Re: Ideas

[John Pearson <john@huiac.apana.org.au>]

I make my own images (and have been before I subscribed here),
and my slink CDs have a full package list on each binary disc.
The packages are not arranged as they are in the 'official'
CDs, and so you don't get the chance to do a single-CD install.
Personally I prefer this arrangement as I don't give out single 
CDs, and I think it saves a lot of confusion.

If you alter dpkg-multicd, can it be done in a 'CD-neutral' way,
so that the text doesn't imply a specific CD set is in use?
For example, a message like 
"Please insert CD 2 of your multi-CD set" implies a particular
arrangement of packages across the CDs; a message like
"Please insert your 'Packages Master' CD" can be dealt with
on the label of the CD.  Personally, I like the fact that the
CDs I use require little swapping; if the install program directed
the user to change CDs needlessly, it would be a minor peeve.

Is there any reason for *not* having a full packages list on each CD,
aside from the risk of having naive users selecting packages that aren't
available?  If not, and you want CD 1 to allow people to try Debian out,
can you not simply advise them to select one of the offered profiles
and not to play with dselect's 'Select'?

On Sun, Jun 27, 1999 at 05:14:01PM +0100, Steve McIntyre wrote
> 
> I was talking to Ian last night on the way back from the Linux99
> conference about the current state of the install process, especially as
> it relates to multi-CD. We came up with a couple of things:
> 
> The problems people are having with the multi-CD install could be helped
> in a very simple way. (I assume that people have noticed confused posts to
> debian-user.) People are not seeing the README on each disc that explains
> about inserting the last binary disc first for Update in dselect. I'm
> going to patch the dpkg-multicd method to insert a message in the Update
> step itself, so people should now no longer be able to miss this. And to
> fix the other source of confusion, I'll also add a warning that in many
> cases a simple install will never use any disks subsequent to the first
> one... 
> 
> [...]


John P.
-- 
huiac@camtech.net.au
john@huiac.apana.org.au
"Oh - I - you know - my job is to fear everything." - Bill Gates in Denmark