Cobind DiY Linux Tools
So what is “Do It Yourself” Linux Tools? After many hours of hacking shell scripts and living at the command prompt we saw a need for tools that would enable the easy creation of custom Linux distributions. This gave birth to the DiY Linux Tools.
It all started with the frustration of deploying complex applications to the general masses. We often faced painful deployment cycles that cost us time and money. Our solution was found in the concept of information appliances. The ability to deploy a true “software in a box”, a hardware box that is. The idea is that hardware is being commoditized (cheap) and therefore we should deploy single use appliances that run our software.
Cheap Hardware + Our Software = Information Appliance
To balance this equation we needed one more component - The Operating System. For obvious reasons we began looking at Linux and shortly there after our first appliance was a software appliance. This is an operating system, our application, and our brand completely integrated into a single install CD.
Operating System + Our Software + Our Brand = Software Appliance
Just add hardware for an Information Appliance.
In this process we found that creating a Custom Linux Distributions was not an easy task. We also realized that the hard part doesn’t stop once you have the distribution; you also have to maintain your new operating system. The combination of these realizations motivated us to build a set of tools that allow any developer to create and maintain there own Custom Linux Distributions.
The next milestone was when we decided to Web-Enable the tools. We had created a bunch of backend tools that build an entire operating system, from the kernel models up thru the color of the desktop, then we would make these tools accessibly via the Web. Currently we have web-wizards to create many of these customizations and if a wizard doesn’t exist we give you the ability to upload your own custom packages. The concept was to enable software developers or system administrators to create fully customized Linux distributions and maintain these distributions once they were developed. The web allows this product to be accessible to anyone; even a small software vendor can use our tools in their ASP form.
The final equation is:
Cobind DiY Tools + Your Software + Your Brand = Your Information Appliance
You can see the marketing information and some screenshots on the Cobind DiY Tools Page.
What about the Desktop? Cobind Desktop was built using our DiY Linux tools and was meant as a proof-of-concept. We will continue to support the Desktop. As we see it, the greatest way of improving on our tools is by using them.