Extraction of source code of an ISO [SOLVED]

[DeletedAccount]

Hello everyone! I’m creating a distro with a program called Respin, which is a remastersys derivative. This only allows you to build an ISO from an existing Debian installation. However I would like to stay true to the GNU/Linux way by including source. I also believe a GPL license and some packages require you to do so. I was thinking of getting this said source code from my [to be] built ISO through means similar to decompilation. Could anyone help me with this? Thank you!

(I am currently using a modified version Debian 10.8 (my distro) if that information helps.)

 

[KGIII]

The source is already online and available. Unless you edit it, you don't need to make it available by any other means. Then, to be more specific, only if you edit it *AND* distribute the binary do you need to make it available.

It doesn't have to be included on the disk. It just has to be made available. No, you can't realistically decompile the contents of an ISO or most binaries. That's not how it works. The source for anything is already out there, unless you edit it. If you edited it, you don't really need to decompile it - you need to do the exact opposite and that is compile it for inclusion in the image.

 

[DeletedAccount]

The source is already online and available. Unless you edit it, you don't need to make it available by any other means. Then, to be more specific, only if you edit it *AND* distribute the binary do you need to make it available.

It doesn't have to be included on the disk. It just has to be made available. No, you can't realistically decompile the contents of an ISO or most binaries. That's not how it works. The source for anything is already out there, unless you edit it. If you edited it, you don't really need to decompile it - you need to do the exact opposite and that is compile it for inclusion in the image.

OK! Thanks for the informative post. Personally, I’m creating a distro from an already built version of Debian so I won’t have the source code of my version. Here is a link to a post on SuperUser which probably better explains my question:

How to get source code of currently installed Linux or do I even need it?

I'm trying to make my own Linux distro based on Ubuntu (I will make .iso with Remastersys or similar), which I will hopefully put online for others to download. Will I need to publish the source c...

superuser.com

 

[KGIII]

And?

You really only need to worry about what you change. The parent distro will have all the rest covered, including taking the legal steps to make the code available. You don't personally need to replicate the vast amounts of data that is the source code for everything. You only need to worry about what you change.

 

[DeletedAccount]

And?

You really only need to worry about what you change. The parent distro will have all the rest covered, including taking the legal steps to make the code available. You don't personally need to replicate the vast amounts of data that is the source code for everything. You only need to worry about what you change.

I suppose that makes sense. What do you think would be the best solution for managing these changes? A repository of packages? A script to replicate these changes? Sorry for asking all of these questions, I’m not really familiar with the non-technical side of GNU/Linux.

 

[KGIII]

It depends on where the source is. If it's on GitHub, you might just as well clone/fork it and keep it there. If it's on SourceForge, the same is true. Otherwise, pick your favorite.

Can you imagine the mess/headache it'd be if every distro had to host copies of the source? That'd be crazy. No, no... The source is usually (these days) in a repo and that's all you need to worry about. If someone wants the code, point 'em at the repo from the author.

To test my claim, find the source for GIMP on ubuntu.com. You won't find it. You will find some .deb files that have varied GIMP versions in them - but if you open them up with an archive manager you'll see that they contain not the code but compiled binaries.

 

[DeletedAccount]

It depends on where the source is. If it's on GitHub, you might just as well clone/fork it and keep it there. If it's on SourceForge, the same is true. Otherwise, pick your favorite.

Can you imagine the mess/headache it'd be if every distro had to host copies of the source? That'd be crazy. No, no... The source is usually (these days) in a repo and that's all you need to worry about. If someone wants the code, point 'em at the repo from the author.

To test my claim, find the source for GIMP on ubuntu.com. You won't find it. You will find some .deb files that have varied GIMP versions in them - but if you open them up with an archive manager you'll see that they contain not the code but compiled binaries.

Oh, OK! I think I’m understanding what you are saying. So for the release (according to my current understanding) I should provide an ISO, documentation, and links to the sources of packages such as GIMP or WINE.

 

[KGIII]

No, you don't need to link to any of those. Those already have tens of thousands, even millions of links to them. You only need to worry about what you change.

If someone asks for the source for GIMP, you can respond with an email linking them to GIMP's source.

If you modified something, then you need to make the source available that contains the changes you've made.

 

[DeletedAccount]

No, you don't need to link to any of those. Those already have tens of thousands, even millions of links to them. You only need to worry about what you change.

If someone asks for the source for GIMP, you can respond with an email linking them to GIMP's source.

If you modified something, then you need to make the source available that contains the changes you've made.

Makes sense! Thanks for your help and sorry for the trouble.

 

[KGIII]

That's what we're here for. We help people get a better understanding of Linux.

Good luck with your distro and feel free to edit the title of this thread to add [solved].