Hi,

Q: Which are the main problem areas. The install script used during
partitioning etc., the inst program to manage set installation or the
configuration after installation ?


Regarding developments of inst ...

Ok that the moment no coding has been done on an X based installer.

I am working on a new installer  (design stage at the moment, no coding yet)
that will replace the current inst script etc.
This installer will provide a basic functionality similar to the exising set
installer but will be far more intelligent/faster.
It will managed installation histories, full conflict detection / resolution
all other set inter dependancies. Check for overwriting of modified files will
backup critical files, will merge user changes to config files between versions
(i.e. you will be able to install a new version of the etc set over the
existing one and all you local changes to rc.local / rc etc. will be merged
into the new version.)
Other facilities will include functions to allow you to find out which sets
have been upgraded since you installed and whether upgrades are necessary,
recommended, optional etc.
The installer will support installing from all block devices, nfs, ftp etc.
will support multiple types of filesystem and their corresponding filename
mangling etc.

The aim is to have an installer that can be driven from the command line as a
first step.

Then either text based, X based, Tk based frontend can be built around it.


Regarding the installation script used for paritioning ...
Ok I can understand people not liking the geometry stuff. This geometer stuff
could be replaced without too much work. ioctls exist to obtain the geometry
and the start of the RiscBSD part can be found in the same way that the kernel
does when obtaining the disklabel. Then all that is needed is a simple program
to ease the choosing of the partitions. Somebody else want to do this or do I
move this up my priority list ?


Regarding the config scripts ...

All the post install config stuff has been done as scripts and I have tried to
keep them as simple as possible.
Readme files / man pages may be useful for these scripts (any takers ?)
Feel free to modify/fix or write new config scripts and I will happily add them
to the config set.
For example the user config script does not allow new groups to be defined yet.
Also it does not provide the option for adding users to extra groups in
/etc/group. These functions need to be added to the script and sooner or later
someone will have to do it ...


One of the problems perhaps is that I don't apprieciate that for a
inexperienced unix user it may seem very complex. Having installed RiscBSD so
many times I don't even bother to read the text in the install script etc, I
know what the prompts are ;-)
I think a key  to this is the install guide. If the install guide clarified
things and explained things better a lot of the problems would vanish.



I'm in a no win situation ;-( what ever part of the system I am working on
there is always something else I should be doing ;-)

Time does tend to be the critical factor. All you folks on this list are very
good at realising that my time and the rest of the kernel teams time is very
limited regarding RiscBSD. Alot of the recent points made about the install
proceedure are being considered / acted on but the results are going to be some
way off.
For example all my spare time that I will have today has already gone just
reading and replying to RiscBSD email.

What is really needed is a month or so of solid RiscBSD work. This I think
would solve a lot of the problems with the current release etc. however this is
not possible on a project like RiscBSD.

Users are now getting more involved with the development of RiscBSD (no budding
kernel hacker yet ?) and I hope some of the fruits of the RiscBSD Documentation
Project will start to appear soon so hope fully things will get better in the
next few months.

Cheers,
					Mark



-- 
Mark Brinicombe				amb@physig.ph.kcl.ac.uk
Research Associate			http://www.ph.kcl.ac.uk/~amb/
Department of Physics			tel: 0171 873 2894
King's College London			fax: 0171 873 2716