From owner-freebsd-current Wed Dec 15 11:22: 6 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from uni4nn.gn.iaf.nl (osmium.gn.iaf.nl [193.67.144.12]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8CFB6153A3 for ; Wed, 15 Dec 1999 11:21:59 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from wilko@yedi.iaf.nl) Received: from yedi.iaf.nl (uucp@localhost) by uni4nn.gn.iaf.nl (8.9.2/8.9.2) with UUCP id TAA26091; Wed, 15 Dec 1999 19:20:14 +0100 (MET) Received: (from wilko@localhost) by yedi.iaf.nl (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA00988; Wed, 15 Dec 1999 19:42:44 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from wilko) Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 19:42:44 +0100 From: Wilko Bulte To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" Cc: Mark Newton , Peter Jeremy , Donn Miller , current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: sysinstall: is it really at the end of its lifecycle? Message-ID: <19991215194244.D447@yedi.iaf.nl> References: <19991215000600.C77327@yedi.iaf.nl> <49974.945214329@zippy.cdrom.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 1.0i In-Reply-To: <49974.945214329@zippy.cdrom.com>; from jkh@zippy.cdrom.com on Tue, Dec 14, 1999 at 03:32:09PM -0800 X-OS: FreeBSD yedi.iaf.nl 3.3-STABLE FreeBSD 3.3-STABLE X-PGP: finger wilko@freebsd.org Sender: owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Tue, Dec 14, 1999 at 03:32:09PM -0800, Jordan K. Hubbard wrote: > > And: how many people would volunteer for such a job? > > Or is it assumed that since this appears suspiciously like Real Work > > it will be a paid-for job? > > It will be a paid-for job, naturally. :) > Something we also have to stay aware of in this discussion is the fact > that even if most hackers could give a fig for graphical installers > and consider them to be an unneeded bit of hand-holding, it would > still be nice to have a framework which stuff could drop into and be > accessed via a command line or turbovision type of interface. We're Fundamental to the discussion is whether there is a desire for a installer+admintool-in-one. Or that these functions are seperated out in different tools. > not talking about writing multiple installers for each type of UI, > after all, since that would be an unreasonable duplication of labor. > We're talking about one installation/configuration code base which can > use either X or text mode interfaces at the user's discretion, so > both "camps" get what they want. Let's please not forget the blind users of FreeBSD.. > It's also a sad fact that journalists tend to rate products based on > different criteria than engineers do, and even where we're getting kudos > in the engineering community, magazines are kicking us in the nuts over > not having something which competes head-to-head with Caldera or Red Hat. > Sad, but true. Very true. I know. Whatever happens, the criterium should not be a 'me too' kind of tool, but rather something better. I happen to dislike tools that ask a bazillion questions. Assuming ease of use is related to a more abstract selection ("What do you want to install? Typical workstation? Web server? Firewall?" along that line) of a installation type. I for example like the Solaris/SPARC installation procedure. At least on a X-display. The character cell variant works, but that is about it. But it works on your 1970s dumb terminal. > - Jordan -- Wilko Bulte Arnhem, The Netherlands - The FreeBSD Project WWW : http://www.tcja.nl http://www.freebsd.org To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message