> wrong. Before you get hotter ... I agree with most of your
> points and Pat has talked about some work on the file layout
> (there are a bunch of posts on the list about this) but it
> turns out that in most shops once you have a working setup
> you aren't given the time to fine-tune like we would all like.
Your points are well taken and I apologize for my belligerent tone. I've
decided to do what I can in terms of cleaning up the code and submitting
patches or whatnot in an attempt to make the scripts easier to understand.
> I have gained literally hundreds of hours by using this
> offering and I can say it took me a little while to get "my
> head around it" but it has been
> well worth it.
The source of my frustration is that the difficulty in grokking how
Unattended works comes not from any inherent complexity in the architecture
- pre-generate unattend.txt, edit [OemRunOnce], create a stack on the hard
drive, pop until done - but from the scripts themselves. I'm sorry, but
$u->{'_meta'}->{'ipaddr'} =
sub {
my $ret; // etc
isn't just "different" coding style, it's *objectively* *bad* coding style.
In just three lines we have two undocumented variables, one declared
implicitly, with names <= three characters and an implicitly declared
undocumented subroutine.
As I said, I'm working on cleaning it up and I'll submit some patches, and
hopefully going forward it won't take people two weeks to wrap their heads
around what's going on.
> If you want to talk to me, openly, about the problems and
> frustrations and perhaps get some insight into my use model I
> would be happy to give you a call. Just let me know.
There are a few things I'm trying to manage, now that I can at least figure
out what's going on in the scripts (kind of).
1) Not loading smartdrv prior to executing WINNT.EXE makes the XP install
process slow to a crawl. This is a known issue
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307848). AFAICT,
smartdrv is not loaded by DOSEMU prior to running WINNT.EXE and it really
does make the install take a loooong time. Is there a reason smartdrv is
not loaded by DOSEMU prior to running winnt on the linux boot CD? Is it
even possible to do so?
2) Using perl for the postinstall. Was this just personal preference on the
part of the developer or is there something specific that perl can do that
VBScrpt can't? I'd rather not install anything more than I have to on any
given client workstation - like most large enterprises, there are certain
desktop standards we have to abide by here.
Chris Doherty
Helpdesk Analyst
Crompton Co./Cie a Chemtura Company
Elmira: (519) 669-1671 x319
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