Something New

I've got an install package for you to test.... yes an INSTALL! This is not a livecd test. This is a HD/CF installation of the core software components contained on the ZoneCD... **YOU WILL LOSE DATA ON YOUR SYSTEM INSTALLING AND TESTING THIS DISTRO** (you've been warned) The system is still preconfigured and still uses some auto-detection, but if you have never installed Linux, it could be confusing... I guess we'll find out soon enough.

The size of the installed system is currently 194MB. I am not looking for suggestions on packages to add, actually if you see something that can be removed let me know. I want to know if it loads, boots, and works.... I still have a few tweaks that Isee that still need to be done... including booting into read-only, but I would like to see how it works for others before i consider it done. It's not your conventional Linux installation, so i have my suspicions.

Get it here:
http://www.publicip.org/mirror/dists/beta/
ZoneInstall_0.1-0.iso

A mailing list is used for beta testing. Subscibe here http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/publicip-testers

BTW- I need a name for this distro.... any suggestions?

Back-Tracking and Trashing

After some thought and feedback, I am trashing the current CF/HD "install". It really wasn't an install, it was just a mounted ro filesystem. Instead I am playing around with a new filesystem... I started over with a fresh debian install and added everything I need to make a smaller zone install. I should be able to keep it under 300MB. I am also creating an installation disk.... partition selection, formatting, bootloader, fstab, not to mention copying the filesystem and loading the modules. We'll see how that goes... I have it to where it does all those things, but now I just need to get it to actually work.... Anyway, that's what happening...

ZoneCF Got The Boot

It's done! Well, kinda... I have the CF booting (I used extlinux [syslinux] as the bootloader for the ZoneCF), but i still need to complete the upgrades to the gateway software. The ZoneCF works exactly the same as the CD. It is still a compressed filesystem that is mounted to a ramdisk. You still need a minimum of 128MB RAM, but no floppy or usb is required. A partition is used for saving the configuration... A detailed howto will be released with the CF distro.

VPN Service is moving forward...

Still not working yet, but atleast i finally realized what is happening... pptpd is listening on eth0 (duh). I also need to upgrade the libc on the zonecd...

I will complete the CF development, and ZoneCD 5-4 once i get pptpd running smoothly....

PUBLICip VPN Service

I am looking into adding a VPN service similar to www.hotspotvpn.com. This will be an optional service offered to end-users at public ip powered hotspots (maybe even all hotspots eventually). The service fee that is collected will be shared between public ip and the location or zone operator.

To make this happen i need to run pptpd on the zonecd, and a radius server on a public ip server. I have the radius setup, but i am still struggling with the pptpd on the zonecd(debian). I setup pptpd(poptop) on a RH9 box without a glitch... worked first shot, but no such luck on debian. I've tried apt-get and source installs, and it doesn't even log any activity when i try to create a tunnel. netstat -a shows 1723 is listening and tcpdump shows the broadcast from the client, but nothing happens... no log entry. The connection just fails... It's crazy. I can passthru a zonecd to my RH9 box and everything works fine.... But, if you know me you know i won't stop trying.... anyway - back to trying...

I am looking for a new job.

Not so much about development, but it's my blog i can do what i want...

My boss just got fired last week (actually 2 directors In IT were let-go, and another in a different department), and the positions are not being filled.... doesn't sound good to me. I am not unemployed yet, but i am on shaky ground.

If anybody knows of any web/linux/internet type positions available that pay $70,000+ in an english speaking country, please drop me a line... I am looking for a new job.

Compact Flash - ZoneCF

I am almost done making the gateway (AKA ZoneCD) run from a Compact Flash card. It basically works the same as the CD, with the exception of a configuration partition. I have a 512MB SanDisk CF card with a 500MB partition, and a 12MB partition. The 12MB partition is used in place of the floppy. Yes, you will still need a config "disk". The linux filesystem which is about 730MB itself remains compressed on the CF card. It is decompressed each time it boots. I guess if i had a 1GB CF card i could play with doing this another way, but we'll see how this goes first...

I just need to play with the MBR a little to get the CF booting correctly when moved to another machine (I got side-tracked trying to get pptpd running from the iso, but that is another topic). I'll finish this soon and post a how-to.

What todo in 2005

Happy New Year! I am back from my time-off. The last month or two i have really
not done much as far as development (especially last month), but i am back on
top of things and have a list of todo's to do...

TODO:

USB thumb drive support
Control Server release
VPN Service
CF/HD install
WISPr (xml data islands)
WISP service
PUBLICip/Zone Control User Agreement
Random username/password generation and printable cards
Proxy server configuration
External DB/RADIUS configuration
Control Server "push"
Paperless "ticket" system
Local printers
PayPal Integration into login page
Add tweaks and docs to site.

I am working on getting 5-3 done now. You might see a stable release (0.5-4)
next week. I'll be posting a changelog soon.

Please add comments if i am forgetting anything todo.