Hi!

We are trying hard to stay away from Windows embedded. This will be used for specific task automation. The goal is not to release a desktop for the masses, but rather a task oriented system involving media such as Shockwave, Video, etc. which is why a GUI might be required(?)

We are looking for a Linux distro that will do the following:

-Under 200 megs. Smaller the better.
-Play shockwave/videos/Pictures in full screen.
-Boot from USB connected flashcard or solid state drive.
-Load the WHOLE OS into memory.
-Save the running OS in RAM onto flashcard when needed.
-The running OS must have the ability to format the flashcard that it booted from and unpack a new OS via FTP GET.

Basically a disto that is very barebones, that I can build up, rather then have to strip down. We don't need desktop graphics, open office, etc. I was thinking of just a command line interface and building off that, but when it comes to FTP, Shockwave, and other media, I assume that some packages will need a gui and other common apps.

Ok. Suppose we have 300 stations remotely and 1 station at work. All the SAME hardware.

Say I would like to update drivers and various many other things on the OS on my 1 system.

The 300 remote stations on bootup, should load their whole OS's into RAM, and then will be able to ftp GET the new WHOLE OS image from the head office and write it to the inactive flashdrive. After which, a script will force reboot and load the new changes. Kind of like updating a firmware.

I understand there are embedded solutions, but they don't seem to be very media happy and contain no GUI's. I also understand that there is custom hardware with ROMS and such, but they are just too slow for what we need.

Is there a distro that solves these problems, or, is there a distro that is most compatible with what we're trying to do? If we do have to compile our own distro, support from a helpful community will be desired to help us release our distro. I understand that some distro's are more 'community friendly' then others.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Maybe http://www.damnsmalllinux.org

There isn't a Shockwave (assuming you mean Adobe Shockwave) player for Linux, though perhaps you can run the Windows version using Wine or something.