belahcene abdelkader wrote:
--- Thomas Adam <thomas@edulinux.homeunix.org> wrote:On Mon, Aug 23, 2004 at 12:22:09PM -0700, belahcene abdelkader wrote:I don't understand yet why debian doesn't usetheanaconda as installer. It is very easy for installation !Easy is subjective. Easy for what? How?OK ; First look at for example when you install Knoppix ( I mean specially for the new debian user )The hardware is automatically found , the choice of the package at least the commonly used a friendly graphical interface ( same thing with suse or redhat installer) I would like to get something like this to install thedebian I prefere debian for many aspects, but I think the installation is not easy yet.
The general answers given are:1) Debian works on 13 different architectures. The installer must work on all thirteen also. Trying to squeeze an anaconda-style installer to fit 13 different arches is a lot more work than sticking with what we've got.
2) Installation on Debian only has to be done once, unlike some other distros that require a re-installation with each so-called "upgrade". Therefore installation ease is not a high priority. Maintainability is.
3) The Debian developers are volunteers. They scratch their own itch, and creating an installer isn't within their domain of interests as much as other projects are. If you want a good installer, write it yourself, or talk someone else into writing it. Don't demand things of volunteers.
4) Some folks don't like anaconda-style installers, because it's a solution that doesn't fit their problem. I'm not familiar with anaconda, but does it allow remote network-based installations? Booting from a USB pen drive and pulling the rest from the network? etc.
5) If you insist on an easy install, there are Debian distros that provide that. Debian is the core; these other distros are the fluff. Xandros, Libranet, Knoppix, Kanotix. Kanotix is based on Knoppix, but results in a pure Debian install. You might want to go that route.
Generally, the people who ask about an easy-to-install Debian are thinking x86 workstation use, and don't give any thought to the other 12 architectures or to special-use situations. That's okay, but you need to be aware that Debian is a bigger project than that.
-- Kent