dc7 - 1.0
DebConf7
| Speakers | |
|---|---|
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Vagrant Cascadian |
| Schedule | |
|---|---|
| Day | 14 |
| Room | Basement Talk Room |
| Start time | 14:00 |
| Duration | 01:00 |
| Info | |
| ID | 22 |
| Event type | Lecture |
| Track | DebConf |
| Language | English |
| Feedback | |
|---|---|
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Integrating LTSP into Debian
hiking the trail to LTSP 5.0 and the friends we make along the way
LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) has simplified the process of developing thin client infrastructure for years, and has recently been integrated into Debian and other Linux distributions.
While LTSP and related technologies have been around for years, only recently has it been viable to integrate directly into a Linux distribution. This new approach, initially called LTSP "MueKow" has now become LTSP 5.0.
The fundamental idea behind it is to use a given Linux distribution's packages to build an LTSP environment, which is then exported over NFS. Contrasted to LTSP 4.x, where the LTSP environment was essentially a complete Linux distribution of it's own, LTSP 5.0 implementations can inherit the entire archive of packages for a given distribution, as well as security updates, bug tracking, and maintenance practices in line with whatever Linux distribution LTSP is installed on. This also means that LTSP packages now can contain only the parts unique to LTSP, rather than an entire LTSP distribution distributed as large packages. Thus, it makes integrating LTSP directly into a Linux distribution much easier.
The initial implementation came from Ubuntu in 2005, and not long after packages were uploaded to Debian. During DebConf6, much work was done to modularize the code to make it easier for Linux distributions to share a common codebase. And in September of 2006, several people met near Detroit, Michigan, USA (the birthplace of LTSP) and formulated what became the LTSP 5.0 specification and guidelines.
The LTSP packages in Debian's Etch release meets most of those guidelines, and a complete implementation is likely to follow in the next release.