-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Andi Payn wrote:
> Meanwhile, Paul Dorman's idea of "sub-distributions" is interesting, but I > think there's a better solution: > > Provide, in addition to the 3-CD distribution, a "mini" version that provides > just enough to get you up and running and install other packages. You could > download, say, a 150MB ISO for English, or a 180MB ISO for some other > language (if there were people interested in maintaining a mini-distro for > that language), instead of 2GB with everything. You'd have a basic KDE > desktop only, everything needed to get on a LAN or cable/DSL connection, all > of the packaging tools, the core development packages, and some of the > setup/configuration tools, but few applications, no servers, etc. > > Then, provide an easy way to pull in groups of packages. Each of the groups > you can choose in the installer would be available, and would install the > exact same packages--except that it would only have to download the > appropriate language, and it would download the most up-to-date version, from > the mirror you chose. > > Even simpler, you could allow running that tool as part of the installation > process. > > An alternative solution is the way linuxppc used to work a few years back. You > download and burn an 80MB ISO that contains the installer, which can grab > packages off a mirror instead of off a CD. (In fact, I never even burned the > CD; they provided MacOS-based and linux-based installer bootstraps so you > could just leave the .iso file at the root of an HFS or ext2 partition; that > was nifty.) Making this fool-proof is difficult, but making it work 95% is > easy--and good enough for the intended audience: people who know Mandrake, > know what they want, and have broadband connections. > > I think either would provide everything Paul's looking for, and be very easy > to put together. In fact, making a mini-distro out of the full 9.1 is > something a single user could easily do shortly after 9.1 is released. > > By the way, as things are today, you can just download CD 1, install a > bare-minimum configuration, then rpmdrake/urpmi all the packages you want off > the net. 650MB is still pretty big, but it's a lot less than 2GB. > How about 1) instead you download just network.img, and either a)dd it to a floppy under linux b)put it on a floppy with rawrite in windows c)loopback mount the floppy to extract the kernel and initrd image, and use them in a new lilo entry 2)Boot the image of choice (floppy or lilo) 3)Do a standard network install. No need for special images etc. Regards, Buchan - -- |--------------Another happy Mandrake Club member--------------| Buchan Milne Mechanical Engineer, Network Manager Cellphone * Work +27 82 472 2231 * +27 21 8828820x121 Stellenbosch Automotive Engineering http://www.cae.co.za GPG Key http://ranger.dnsalias.com/bgmilne.asc 1024D/60D204A7 2919 E232 5610 A038 87B1 72D6 AC92 BA50 60D2 04A7 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQE+Z2S6rJK6UGDSBKcRArW+AKCMh7PlpbncwVl/mC5kh7rH5Lb+ZgCgxzb6 o22T509LDGLW53xGwYRzPKg= =pFWM -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
