Re: [RFC] Call for review of GNU/screen support for D-I (was Re: Merge orion5x/kirkwood to flavour marvell and marvell-qnap)
On Apr 29, 2016, at 7:38 AM, Roger Shimizu <rogershimizu@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Rick,
>
> Thanks for your interest in GNU/screen support for D-I activity!
>
>
> I called for review because I want to confirm that those changes are necessary.
>
> For example, I know for it's necessary to have GNU/screen support for
> armel/armhf/arm64 platform; howover, for i386/amd64 PC, it usually
> have CRT/LCD and physical keyboard attached, so it's easily to switch
> console by Alt-F1 ~ F4 during debian installing.So for i386/amd64
> netboot targets, GNU/screen support is considered unnecessary.
> I want to know this kind of situation for other ARCHs.
>
> You mentioned Macintosh powerpc -32/-64, I think it's the same
> situation like i386/amd64 from point of view of GNU/screen support.
> They're unlikely needed.
>
> For other arm devices you have, I guess it's necessary.
> And I'll inform you when the testing images are ready, with instructions. :-D
Hi Roger,
You’re right, the old Mac hardware is mostly intended for “desktop” use, so you can attach a keyboard/mouse/video to it and install in the standard way. Apple did make a G5-based rack-mount server, but even it had a DVI video port.
When I’m installing Debian on one of the serial-console-only boxes, such as the SheevaPlug or OpenRD, I usually use the “network console” option that allows me to use ssh to login and run the Debian installer from the comfort of my office chair — away from the cold noisy machine room! If I need to see the logs or test some parameters, I can always ssh again and get another shell window. Of course, I still have to be there at the start-up, to push the “reset” button and use the serial console to handle the initial bootstrap/installation questions before the ssh server becomes available, but that’s only for a few minutes.
How does your proposed change alter that?
Enjoy!
Rick
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