ClearFoundation

I would be interested to see the ClearOS community creating some 'spins' based on ClearOS. Having used some of the other so called Linux Server solutions, ClearOS is the only one which I have found which I would consider usable in a Small to Medium Enterprise business. Ebox would come close if it weren't for the huge amount of bugs, but unfortunately the bugs consigned my use of it to the trash.

A few ideas for how I think 'spins' could be developed and useful:-

1) A small business e-commerce server and Point Of Sale (POS) server, perhaps running Lemon POS.

2) A server targeted at schools, with presets set up to filter web traffic, block services etc, plus web applications set up with coursework in mind. Obviously edubuntu has already been set up to some extent with this in mind, but it seems to be mainly aimed at the younger end. I think that ClearOS is ideally suited to be adapted for High Schools & Universities.

Obviously many of the addon applications to achieve the extra functionality could be web based, therefore the main obstacles would be in synchronizing users and the various dependencies on PHP, MYSQL etc. Alternatively, these options could be developed as meta packages. There are a number of open source possibilities, though due to the various different licenses, there could of course be issues.

I think it would be important that any project that was a spinoff of ClearOS would have to have 100% compatibility with ClearOS and in no way 'break' any of the mainstream apps.

I would be interested in working in some way towards this, or at least documenting for the less knowledgeable, having spent some time now customizing the web apps side of my server.

Hi Alex,

Sorry for the slow reply -- I was on holiday for a week.

We are marching toward having spins available for ClearOS. The first one will likely be the "Home Edition" in 2011, but expect others to follow (driven by the community). The first phase is to get the new ClearFoundation build system up and running smoothly. That's already well underway (details). It's a slog going through all the packages, but we're getting there!

That's great news. I look forward to seeing those in the future.

Andreas

You obviously have had reliability issues which I have not encountered. My experience so far is that ClearOS is more reliable than some of microsoft's offerings, particularly when run on old hardware. Don't forget that there are schools and other establishments which I was referring to which aren't on the high western budgets and can't afford in-house I.T. skills.

Alex

Yes, I have never experienced reliability issues either. I switched on the server in April, and only rebooted it yesterday after the upgrade to 5.2, Apart from the reboot, I was watching the BBC's iPlayer all the way through. Bet I couldn't do that with a Microsoft product ...

my biggest problem with Microsoft's offerings and most of the linux servers is that once you do the base install, you either have to learn a LOT to get going or you are faced with a blank screen. Documentation is often very poor, particularly for Microsoft since they want you to buy their books or take an MCSE. Obviously this is way out of the range of what small businesses or schools in developing countries would want to have to do.

Alex

I don't think these will ever take off since the target audiences are looking for reliability -- something ClearOS can not offer.

Hmm...



Doesen't seem unreliable to me...