PC/OS OpenCore 1.0 Released

Today, Wed November 5th 2008, the PC/OS team releases a new addition to the PC/OS family. This release is called PC/OS OpenCore 1.0. We will now go into a FAQ type discussion to tell you what OpenCore is and more importantly, what it isnt.

What is PC/OS OpenCore 1.0?

PC/OS OpenCore 1.0 is a release that is a barebones system with the basic packages installed and nothing more.

Who is PC/OS OpenCore targetting?

PC/OS OpenCore 1.0 is targetted towards the hobbyists and tech enthhusiasts or anyone who wants a barebones system that they can easily customize and deploy to do specific tasks.

Where did the idea come from?

PC/OS OpenCore started out as PC/OS VirtualMachine, the purpose of that release was to provide a basic platform for the purpose of deploying Virtual Machines using Virtual Box so that people who just wanted basic VM functionality. Well licensing fell through and I was called yesterday morning and told NO. I was getting ready to scrap the idea and the team came together and came up with this idea. The idea is simply similar to Gentoo. Users can customize their own distribution, add the packages they want and not have to sift through menus and remove packages they dont want. So if users want to create a scientific workstation, they can, if they want to create a design or development workstation, if they want to create a virtualization platform they can. If they want to create a file/print server only or simply just a web server they have that option.

WAAH, it doesnt have Java, Flash or WMV playback?

This release strips out many pieces of non-essential software. If you want those features buy OpenWorkstation or OpenDesktop.

Why a 1.0 rating and not the 2009 title?

PC/OS OpenCore 1.0 will not be updated as much as The OpenWorkstation, OpenServer and OpenDesktop line. It will be updated just not as frequently.

What packages are included in PC/OS OpenCore?

Brasero, OpenSSH, OpenVPN, gFTP, Remote Desktop Viewer, Remastersys. Most non essential software has been removed. No multimedia codecs, no games, no office software, no web browsers, no IM clients.

Will you submit OpenCore to the FSF for inclusion to their free distro pages?

No. While OpenCore contains no proprietary software it does use the Ubuntu kernel which has a few binary blobs. That isnt the purpose of PC/OS OpenCore. if you want an FSF certified distribution I recommend gNewSense or Ututo.

You make a reference to Gentoo, are they a competitor to this release?

No, Gentoo and others are source based distros, you have to build from source. OpenCore is binary based, you use Synaptic and Deb packages.

When will it be available for download?

In 6 minutes.

Where will it be available?

Here