RelaxOS - Help Needed!

[Thomas Chace]

Like to code? Like linux? An artist? This is for you!

At RelaxOS we are a group of Linux fans and programmers who have a mission: to design and create the most user-friendly and functional operating system. What this means is we plan to redesign many aspects of a common Linux operating system.

RelaxOS is sponsored by MicroGeeks Design, a startup company that plans to sell computers pre-installed with Linux. They believe strongly in the power of the Linux community. They have set up this website so that developers, artists, users, and more can create, use, and contribute to RelaxOS.

If you are interested in helping, there are a number of things you can do. First, you should register to the forums if you haven't already. Next, if you are interested in coding for the project, you should PM me explaining your skills and why you wish to help. If you're an artist, you can participate in our logo design contest. Finally, if you are a user, you can wait to test out software and eventually the betas of our distribution.


Site: RelaxOS
Wiki: Main Page - RelaxOS
Forums: RelaxOS • Index page

Yes, that's cheesy. But if you'd like to help, we'd sure enjoy having you!

Languages we're looking for:
Python
Ruby
C
C++
C#
Any other languages are welcome as well! So don't think we just want these, the more the merrier!

Also, we'd like to stress that we have no desire to take away from any other distribution out there, they all contribute, we take the best ideas and do what we think is best with it. We plan to give back to the Ubuntu and Linux Mint communities.

Thanks,
Thomas

[techieMoe]

How, precisely, are you planning on "redesigning many aspects of the common Linux operating system"? I don't mean to sound cynical here, but just what exactly is so special about your project that will bring users to try it when there are nearly infinite finished, production-quality choices in the distribution world already? In short, what makes your project unique?

In an ecosystem like Linux you can't differentiate using price, so you have to do it with features. What motivates you to create your own offshoot distribution when your efforts might have been better spent contributing to an existing project? What is your vision? "Sell" us your distro.

[Thomas Chace]

How, precisely, are you planning on "redesigning many aspects of the common Linux operating system"? I don't mean to sound cynical here, but just what exactly is so special about your project that will bring users to try it when there are nearly infinite finished, production-quality choices in the distribution world already? In short, what makes your project unique?

In an ecosystem like Linux you can't differentiate using price, so you have to do it with features. What motivates you to create your own offshoot distribution when your efforts might have been better spent contributing to an existing project? What is your vision? "Sell" us your distro.

RelaxOS plans to redesign the GUI for one, while the exact plans have not yet been layed out, you can get a good idea from our irc channel(including a concept build) at irc.spotchat.org, channel is #relax

Many of our programs revolve around KISS, our custom package manager, for instance, is very simple, yet functional at less then 200 lines I believe.

It will be offered on computers soled by MicroGeeks Design, a startup company.

The motivation is that as of now, linux is still fairly difficult to understand, we plan to make the most functional, simplest, and pleasing distribution possible.

The idea of RelaxOS is to keep it simple(KISS), eventually many parts of the GNU/Linux Operating System may be rewritten, or changed. All of this will be available under copyleft licenses, AGPL, CPL, and the like.

Again, for more information drop by the forums and the IRC channel which, again, is located on irc.spotchat.org, channel #relax.

Thanks!
Thomas Chace

[xvedejas]

Hello, I'm XVedejas, an I am also involved with the project.

what makes your project unique?

We aim to be more user-friendly than Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is a very user-friendly distro already, but we feel we can add on to that. Unlike Canonical, we will not focus on simply distro development. We believe that applications are also important to user-experience, and we want to create a suite of applications that will work together with our vision to create the most user-friendly desktop. Our distro will be there to run these things, but the focus is not on the distro itself (Ubuntu has done this for us), it is on the applications and integration.

Another advantage we will have is we have a company that wishes to pre-install our distro on their computers; in fact, they were the reason this project has started. Pre-installation is key to user-friendliness, as few expect to have to install their own operating system.

[smolloy]

This does sound interesting, but the question that always pops into my head when I come across ideas like this is, why put effort into generating a new distro based on an old one, rather than joining the dev team on the original?

I understand the need for large variety -- and the existence of so many distros is one of linux's major strengths -- but, since we have so many different distros out there already, and since you're not planning to tinker with the OS that much, why not join the Ubuntu/Mint/Debian dev teams and contribute in that way?

I would understand it if you were part of the startup you mention that is planning to sell computers with Linux pre-installed, but you said that they are "sponsoring" you, which implies that they might be happy to pay you to contribute to another open source community. (The practice of a large company paying employees to contribute to open source software is surprisingly common.)

By the way -- welcome to the forums guys. Sorry for the cynical response, but I don't think you expected a free ride

[xvedejas]

By the way -- welcome to the forums guys. Sorry for the cynical response, but I don't think you expected a free ride

Heheh, of course not..

I would understand it if you were part of the startup you mention that is planning to sell computers with Linux pre-installed, but you said that they are "sponsoring" you, which implies that they might be happy to pay you to contribute to another open source community. (The practice of a large company paying employees to contribute to open source software is surprisingly common.)

The company "sponsoring" us is really more than that. I should have clarified. They believe strongly in the Linux community but they also would like to form their own community that they can guide/lead. They plan on directing development to reflect the needs of their customers and wish to work with their community to deliver that.