Developer Appliance

From Zanecorpwiki

Use virtual images to distribute a host that users can boot up locally that:

1. contains recent source and is set up to automatically update from the repositories on setup,
2. starts a web server (eventually on configurable port) that users can use to manage and interact with the project:
   1. build source
   2. manage services
   3. run tests
   4. view performance
   5. import test data sets
   6. get documentation
   7. go through tutorials
   8. get 'todo items' from the project manager
   9. submit bids
   10. time tracking

Etc. Combinations of services could be tweaked for all manner of projects, open and closed, contract and employees, volunteer and paid, etc. Could either do a fat image or a thin image that knows how to get additional data from sources as needed (e.g., host videos on youtube and embed vs. distributing video data in the image).

The install script could boot, retrieve additional data and updates, handle network setup issues, and then launch the browser to interact. Could go through wizard to determine what the user wants to do and how to do it. Do you want to demo the services? Great, just need web broswer for that. Do you want to edit code? Great, how do you want to do it? Export X session? Export a drive? Log into virtual machine? Need advice on which might be your best option?