I think we could all do with something along the lines of HP's swinstall.
(I'm using this as an example as I use HP more than anything else at work).
You can run swinstall and get a GIU or a cursor based interface, you connect
to the specified server, select the software you want, it will choose any
dependancies which are required and load the software. It will backup so you
can undo if required and log all the files which are updated.

I would not know where to start writing something like that, but if anyone
wants to have a crack (or should that be hack), I'd be more than happy to
provide some input.

Regards
Nigel

-----Original Message-----
From: Johan Danielsson <joda@pdc.kth.se>
To: Jason Thorpe <thorpej@nas.nasa.gov>
Cc: Jim Wise <jwise@unicast.com>; Matthias Drochner
<drochner@zelux6.zel.kfa-juelich.de>; Jonathan Stone
<jonathan@dsg.stanford.edu>; Perry E. Metzger <perry@piermont.com>; der
Mouse <mouse@rodents.montreal.qc.ca>; current-users@netbsd.org
<current-users@netbsd.org>
Date: Friday, September 18, 1998 10:32 AM
Subject: package system (was: AFS/arla)


>Jason Thorpe <thorpej@nas.nasa.gov> writes:
>
>> If you have a diskless client, well, the pkg_* tools need to be
>> taught how to manipulate alternate DB files, and how to notify a DB
>> that a package is already installed, or somehitng.
>
>And if this ever happens, can we *please* have a system that you can
>`install' things in without having to run some program. I am
>specifically thinking about systems running `package' (or some similar
>system) to update their local disks.
>
>What Digital UNIX is using, is close to what I like. The AIX and IRIX
>models are as far from it as you can come (with large horrible
>database that you can never, or so it seems, keep in sync with
>reality).
>
>/Johan
>