Saturday 18 Jul 2015 15:36:01, NP-Hardass wrote : > On Sat, 18 Jul 2015 12:01:48 -0700 > Matthew Marchese <maffblas...@gentoo.org> wrote: > > > Hello all, > > > > I have recently pressed the reboot button on the ol' Installer > > project. I've been able to talk to quite a few developers one-on-one > > via IRC concerning my plans. Most seem to be in support of Gentoo > > having a "official" installer (the biggest concern is appears to be > > how things will be implemented and the amount of features involved). > > This e-mail is to fulfill GLEP 39's request for comments (RFC), > > concerns, requests, etc. Since I'm a little new to the project I'm > > coming with a bit of ignorance; I know the previous Installer project > > fostered mixed feelings. > > > > If you'd like to review before replying you can see the Wiki page and > > find the source on GitHub: https://github.com/gentoo/stager > > > > To summarize I'm writing it in pure Python 3. It first will be able > > to create full backups (stage 4s) and recoveries. After that is > > finished I plan to move on to installations. There will potentially > > be a web interface UI for it. Others are free to create other > > front-ends; to me a web UI makes the most sense and would probably > > require the least deps. > > > > I'd like to hear it all so please speak your mind. Looking forward to > > hearing from you. > > > > maffblaster > >
Hi Matthew I fancy your idea a lot. We ought to do it for complete newbies who are new to Gentoo but would like to give the distribution a shot nonetheless. I fondly remember my first attempt who took me ages to complete.. Good times. :) Following up on NP-Hardass' email in which he's raising good points: > Who is your target audience? New users? Experienced users? Not so > much a comment about your installer, but installers in general, I feel > the handbook is critically important to helping new users to understand > Gentoo. Whether the handbook would remain a resource that users would > look at if they had an installer remains to be seen. IMHO, users should be guided and walked through the installation process. They should understand what's going on so the Handbook must be equally important as when a normal chap installs Gentoo without using the installer. It should ask users trivial questions, a bit like the Debian CLI installer. "Which partition do you want to format?" "How do you want to configure your network interface?" etc. Worth mentioning for sysadmins, devops and users alike: automation is all the rage these days. Beyond creating an installer, it'd be interesting to feed the program with a sort of "configuration file" so that the whole process can be performed in one go. Or think about integrating it with Chef, Puppet et al. I think it's a personal taste here and whether we want to reinvent the wheel or not. > The project page > states: > > "Greatly aiding the "fresh install process". stager will not > remove the need for reading through the Handbooks, but rather work > along side the handbook in order to help users install Gentoo." > > Can you elaborate on this? I have trouble envisioning an automated > installer process that requires working along side the handbook. > > I know that you mentioned a web interface. I assume that you there are > plans for a simpler, local interface like ncurses or cli, or text in a > terminal? Is it meant to be interactive? Python has an ncurses module that allows developers to create interactive programs out of the box. The web interface would also be a interesting feature (maybe for remote installations?) but truth to be told, I see it as a "nice to have" feature rather than a "must have". > I like the idea of having an automated installer, so I wish you the > best of luck with the project. I'm sure you'll encounter tons of > people with tons of opinions on what it should and shouldn't be, so > just do your best to maintain a clear, well-defined vision and stick to > it. > Definitely. Write a roadmap and stick to it. Cheers, Patrice
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