[K12OSN] Status of "enterprise" version of K12LTSP

[Eric Harrison <eharrison mail mesd k12 or us>]

In case anyone thinks I've been completely slacking off my K12LTSP 
duties <grin>, here is an update on where I'm at.

I'm going to wait until we have a good idea that the SMP kernel
issues some have reported are resolved before building 4.0.1.


For those of you who have been on this list for a while know that
I'm way-to-slow when it comes to installer work. Well, I'm happy
to say I think I know how I want to deal with the "enterprise"
installers.

The overall goal is to keep the scope-of-work managable for me
while making it as easy-as-possible for the typical user to install,
configure, and use the system. The bad news is that is a lot harder
when I can't muck with the installer directly. The good news is that
the "enterprise" versions are designed to be installed (reinstalled
would be a better word) only when needed. As such, a couple extra
steps to install every couple of years may be less painful than
an easy install every couple of months. Your mileage may vary.

After extensive testing, I think I may have a reasonable approach.
I'm not ready for general testing yet, this is just for the sort
of geeks that can look at a work-in-progress. I will likely
(my mileage may vary) have a fully testable version ready this
weekend.

To make a long story short, there are a several versions of
"Enterprise Linux 3.0" that need to be accounted for. In each
case, it may be a fresh install or an existing install.

For a new install, I have created an "updates" floppy that will
set all of the defaults for K12LTSP. Instructions (in progress,
obviously) and floppy image are located at:

  ftp://k12linux.mesd.k12.or.us/pub/K12LTSP/testing/EL/images/

I will also write up simple docs, with screen shots, on how to
modify a default install (i.e. without using the "update" disk)
so that it matches the default K12LTSP configuration (or how to
ignore it and use your own configuration).

I will then package up the unique K12LTSP software (almost done) 
in such a way that it can be delivered over the Red Hat Network,
yum, apt-get, or manually (the Red Hat Network would be the 
obvious choice, but people are always doing things with LTSP that
are non-obvious to me).

The final step will be to run a script to make sure that all is
sane. Currently this is automatically done when installing K12LTSP,
but the revised version should (will have to?) ask a couple of 
simple questions if it detects a deviation from the default config.
This remains to be done, but is easy to do in its most simplistic
form. I may need some help with a "proper" implementation, but I
think that will be easy after a "working" version has been proven.

-Eric