One of the advantages of Linux is that you’ve always been able to build your own Linux distribution… if you were an expert programmer. But, today thanks to programs like Novell’s SUSE Studio it’s easier than ever to create Linux appliances or your house-brand Linux.
For proof that you can use SUSE Studio to create useful applications look no further than the winners of Novell’s Dister Awards. The two $10,000 grand prizes went to software companies, Radical Breeze and Anderware.
Radical Breeze, won in the “Commercial” category for its Illumination Software Creation Station. This program lets non-developers design their own software applications with no programming experience required. Anderware, a software company from Sweden, won in the “Community” category for its Hypergrid to Go appliance, which allows users to easily set up an extension to the OpenSim platform to create a multi-user 3D world similar to Second Life.