Progeny Debian 3.0 Developer Edition PR1 is now available at componentizedlinux.org. From the release notes:

Progeny Debian 3.0 is the continuation of the popular commercial product published by Progeny in 2001 and is based on Progeny Componentized Linux (http://componentizedlinux.org/).

Progeny Debian 3.0 Developer Edition is an example distribution based on Componentized Linux. It is essentially a snapshot of Debian sarge as of April 2005 that includes an easy-to-use, graphical installer and a fully integrated GNOME desktop environment. It is an ideal distribution for anyone seeking a more or less standard Debian environment that is also easy to install and use.

Progeny Debian 3.0 Developer Edition includes all Componentized Linux technologies. As such, it is also an excellent development platform for builders of Componentized Linux-based custom distributions.

This is the first in a series of four preview releases (leading up to a final release in late July 2005) detailed in the Componentized Linux 3.0 roadmap. We’re a week behind schedule on this first preview release and will be updating the roadmap accordingly over the next few days to account for any resulting schedule shifts.

3.0 PR1 isn’t dramatically different from 2.0 RC2. The main user-visible change is that packages have been updated to Debian sarge as of April 2005 (2.0 RC2 was based a sarge snapshot circa January 2005). The other big user-visible change is that 3.0 is delivered as a single, unified APT repository in the same style as Debian proper (i.e., there’s a single APT component called main rather than dozens of little APT components that mirror the constituent components, as was the case in 2.0). As detailed in the roadmap, the main reason behind this change is to facilitate simplified software management by using standard Debian tools, replacing our CL-specific comp-get software management tool.

While user-visible changes are minimal in this first preview release, the component model and component management tools are undergoing a massive rework. Again, as detailed in the roadmap, the result of these efforts will culminate in a product called the Componentized Linux Platform Development Kit (PDK) that will allow developers to easily and efficiently create and maintain CL-based custom distros. The PDK is still in early development, so we’re not publishing a roadmap for the new tools yet. However, in my somewhat biased opinion, the PDK is rapidly shaping up to become the premier way to build and maintain a custom distro. I can’t wait to show it to you.

In addition to continued work on the component model and component management tools, our focus in the next preview release (due out in mid May 2005, accounting for likely schedule shifts due to the delay in getting out PR1) is beefing up support for hierarchical components and breaking the lsb-3.0 component into a set of finer-grained core components, to make CL more appropriate for more traditional embedded projects. In addition, we’re putting a lot of work into edge components. We’re working on adding some cool new technologies to the component collection, both neato bleeding edge stuff from the open source world and best-of-breed commercial technologies from our partners. Stay tuned.

If you’re running 2.0 RC2, you can upgrade easily to 3.0 PR1. I’m upgrading my laptop now. Enjoy.