Tiny Core Linux
General TC => General TC Talk => Topic started by: JayJay on April 10, 2011, 03:04:08 PM
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Thanks Grandma! I found "Tinycore" and really happy to know about it. I'm going to study this and get started with it too. . . Robert sounds like an awesome man - I read the interview at DistroWatch - Wow!
Again, thanks for sending me here.
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Even the creators of TC do not fully realize what they've got and its implications, it seems. It is like inventing the wheel and using it to grind wheat. :P This is only an exaggeration of course, hopefully someone will one day get it, what is being exaggerated.
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please elaborate
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I just think Google would have made something bigger out of TC if it were their invention. Not just because they have the resources we TC lovers lack, for the time being. But also because there is said to be a culture of blue sky research over there. They don't hesitate to ask themselves very innovative questions in a mode of lateral thinking (as opposed to the concentrated one-hemisphere thinking many of us are used to for problem solving rather than idea generation).
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...bigger in footprint and dependencies, I have no doubt :P
Wait - google has their own inventions? And here I thought they were just buying innovative companies with technologies which are already implemented :-\
</sarcasm>
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I just think Google would have made something bigger out of TC if it were their invention. Not just because they have the resources we TC lovers lack, for the time being. But also because there is said to be a culture of blue sky research over there. They don't hesitate to ask themselves very innovative questions in a mode of lateral thinking (as opposed to the concentrated one-hemisphere thinking many of us are used to for problem solving rather than idea generation).
This topic has been discussed before, and tends to get brought up again every so often. Keep in mind, the value of Tiny Core is in keeping it small. Tiny Core places the "blue sky research" you speak of in the hands of the users. If you want it to go somewhere, you have all the tools you need to take it there. If you have any ideas, there are many capable individuals on the forum that can help.
There are only a few overworked core developers, so they definitely don't have an abundance of resources. Despite this, TC has advanced significantly in a relatively short time. There is a huge difference in the feature set from 1.x to current.
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Is it possible that TC does something out of the ordinary without any extensions? Or with just one extension that is tiny? Or inside a dozen virtual machines?
Or if the skills exist to make the o/s tiny, why not try and make a key application tiny too? Such as the full-featured browser.
What if standard pc linux apps could run on future smartphones without any porting at all?
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Ulysses, you are welcome to write that full featured browser if that is what you want to do.
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Is it possible that TC does something out of the ordinary without any extensions? Or with just one extension that is tiny?
Tiny Core is essentially a kernel + initrd, so what TC can do by itself is a function of what the kernel can do plus the capabilities enabled by the initrd. Ingo Molnar touched on a similar subject in a recent post (http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/1121307) that caught my attention:
"I think it's only a matter of time until someone takes the Linux kernel, integrates klibc and a toolchain into it with some good initial userspace and goes wild with that concept, as a single, sane, 100% self-hosting and self-sufficient OSS project, tracking the release schedule of the Linux kernel."
One of the things that makes Tiny Core unique (and takes a lot of work) is a "good initial userspace." All we need is klibc and the toolchain, and I expect there are Tiny Core users capable of that.
I think that would be "out of the ordinary" but it would take some work to get there. Does anyone have any thoughts?
Or inside a dozen virtual machines?
VMware mentioned to me they are using it in thousands of their virtual machines for load testing.
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I also believe that the communitary development type of tinycore, if less appealing, is more akin to my tastes.
Google? their development that creates intrigue, but it follows that front?
Everytime tinycore make an improvement, however small, I have always been pleased, I can say the same for google? Their services are great fit with the corporate interests.
Example: google wave
And then google already developed an OS: Android, I would never use it, I do not like their view.
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Or inside a dozen virtual machines?
VMware mentioned to me they are using it in thousands of their virtual machines for load testing.
We really would need a "See where we're used" page with official quotes like this ;)
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Or inside a dozen virtual machines?
VMware mentioned to me they are using it in thousands of their virtual machines for load testing.
We really would need a "See where we're used" page with official quotes like this ;)
It was in a PM, so I won't elaborate, but it's definitely not an official quote. It is an encouraging example, however, so I mentioned it here.
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Even if we can't get official quotes, it's nice to hear these things anyway. Thanks for mentioning.