On Sun, 8 Nov 2020 at 17:32, nia <[email protected]> wrote: > > after several changes in 9.1 and -current, it's strange to me that the option > that I expect is the most popular for installing NetBSD (start over, fresh > partitions, use the whole disk) is no longer the default option: > > > d: Delete everything, use different partitions > > it's option 4! that doesn't feel right at all. > > the installer in -current now asks users to input entropy by hand: > > > {They should contain at last 256 bits of randomness, as in 256 coin > > tosses, 100 throws of a 6-sided die, 64 random hexadecimal digits, or > > (if you are able to copy & paste output from another machine into this > > installer) the output from running the following command on another > > machine whose randomness you trust:} > > while inputting entropy by hand isn't something i would consider > acceptable to expose to everyday users of a modern operating system > in the first place, the suggestion that they might use coin tosses > makes the entire thing feel like a big joke (and in general the dialog > is overly complicated). > > i really feel like both of these things could be improved.
I wondered the same, thinking that I might have caught the installation procedure mid-way of a change. It looks not finished. The only way I was able to get the entropy in was via ftp from one of my other systems. I tried scp-ing the file locally and reading it, which for some reason didn't work. I don't think anybody is suggesting actually doing coin tosses - this is just an illustration of the amount of entropy required (although on a few occasions in the past I have thrown a few dice in order to get a diceware password...). Perhaps the default procedure should warn the user if enough entropy is not available, leaving the actual retrieval of it in some advanced option. -- ----
