Morphix, Alex de Landgraaf interview

9. 12. 2008 | Luboš Doležel, Robert Krátký | Rozhovory | 3610×

1. Why did you start to use Linux? Did you use other operating systems before choosing Linux?

I started using Linux out of curiosity, in the late 90's. Before that I mainly used Windows/DOS and Apple's OS 6 and 7 before that.

2. What made you consider starting/joining the development of an 'alternative' distribution?

I had been playing around with Knoppix for some time before I started Morphix. Back then the main issue was that Knoppix worked excellent, but was rather difficult to customize. I released a slimmed-down version of Knoppix, added a few features to ease customizing, and bang: you have your own distribution.

3. What did the 'big' distributions lack (or had too much of)?

As answered above, the main reason back then was that the default Linux Live CD (Knoppix) was monolithic. Morphix was set up with a more modular nature, aimed at users building their own distributions.

4. What do you say to those who think the Linux world should be more united and focus on co-operation rather then resolve problems by forking projects?

Mu. There is no single 'Linux world', instead it is a lively community where everyone pursues his or her own interests. Forking isn't bad, it shows how evolution pushes the community forward by trying new ideas.

The only area where unity would be a great improvement is in the packaging area, but you'd have more luck in solving the vi-vs-emacs debate so there is little point in pursuing it.

Oh, and Emacs wins.

5. Is Morphix your primary operating system? How many other distros have you used so far? Which ones?

Debian is my main distribution for desktops and servers, and I see Morphix as a means to put a subset of Debian packages on a Linux Live CD (and optionally install this subset). I do use a Morphix installation on my laptop though, and continue to work on various specialized distributions based on Morphix.

In the past I have used many distributions: SuSE was my first, but I've also used Red Hat, CentOS, Slackware, Gentoo and recently CentOS. Debian beats them all with ease (may the distro-wars errupt!).

6. What is Morphix's killer feature(s)?

Customization.

7. What do you plan to implement/improve? What can we look forward to in Morphix's next release?

Heh, Morphix itself hasn't released in quite some time, instead we have daily builds that users can use for their own projects. The build tools and scripts are gradually improving, depending on the needs and requests in our small community.

Morphix will continue to provide a basis for users wanting their own Live CD, but I don't see any major release from Morphix for general-purpose use on the horizon. There are enough of those already.

8. What do you consider the biggest obstacle for mass deployment of Linux on the desktop?

Users, and in companies and organizations the lack of will/incentive to start LotD-pilots.

We can blame hardware companies for not supplying drivers or specifications, we can blame software companies for not porting tools to Linux or for locking in existing users, but in the end it's all up to users not wanting anything different. Linux has been ready for casual users for years, but that is precisely the (very large) group that won't experiment for themselves. As long as they can get by with Windows, they will perceive anything else as foreign and strange.

I'm still an optimist however: Firefox and OpenOffice are continuing to gain users and a lot of applications are being moved to the web, so switching is becoming increasingly more easy.

cheers,

Alex
Morphix project lead

       

Komentáře

[Radek]

to je dobry

[nooneanymore]

Ten člověk je mi sympatický, jak přítupem k zakládání nových projektů tak tím, že správně odhadnul povahu uživatelů PC. A hlavně tím, že ví, že Emacs je nejlepší~~~~~.

[BrainLess]

Nejvetsi slabinou linuxu je jeho roztristenost. S Linuxem ziju uz nejakych par let ( >10) a co me opravdu krka ze kazdy jouda v ramci sveho ega stvori distro ( prosel jsem snad vsechny mainstreamy , RH5,7,9,Debian,Gento uz si ani nepamatuji co vsechno ) abych skoncil u Ubutnu, zadna kompilace jader apod. Muzu vam opravdu rici ze je to chutovka na kazdem distru poustet strace jen kvuli tomu abych zjistil kam prislusna app zapisuje svuj konfig.

[nooneanymore]

Dovoluji si nesouhlasit s negativním postojem k novým distribucím. Pokud totiž aplikujeme Darwinovu teorii i na linuxové distribuce, tak nám vyjde, že vzniknou nějací predátoři typu Suse či Ubuntu, kteří ale bez těch menších existovat nemohou, protože je požírají nebo aspoň ohlodávají. Nějaké mikrobické distribuce budou zanikat i vznikat a kdo ví, jednou z nich bude něco trvanlivějšího. Když se podíváme na Microsoft Windows, tak zjistíme, že ze svých vlastních nápadů by asi tak dlouho nežili.

Ať si velké distribuce svoje zákazníky loví, jen nechejme ty ostatní přiživovat, parazitovat, žít v symbióze, či najednou expandovat.

[Martin Vojslavsky]

To je tvuj problem, ze musis furt zkouset nova distra. Ja jedu odjakziva na Slackware a nemam problem. Kolega je verny Debianu a taky nehlasi zadny problem. Par mladejch (co jeli driv na Windows) si zkusmo nainstalovalo dualboot s Ubuntu a taky jsou v klidu. Kazdy mame jiny styl prace, nekdo howto+konfiguraky, nekdo klikani+google, ale vsichni jsme v pohode. Kazdy jsme jiny, neco jineho od linuxu ocekavame, ale nikdo z nas nestrida distra jako ponozky.

Co te k tomu vede ? Nespokojenost ? Chut experimentovat (ale pak nechapu tve stesky) ?

Opravdu by me to zajimalo. No flame, please.

 

[Elven]

nadherny rozhovor, velmi sikovny clovek