Re: We need easier installation.
Marc Singer <elf@netcom.com> wrote:
> 2) Smooth install. All the questions must be asked up front or at
> the end.
Some days ago, David Engel proposed an idea that IMO is worth
considering. It consists in making interactivity in package scripts
conditional by using an environment variable. If the variable is not
defined, the scripts will take their current behavior, i. e. asking
all of the questions during the installation face. If the variable is
defined, the scripts will only try to leave the package in a stable
state (not necessarily operational, though) without asking any
questions. New versions of dpkg/apt could start offering an option
for defining this variable (or you could define it by hand) without
breaking backwards compatibility.
This would not only make the installation much easier for novices, who
usually are overwhelmed by certain questions (like "What kind of setup
would you like for your DNS server?", or "Do you have a smarthost
available?") but would open the possibility for tools like Linuxconf or
COAS, or specific configuration setups (like a cfengine one) to
operate cleanly without conflicting with the Debian config scripts.
Opinions?,
M. S.
------------
Martin A. Soto J. Profesor
Departamento de Ingenieria de Sistemas y Computacion
Universidad de los Andes masoto@uniandes.edu.co
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