• Registered: 2010-03-21
  • Posts: 54

Topic: How to make a statler 're-spin' or achieve the same end?

Hello all,

Statler is my favorite wrapper for all the packages I love to use from the debian repositories, however getting from statler A2 to my preferred end state involve the download of over a G of packages. and waiting for them to install.

My goal is to make an installable iso for friends and family  that will fit on a dvd that is more or less statler A2 after running the  cb-welcome.

and

apt-get update

and my math, science, dvd back-up and office suite

apt-get install openoffice.org kile geany jabref  ipython pyhton-scipy python-matplotlib  gfortran octave3.2 k3b eclipse

This pulls over a Gig of  java, LaTeX, kde and math libraries.

My /usr with all of my desired tools is 6.4G and will compress to 1/2(tgz or squashfs) to 1/3 (lzma) of that.

As best I can tell the statler (and aptosid) install disk contains a mountable compressed image of all the installed packages averting the need to individually decompress individual *.deb's which is why the installing statler takes five minutes to install and squeeze-disk-1 take more than 20 minutes to install.
The debian cd's are a more or less a tar ball of .deb's .

livcd=compress( archive of binaries)
debian cd=archive(compressed binaries)

How can I make an installable iso with my custom collection 6 G of binaries and the statler making it look nice?

Would a custom jigdo file work well for making a targeted update disk?
How about removing many of the binaries from the statler install disk and installing them from a fresh jigsaw download of targeted packages? 

Is debian live studio right for this or is a ghosting tool more appropriate?


V/R

Brokenpike

  • pvsage
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  • From: Section Six
  • Registered: 2009-10-18
  • Posts: 5,999

Re: How to make a statler 're-spin' or achieve the same end?

Have you taken a look at live.debian.net?  It's all there in the manual.

while ( ! ( succeed = try() ) );
  • Registered: 2010-03-21
  • Posts: 54

Re: How to make a statler 're-spin' or achieve the same end?

pvsage

Thanks for the pointer to debian live.  I already found debiancustomcd, simple-cdd and aptoncd.

I am not yet sure which of them is the best fit  for my goal of installing statler, updating and adding my gig'o'cruft with a minimum of bandwidth.  Installing statler in a virtual box, updating, adding cruft and then backing up the  aptcache with apt2cd of aptmove is likely the simplest approach.

Deconstructing , modifying and reconstructing my favorite distro would be an interesting exercise.

  • From: 127.0.0.1
  • Registered: 2010-07-02
  • Posts: 1,266

Re: How to make a statler 're-spin' or achieve the same end?

You could always try remastersys too, although I've never tried using it to make a CD to boot on another machine it should work in theory, and allow you to try everything out in a live environment before installing.

  • From: Somerville, Taxachusetts
  • Registered: 2009-09-14
  • Posts: 50

Re: How to make a statler 're-spin' or achieve the same end?

I would definitely like to do the same (as well as have a custom live USB drive for using at school). Hopefully I'll get around to it around Christmas, but I'd appreciate any updates on the attempts of others!

Just Rick... Thanks.

RickWeber's Website

  • Registered: 2010-03-21
  • Posts: 54

Re: How to make a statler 're-spin' or achieve the same end?

Remastersys claims to do that wish I wish to accomplish.  I am giving it a go as I write.  With a bit of luck it may fit on my 2G usb drive.

Update:
Remastersys creates a 3.1 G livecd from my 6.2G home directory.  I did not yet try to install from it.


Cheers

Last edited by brokenpike (2010-11-24 05:31:54)

  • Registered: 2010-03-21
  • Posts: 54

Re: How to make a statler 're-spin' or achieve the same end?

Remastersys foiled me by locking me out with a mysterious default user id and password. 
Off to work the learning curve on the debian live project.