Re: sysinst split project - The Configuration File

[David Young <dyoung%pobox.com@localhost>]

On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 12:18:23PM -0200, Silas Silva wrote:
> Hi all!
> 
> (I'm Cc'ing this to current-users@, although I don't know if this is
> right - if not, tell me so I can e-mail always on tech-install only).
> 
> There is a long time I posted my e-mail in tech-install@ about my wish
> of beginning the sysinst split project. I believed I could provide an
> initial agenda for the project, but I barely could start it (no time!).
> 
> My friend (I'll let introduce himself, if he wishes) and I started with
> a basic configuration file that we want to discuss with you and, when
> there will be some consensus around it, we'll close its specification in
> a BNF grammar and we'll start to implement the parser lib in Lex, Yacc
> and C.
> 
> I posted it here: http://pastebin.com/f5ec7a9f

I have a couple of urgent suggestions:

Coordinate with Lloyd Parkes and Masao Uebayashi.  IMO, system
installation is essentially the same as building system images (see
LLoyd's Miniaturize NetBSD GSoC 2009 project), but installation is
"on-line" while image-building is "off-line" (for lack of better
terms).  They both need a configuration file format.  They both need
to layout disks, add users/groups, add 3rd-party software, and install
configuration files in /etc/.

Use XML for the configuration.  That ensures that the configuration is
queryable/transformable with NetBSD's forthcoming xmltools.  I know that
writing XML by hand is objectionable, so establish a one-to-one mapping
from your user-friendly format to an XML format.  Provide a tool to/from
the XML format.

> - Get classical sysinst and split it in backend and frontend, like the
>   original proposal and according to the abandoned 2008 gsoc project.

Yes, please.

Dave

-- 
David Young             OJC Technologies
dyoung%ojctech.com@localhost      Urbana, IL * (217) 278-3933