From owner-freebsd-sysinstall@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Feb 19 04:22:12 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-sysinstall@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9BD03106566B; Sat, 19 Feb 2011 04:22:12 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from nwhitehorn@freebsd.org) Received: from adsum.doit.wisc.edu (adsum.doit.wisc.edu [144.92.197.210]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 68F738FC08; Sat, 19 Feb 2011 04:22:12 +0000 (UTC) MIME-version: 1.0 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII; format=flowed Received: from avs-daemon.smtpauth1.wiscmail.wisc.edu by smtpauth1.wiscmail.wisc.edu (Sun Java(tm) System Messaging Server 7u2-7.05 32bit (built Jul 30 2009)) id <0LGU00802K4ZS300@smtpauth1.wiscmail.wisc.edu>; Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:22:11 -0600 (CST) Received: from comporellon.tachypleus.net (adsl-76-208-68-88.dsl.mdsnwi.sbcglobal.net [76.208.68.88]) by smtpauth1.wiscmail.wisc.edu (Sun Java(tm) System Messaging Server 7u2-7.05 32bit (built Jul 30 2009)) with ESMTPSA id <0LGU00IC9K4WQ520@smtpauth1.wiscmail.wisc.edu>; Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:22:10 -0600 (CST) Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:22:08 -0600 From: Nathan Whitehorn In-reply-to: To: Shawn Webb Message-id: <4D5F4570.7090507@freebsd.org> X-Spam-Report: AuthenticatedSender=yes, SenderIP=76.208.68.88 X-Spam-PmxInfo: Server=avs-12, Version=5.6.0.2009776, Antispam-Engine: 2.7.2.376379, Antispam-Data: 2011.2.19.41523, SenderIP=76.208.68.88 References: <4D35CFFB.3010302@freebsd.org> <4D5E945F.60106@freebsd.org> <61079648-D76C-4699-AC4D-F6EBE64ABFFC@vicor.com> User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD amd64; en-US; rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101214 Thunderbird/3.1.7 Cc: freebsd-current@freebsd.org, freebsd-sysinstall@freebsd.org, freebsd-arch@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD Installer Roadmap X-BeenThere: freebsd-sysinstall@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Sysinstall Work List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2011 04:22:12 -0000 On 02/18/11 22:11, Shawn Webb wrote: >> There are many reasons for this, and none of them are selfish (although it >> remains possible to drum-up some selfish reason, all of the reasons behind >> our motivation are in-fact unselfish). Truth-be-told, I welcome the >> replacement of sysinstall but am very wary that ANY replacement will be able >> to exactly replicate the hardware compatibility that sysinstall currently >> enjoys. I do indeed envision a great celebration as FreeBSD-9 bucks >> sysinstall but also at the same time have nightmares of receiving waves of >> calls from people having trouble (for example) "installing FreeBSD-9 on >> their AMD K6 based system, circa long-long-ago in a universe far-far-away." >> (yes, we do have data centers running that very equipment with uptime in the >> 1,000's of days). >> > I'm sure I'm not fully aware of the situation at your data center, but would > systems that have 1,000+ day uptimes be candidates for upgrade to FreeBSD 9? > It seems that if a system has that kind of uptime, it's a high priority > server and uptime needs to be maintained. > > Maybe it would be possible to have both sysinstall and bsdinstall on the > same install medium? It may. If it is possible without enormous difficulty, this is something that should certainly be in place for 9.0. If it isn't possible, it may be a good idea to provide a second set of media with sysinstall for those who want it. I think that in any case, it is extremely unlikely that sysinstall will be entirely disconnected from the build before the release. As regards the original posting, I totally share Devin's concern about wide hardware compatibility, including with very old hardware, and wish him the best of luck with sysinstall life support! As for bsdinstall, I have taken a substantial amount of effort to ensure that bsdinstall work on older hardware (I have tested it on a VT220 at 9600 baud connected to a 13-year-old Sun Ultra 5) and would regard it failing in any way on any hardware on which FreeBSD will boot as a serious bug. -Nathan