months before Bodhi finds itself listed. While there are exceptions to every rule - I'm not holding my breath that Bodhi will be one of them. Really a shame considering there are only a handful of distributions listed that use the Enlightenment desktop.

~Jeff Hoogland

15 comments:

  1. If you do enough work to it in the next year, maybe.

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  2. I for one will watch bodhi linux, maybe it's time to switch to it fulltime from my debian/e17 setup. Don't loose heart Jeff. keep the minimal computing flag flying.

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  3. Strange you mention this, Jeff. After defending Bodhi on DWW then coming here mentioning about a certain someone crying to Ladislav, I am banned from the site. Odd how that works, isn`t it? Also, check out the story on their website about the convo that Ubuntu Satanic Edition had with same about why they weren`t listed when the Christian and Muslim editions were. They were basically told that it was his site and he would do as he wanted. So much for impartiality...

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  4. The reason you haven't been listed as yet is because there just isn't that much real community interest in your project at this time. Unless you get a large following quickly, you get put on the annual waiting list.

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  5. No, I really think L****r cried to Lad about how snarky he thought you were, and Lad listened to him, since he seems to live at the site. Keep your stick on the ice, lol.

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  6. Ah, I was not aware it was you who started Bodhi, Jeff. e17 has always been my choice for those less-than-modern computers, as I find it more than capable in the face of supposedly more mature environments like Xfce4. Of course, some would say it's poorly integrated, but if it weren't etk-based it wouldn't be very speedy or pretty, now would it?

    I think your particular spin is certainly interesting and will likely stay around for a while. It certainly got more attention than MoonOS or OpenGEU so far as I've been following these. I think 11 months, while quite a while in FOSS-time, wouldn't be an awfully restrictive time to wait for the addition.

    That said, I'm grateful for your contribution and commitment to keeping Bodhi recent and reliable.

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  7. I always wonder why people base on distributions without a good control center. You could have selected a Mandriva derivative like Unity Linux as base and reaped the benefits of the Mandriva control center while still maintaining a lightweight core.

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  8. Control center or not - Ubuntu is a top distro for a reason.

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  9. Hi Jeff

    I never heard before, about the Distro's $200 ad contribution, to become part of DW data base. Is it stated in the DW site, or did you get that info by some private way?

    fore17

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  10. Afraid will have to agree with the above Anonymous squeezed in between Randy's pair of comments.
    Little real community interest in your project at this time and your bodhi's now at a fraction of a 13 alpha (0.1.3). Distributing your blog-whinings on overdrive all over the 'Net this Holiday season just isn't going to do it for ya, sorry. Do keep at the bodhi development, though, during the academic break, and remember to post once this gets past the 1st or 2nd beta!

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  11. Not trying to whine, I understand why the waiting list is there. At the same time I just wanted to let my people know why the project isn't listed yet.

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  12. Hey Jeff, Greg_S. here. Always read your blog. Dude, why do people have to come on here and be such jerks? I'm gonna say something to the Anonymous user saying Jeff is whining. Get out of your troll cave, stop flaming behind the safety of your keyboard, and try talking smack to someone's face IN REAL LIFE. See how far that gets you buddy. Get a life, SERIOUSLY.

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  13. I'm excited by your Bodhi Linux project and I hope it will be there in three or four months for me to try. I've put it down on my calendar for March 25, 2011 to try it out.

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  14. I don’t have a problem with a waitlisting policy, just so long as they apply it consistently. But they don’t. For example, Oracle’s “Unbreakable Linux” was put straight on the current list without waiting, just because it had a big name behind it. And we all know how well that turned out...

    Lawrence D’Oliveiro

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  15. @Lawrence That is my issue with it as well. The project I linked to (Pinguy OS) was pushed right past the waiting list after less than a couple of months

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