Shawn Walker wrote: > Dave Miner wrote: >> Going back a point: One of the problems with not offering selections >> in the installer is that it can present the impression that packages >> which aren't included on the media for space reasons are just not >> available, > > The giant graphic during install that says additional software is > available through packagemanager after install isn't enough? (I'm > smiling here :)) > >> at the critical time when the user is sticking a toe in the water. I >> think that's an especially vital issue with (Open)Solaris, as lack of >> available software has been a persistent impression that we're >> fighting hard to address. > > With that said, I have to wonder why Ubuntu and similar OS distributions > that have a similar that don't offer the installation of additional > software during install don't have this issue? >
For one, Ubuntu's the current standard; we aren't. Sometimes you have to try a little harder when you're the scrappy underdog. You're correct that the live CD's typically don't, because they all install the same way we currently do. Fedora, however, offers the install DVD that allows customization up front, or later. Ubuntu's server install writes the base system, then lets you customize it, but still in the guided flow. Haven't looked at any others lately, though SuSE was similar to Fedora last time I looked. > I suspect this is a perception issue primarily for Solaris users > transitioning to OpenSolaris, who are used to downloading this gigantic > multi-gigabyte image or using a DVD to install the entire 'wad-of-stuff'. > Not just them; ask the typical non-OpenSolaris user about their perception of software availability on OpenSolaris. Their perception is unlikely to be aligned with reality, so we need to be cognizant of that at this point. This isn't the only way, but it's a key point. >> Beyond that issue, requiring a two-step (install, reboot, then work on >> it) to get the popular things presents a fairly clunky experience, in >> my opinion. The point here is not to be perfect, hence the limited >> selection set being proposed, but to be good enough in a lot of cases. > > As someone else mentioned, there's no reason you couldn't just have the > packagemanager run (packagemanager -R /mountpoint) at the end of the > install process. That would avoid the two-step part you're talking > about. Plus, as I already mentioned, I wonder why this isn't such a big > issue for other distributions. > I think it's an interesting additional option. There are other use cases that it doesn't address, such as being able to hand out even out-of-date media and have the user directly install the latest stuff rather than install then update. Dave
