Anaconda is not the place for pedantic customization [ was Excessive package interdependency]

Jef Spaleta jspaleta at princeton.edu
Fri Dec 19 14:17:58 UTC 2003


Chris Ricker:
> Not a list. The standard r-c-packages screen in group mode that 
> anaconda
> already shows during new installs. After finding the packages to upgrade,
> ask if they want to see other available packages, and if so, show them the
> groups. Just give people the chance to customize, rather than forcing stuff
> on them they may or may not want.

Why does anaconda have to offer this choice? Why can't the user do the
point and go upgrade in anaconda...boot into the running system..and
finish up 'customization' via the group selector tool to
grab stuff from a local disk/cd or from a repo? Why does this
customization step have to go IN the anaconda installer. I really don't
see a 'general use' benefit of having anaconda be the place where you
choose to install MORE things.  I don't even want to see the groups
choice in a fresh install. I want to see at most a choice between
install 'profile' options. I'd rather see more work being done to create
a 'minimal' option and to better redefine the 'server' option into
choices that make more intuitive sense, than to haggle with specific
package customization inside anaconda. 

Isn't obscenely pedantic package customization the realm of kickstart?
Here's my solution to the matter.... forget about trying to have
anaconda be the solution to meet ALL possible pedantic install option
needs. If people can actually agree on a 'mininal' install option thats
probably perfectly reasonable to stick in. But trying to finely grain
the bundles for things like a custom desktop as part of anaconda I think
is just a waste of time. Right now testing anaconda is non-trivial since
mere morals are not going to respin iso images to test for pedantic
feature breakage.  Pedantic features should be stripped out of anaconda
as much as possible.
 Instead I would prefer to see work on a set of tools so that a Fedora
Core host system can be used to 'master' alternative install media,
using rule or anaconda with user defined comps file. And of course,
people will say... 'bah I don't want to have to install a Fedora Core
system just to use as a mastering system for the install i really want
to do'...and to that I say... Fedora could build a pre-defined livecd to
act as the mastering host. The Fedora livecd I'm talking about doesn't
have desktop crap like openoffice or evolution. The livecd I'm talking
about would be there to provide the working mastering system that you
could use to respin your own alternative install media that has the
comps file YOU want...using either rule or anaconda..to fit YOUR system
footprint needs.

So in my brave new world here is how you would get the custom install
that you wanted:
1)dowload and burn the Fedora Master livecd or install Fedora Core
2)boot the Fedora Master livecd or boot into Fedora Core
3)use system-config-respin:
  *select kickstart/install media/livecd
  *select packages/groups to include from online repository  	sources or
sources locally on disk
  *define a new comps file as desired
  *any other number of steps that count as customization
  *create new iso images based on 'custom' selections
4)burn or push the iso images over the network

You of course can't redistribute your custom install media as Fedora,
but does that really matter...if you get a system installed
exactly the way you want it?

-jef 





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