Re: Announce (and question): Masquerading PPP server based on Debian

[Ben Pfaff <pfaffben@pilot.msu.edu>]

Adam Di Carlo <adam@onshore.com> writes:

   > Question: Would this system be useful to others?  If so, how do you
   > suggest that I release it?  I have a certain amount of ftp space
   > available to me, enough that I could put up a full binary and source
   > release.

   You've already had a number of suggestions on how to release this,
   Ben.  I also suggest you work with the boot floppies team
   (<debian-boot@lists.debian.org>).  I think Enrique's number-one
   priority for potato boot-floppies is to let it be utterly scriptable
   (perhaps from an installation script file loaded from rescue floppy or
   the network).

Hmm, I agree with this goal but I think that my modifications are
actually orthogonal to this goal.  They reduce the amount of user
input needed, true, but in turn reduce flexibility.

   Maybe you could help Enrique design this system?  I think it would be
   possible to specify even disk partitioning steps from some
   installation script, although I've no clue how you managed to do it on
   your system and am most curious.

I took the sources to cfdisk.c, ripped all the user interface code
out, and replaced it with code that essentially does the following:

	1. Find size of specified hard drive.
	2. Subtract 64 MB from that size, make an ext2 partition that size.
	3. Make a 64 MB swap partition.
	4. Write the calculated partition table to disk.

And then it automatically calls mkswap and mke2fs.

   The more you can merge your changes into mainstream Debian, the more
   likely it is that your nice system will be merged in with other stuff,
   and actively maintained and extended.  Thus, even your client will
   benefit (i.e., ask to get paid for the time!).

Definitely.  Unfortunately I haven't got enough time to do the
integration right now.  I do plan to do it, perhaps I will have time
later this semester.  For some reason it always takes more time to
integrate and release code than to actually write it in the first
place.

In a related story, I've written a 16-color VGA framebuffer for kernel
2.2 over the last week along with Petr Vandrovec
<VANDROVE@vc.cvut.cz>.  I plan to write a minimal userspace graphics
library for it and use them to make a user-obsequious graphical
install boot floppy, probably based on mostly new code.  Target is
potato, not slink, though.
-- 
"...In the UNIX world, people tend to interpret `non-technical user'
 as meaning someone who's only ever written one device driver."
--Daniel Pead