Roll your own Linux distribution with SUSE Studio

People have always been able to build their own Linux distributions. That's one reason why there are over a hundred Linux distributions today. But, building them easily to do a particular job and with major vendor support ... well, that's not so easy. But now Novell has made it downright easy and -- pay attention ISVs (independent software vendors) -- they'll also support your particular house-brand Linux when you take it to market.

Novell's new SUSE Appliance Program is based on SUSE Studio, the core, online Linux application builder and SUSE Linux Enterprise JeOS (Just Enough Operating System). As an ISV, or just someone who wants MyVeryOwnLinuxDistro, you just pick and choosing the components you want after logging into the SUSE Studio Web page.

 

Right now, this project gives you access to most of the same programs that you could bake into any Linux distribution. The foundation Linux, is, of course, Novell's own SUSE Linux 11. In the future, Novell will also be offering Mono development services for ISVs who want to port .NET applications from Windows to Linux.

All this, in turn, is running on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). With EC2, Novell can grow the service to meet demand. That's not just a good idea, since Novell has already had to add some more computing power to the project after just opening it up to the public a few days ago.

Of course, you still need to know what's what in the way of Linux components to use it well, but you don't need to be a Linux programming guru to put together a working distribution. Really though building a distribution is the easy part. Getting that distribution, or an application--a distribution that's build to do one job really well--isn't that hard. The real problem is getting your distribution to market.

That's why, while I'm having fun with messing around with building Linux distributions, what I think is really important about Novell's new offerings is the SUSE Appliance Program.

This program gives would-be ISVs access to the Novell distribution channel, joint marketing, pricing, and redistribution agreements. For a small business looking to go big, that's a pretty nice offer.

Of course, there are similar software and business packages out there. RPath, which was founded by some of the good people who had founded Red Hat, offers a similar software service with rBuilder. RPath's business model, though is more about developing partner relationships with existing businesses than it is giving a leg up to brand-new businesses. Both companies, of course, will be more than happy to work with you whether your annual income is in hundreds of millions of dollars or enough money to fill your car's gas tank.

If you want to try building your business around Linux a try, I recommend trying out both Novell's new program and RPath. You'll find one or the other is just what you'll need to get going. Or, if you just want to play with building your own Linux, I already know you'll find SUSE Studio a pleasure to use. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to fooling around with my SUSE Studio media server idea.