Fedora Linux Is Looking To Become More Modular

Written by Michael Larabel in Fedora on 28 March 2016 at 09:25 AM EDT. 27 Comments
FEDORA
A new working group is being formed that's focused on making Fedora more modular and to define a base module from which new derivatives of Fedora can be constructed.

The Fedora Modularity Working Group describes itself on the Wiki page as:
The goal of the Modularity Working Group is to define and maintain the Fedora Base Module and guidelines and tools for other modules.

This includes releasing the Fedora Base Module in artifact form on a regular schedule — as a Docker base image, as an installable minimal system, and possibly in other ways in the future. This will not be a Fedora Edition, but rather be the thing people constructing custom versions of Fedora can start from — including both advanced end-users and Fedora Spins and Editions.

So that modules are useful in the greatest number of situations, are fast to create and to deploy, and have the smallest possible security footprint, the Modularity Working Group will reduce package dependency trees, particularly in the Fedora Base Module.

The Working Group will also produce tooling for module production and maintenance, and guidelines for modules, as the FPC does for RPMs.

The effort will also require help and resources from across Fedora, including Fedora Infrastructure, Release Engineering, QA, Security Team, and more. Representatives of those groups should be included on the new Working Group. Also, proven packagers working as part of this effort will institute weak dependencies in a systematic manner, in cooperation with package maintainers.
The Fedora Modularity efforts should be a big win for Docker/container fans and others wishing to easily spin their own derivatives of Fedora and looking for a nice starting point (I may be interested in it myself when finding the time to restore work on PTS Desktop Live).


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Currently this working group is still in the early stages with seeking nominations for the WG board, which already they've received more nominations than seats. Those wishing to get involved with this new Fedora group can find the latest details on the mailing list.

Other information on Fedora's modularization plans can be found via this Wiki page.
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