Genetic - The Portage Remote Control

So, what is this Portage Remote Control about?

It's a Python-based application to manage Gentoo GNU/Linux servers in a way similar to other tools like dpkg's Synaptic or SuSE's YaST, only that instead of managing the dpkg or rpm software-package formats, Genetic manages Portage, which is Gentoo's package-management system, which is a concept similar to *BSD's 'ports' system, but heavily improved.

Cool, but what does 'Remote' mean, then?

Glad that you ask! There are already tools to manage Portage, like Kuroo, but Genetic is the only one designed to be run in Linux, Mac OSX, MS-Windows (and other Unix-based systems that wxPython supports). So, it is a multiplatform tool. Now, it wouldn't make sense to have Genetic manage a Windows system, would it? No. That's why it is remote: because Genetic will let you have server profiles to which you could connect, over SSH, and remotely-manage them. And if you're running from Gentoo, you will be able to manage it, of course.

So, our vision is different in some aspects, when compared to other tools:

Parallel remote-administration,
Multiplatform.
It will also run on a Unix console (text mode, ncurses based).

Looks cool! But where is the program?

We are designing the GUI and an XRC-to-ncurses binding library. Additionally, we already have a server-side Python package (that we call genetic-cookies) that will gather all Portage-related information. On the client side (genetic-client, yes) we are enhancing our GeneticSSH module, which is the glue we need to connect user interface to the genetic-cookies. So, although we have lots in our mind, we have already written some code.

Do you need any help? How can I contribute?

We are currently looking for Python developers with some expertise in the following areas:

ncurses programming
wx/XRC programming
XML
Portage and Gentoo administration tools
GUI Design

You can also look at our current plans (needs to be updated) to understand more clearly what you can do for this project.

This is is under construction. Where can I get more information?

At the moment, we only have a development mailing list, as we have no users, but if you want to help, you can subscribe by clicking here. You can also drop us an email

Where is the developer's site?

Check out the Sourceforge Genetic Homepage. You will find the subversion repository there.

Who are you people, anyway?

Well, we are a bunch of programmers, linux experts, Gentooers and design people.

I (Buanzo) have asked the team to provide some information about themselves, so this is what I've gathered so far:

Arturo 'Buanzo' Busleiman is an early gnu/linux developer user who we can trace back to 1994. He's 24, so he, yes, has grow up programming with Linux. (he wrote a multiuser bbs system called eebbs and run it from 1995 to 1998 under the name 'System Fork'). He likes talking in linux and security conferences and artisan black beer. He's from Buenos Aires - Argentina. You can check out this sites of his:
Necoro d.M.is a 19-year-old IBM-employed student from Stuttgart - Germany. You can check out his home site at www.necoro.net, although he warns that it is mostly in German.
dams, who is a Gentoo developer, has his home site at www.damz.net. He has developed profuse, flagedit, libconf and gtk2fu.
Moranar, on the other hand is NOT a gentoo user, he's just starting with programming, but, well, he's my best friend :P - Now seriously, he's very good at esthetics and design, so I invited him to the project. He's written copious documentation about Mandriva Linux, and is an usability king. Check out his site at moranar.com.ar