Taprobane is a convenient GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian. It is a live CD, but can be installed to persistent media. Saegiri, the build system used for creating Taprobane ISOs, can also be used to create custom Live CD distributions.
Taprobane GNU/Linux is Free Software (Open Source). It's a collective work released under the Artistic License 2.0. Taprobane build system and components are released under the GNU General Public License.
Some of the development happens on #taprobane at irc.{debian.org,freenode.net}.
Taprobane 0.5.1, second release of the 0.5 development series, is now available for download. The build system is now much better structured, and stages have been introduced.
Don't forget to check out known issues (updated as and if issues turn up).
Taprobane 0.5.0 is out. It's the first release of the 0.5 development series. The highlight of this release is Saegiri, the new build system. It can produce a working ISO all by itself, and should also work on non-Debian GNU/Linux systems. Downloads are here as usual.
Right now, the development emphasis is on getting the build system right (i.e. `how' aspect of the build), and during the 0.5 series we will gradually shift the focus towards it's output (i.e., `what' aspect).
Taprobane 0.4.2 is now officially released. The ISO and torrent was out there for a while, but we delayed the official announcement until the TLM seed is complete. This is a bugfix release and very likely to be the last release in the 0.4 series for acedemia.
Next Taprobane codefest will be held at the University of Colombo School of Computing on the 15th. More are expected to join over IRC, notably from the University of Peradeniya and the University of Ruhuna, on #taprobane on irc.debian.org or irc.freenode.net. Please read this post to the list if you plan to do some homework before attending.
There will be a Taprobane codefest at the University of Colombo School of Computing on Satruday the 1st of October. Please contact the developers if you are willing to take part physically, or join #taprobane on irc.debian.org or irc.freenode.net.
Taprobane is now on Distrowatch, and as a result of the news item the only HTTP mirror is being severely throttled. We badly need more mirrors. Please mail anuradha at taprobane org or any of the developers if you are willing to provide an official mirror. Thanks in advance!
Taprobane 0.4.1 works around a couple of bugs in 0.4, and is the first official `public' release. Here are some goodies in this version:
ISO downloads are available here. There is also a short Quick Start Guide (converted from OOo).
Taprobane 0.4 was released as a special edition for academia. Copies were distributed among students who attended the FOSSchool Seminar today at UCSC Auditorium. It had many educational software and supported 3D in Nvidia cards out of the box.
First Taprobane installation (manual copying) was done on the laptop of Maithri of ICTA. It was used for the presentations at the Asia OSSS, and also my Manju, CEO of ICTA, at the opening ceremony of the National FOSS Week
Taprobane 0.3 is officially out! The highlight of this release is a script to automate most of the `remastering'.
Taprobane GNU/Linux 0.3 comes with xorg 6.8.2, KDE 3.4.1, OpenOffice 2 beta and many other goodies. It's quite functional, but far from polished.
The ISO will be available through bittorrent soon. Get the torrent file from here.
We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of Taprobane GNU/Linux 0.2. We still don't have FTP/HTTP mirrors, so the download is only available through Bittorrent. The torrent file is here.
This is not a full featured release, but only a snapshot of present status to get feedback and feature requests.
The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. `Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?' he asked.
`Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, `and go on till you come to the end: then stop.'
--- From Alice's Adventures of Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Here we go! Yet another Debian based live CD GNU/Linux distribution!! Why another? Simply because none of the existing ones completely met our criteria for convenience, usability, freedom and power. We wish to address as many of those issues as possible with Taprobane.
We just started, so there is not much here or on the SourceForge project page. But things will soon change; stay tuned!
