Gentoo Archives: gentoo-dev

From: "Jeffrey D. Kowing" <jeffrey.d.kowing1@××××××××.gov>
To: gentoo-dev@g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-dev] Gentoo Installer (2) [LARGE]
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 13:21:13
Message-Id: 15611.45955.69545.21749@igor.jsc.nasa.gov
1 Grant Goodyear writes:
2 > I agree. In fact, I like the idea of having the manual install,
3 > the anaconda gui, and a cli openbsd-like installer (that a couple
4 > of people seem to be working upon) all available. First and
5 > foremost, Gentoo Linux is about flexibility for the _users_!
6
7 One danger about auto-installers and auto-configurators is that they
8 often add complexity to the system to make it simpler for the
9 auto-tools but more difficult for system administrators trying to
10 figure out what was done "behind the scenes." Sometimes the
11 configurators create their own special files that then override or
12 recreate the standard /etc files. This makes it difficult for those
13 of us who just like to go straight to the /etc files and make the
14 change. Also I've often followed scripts around for hours in RedHat
15 trying to figure out why my system is doing something I did not tell
16 it to do. The scripts are often quite complex because they try to be
17 so smart.
18
19 I do not mean to discourage those who are building the auto tools,
20 just hopefully something to keep in mind. As a side note, I
21 understand that configuration tools like webmin are pretty good about
22 simply being a nice front-end for working with the standard /etc files
23 without, for example, creating mysterious "secret" webmin
24 configuration files that override your own changes.
25
26 My two or maybe just one cents worth. All gentoo developers, thanks
27 for you excellent work!
28
29 --
30 Jeff Kowing
31 jeffrey.d.kowing1@××××××××.gov

Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-dev] Gentoo Installer (2) [LARGE] "Victor R. Prada" <vprada@g.o>