From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Oct 17 05:27:45 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 86284106568D for ; Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:27:45 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sektie@gmail.com) Received: from mail-px0-f186.google.com (mail-px0-f186.google.com [209.85.216.186]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 571A58FC1F for ; Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:27:45 +0000 (UTC) Received: by pxi16 with SMTP id 16so1445659pxi.3 for ; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:27:45 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:sender:received:in-reply-to :references:date:x-google-sender-auth:message-id:subject:from:to:cc :content-type; bh=XeWhGm93Q+NCsaPqLKUB27DwAbujXGMGbqqto+vPTfc=; b=nyIGNYPdB48wjuecQX0mUHqet0TOQ0bnqH2nmv2x4VjDFFW+T8oPH/BWEPVaTbZlii KJko8kT5Tv+Jb+zOWwmTk1Quc7McUtOsZm1kQD23KmnwudUFHzK1/mmyAQrX6eSzHQPt wXVDLFY4awn5Op1BT8zOz4GQPkAiESnsWiep0= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:sender:in-reply-to:references:date :x-google-sender-auth:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type; b=NeiOUUGGltjReafvzsWI3v9cj7b6j4sPEMdvSe28wcqY6UNGtaS87YrQdRrsF+v5RT DsgIZGYgl0ZyBKWWocopedyboxD730pD1Fihn4Z91elx2EAxERHpeX04QJbt0SPBkHSV ut3JvqavyvAK34qA4wWoCnZ+W7fQPHXC5qRB8= MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: sektie@gmail.com Received: by 10.140.178.2 with SMTP id a2mr711276rvf.274.1255757265073; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:27:45 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <200910170300.01339.motoom@xs4all.nl> References: <4AD23C1C.8040300@daleco.biz> <200910170300.01339.motoom@xs4all.nl> Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:27:45 -0700 X-Google-Sender-Auth: c8a44b095fe916f8 Message-ID: From: Randi Harper To: Michiel Overtoom Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: sysinstall colours X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:27:45 -0000 On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Michiel Overtoom wrote: > > On Friday 16 October 2009, Randi Harper wrote: > > > Personally if I spent a lot of time on such a project, I'd be sure to > have > > the "is this going to make it into freebsd base?" conversation first. > > I think there's no doubt about it that 'sysinstall' will feature in the > next > FreeBSD too. It will! Keep up the good work! It's worth it. > Thank you for the kind words. :) > > The sysinstall manual page makes two apocalyptical remarks about itself: > > 1. "This product is currently at the end of its life cycle and will > eventually > be replaced." > > 2. "This utility is a prototype which lasted several years past its > expiration > date and is greatly in need of death." > > These doomsayings are wrong. To date no serious contenders have surfaced > and > up until that time sysinstall does its job, underappreciated perhaps, but > it > does it reasonably well, and adequately. Now that it is back in the focus, > we can look to a bright, evolutionary future for sysinstall. > As much as I want to agree with you, I can't quite do so. There are (to the best of my understanding) solid reasons why no other installer has made it into base. This doesn't necessarily mean that sysinstall is the final answer, though. Eventually, in my opinion, sysinstall needs to be replaced. It tries to do more than it should. For example, one of the things I'd like to see removed is the upgrade option - although I'm expecting quite a bit of backlash on that, so we'll see if that happens. I also don't think it should manage configuring rc.conf beyond network interfaces/hostname. The network services configuration is a mess. I don't think enabling the NFS server via sysinstall even works at this point. That aside, the code for sysinstall isn't really that bad, although it's been more of a history lesson than I initially expected. It was clearly written with the restrictions of older technology in mind. Bringing it completely up to date with current technology (devfs, gpt, zfs, whatever) is going to be such an extensive rewrite that it's true, one might as well write a new installer altogether. Then again, maybe I just like playing devil's advocate. :) -- randi