Re: PROPOSAL: automatic installation and configuration
>
> Or, an easier idea is to do an install with a --noconfig(does no-act do this?)
> or something that would delay the configuration of packages. THEN, we can set
> up whatever other tools that would allow us to configure these packages, either
> through a GUI, ncurses, or interactive text message. The new tools would then
> set the "configured" flag we already have in each package. The dpkg --configure
> is obviously there to allow for packages that have not been configured. I
> havn't looked TOO closely at the package structure in a while, but it seems this
> would make it MUCH easier to install for newbies. What do you think?
>
Good idea. Some thoughts:
1) When one wants an automatic noninteractive installation ?
When there is a large number of system with very similar configuration.
2) What are all those questions are needed for in the first place ?
Basically only to create or modify config files in /etc.
3) In most circumstances a sysadmin would have to edit these config files
manually anyway.
The moral is: one needs a method to keep all those configuration files and
distribute them. Now, what's the point of storing the answers to the
question, if we already store the resulting config files.
So instead of getting answers to a bunch of questions we should just pull
precreated config file. And instead of inventing methods for asking those
questions, one better invent a reasonably universal solution for keeping
and retrieving at appropriate moments the config files for a site. So that
sysadmins don't have to reinvent the wheel in each case.
The exclusion for this is an initial install. Here one has to invent
something similar to Sun's jumpstart, or RedHat's kickstart.
Sergey.
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