Sherwood, I like your suggestion of configuring packages as a separate step. The option in dselect to 'configure remaining unconfigured packages' could handle this, instead of the 'install selected packages' option. In this scenario, the 'install' option would became 'load packages' and all configuration would be relegated to the 'configure' option. If something goes wrong during configuration, you can just re-run dselect and hit the configure option. Good Idea.
Yes, it would be snazzy - and rather helpful - if the system automatically installed the required packages once an installation method was selected. It would also make the steps more distinct, as you say. Casper Boden-Cummins. >---------- >From: Sherwood Botsford[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: 19 August 1996 17:07 >To: Casper BodenCummins >Subject: RE: kernel size > >That's part of the point. More to the point is that there needs to be >some form of checkpointing for each of these stages. I should be able >to back down the ladder too. If dselect screws up, I should be able, >with a single command, to revert the system to a bare bones, just after >the 5 floppy disk install. Or back to Required only. All this stuff >is sort of there. (Sort of -- yeah. HOw do you revert to required >packages only if dselect/dpkg doesn't work. -- or if they work, but >their databases are gone or corrupt.) > >Right now the separation is vague. E.g. >>From 1-2 --floppy to boot off the hard disk, you get asked for a bunch >of extraneous info, and if you don't succeed, you have to start again >with 5 floppies in your hand. The path from floppies in hand to tiny >system on disk needs to be made tighter. > >The deselect stage right now is a jumble of three different actions: >1. Load required base system software. >2. Load optional package sets. >3. Configure packages. > >I'm saying that stage 1 should be fully automatic after selecting an >access method. > >Stage 2 needs to be redone so that all the install is done, then >all the config is done. YOu can start a select, and have it stop >after 10 minutes while it asks >you a questions. YOu have to keep coming back to it every several >minutes to hit a few keys. This is annoying as hell. > >During one installation I asked for an X install during the requried >install, then managed to lock up my box during the X configuration. >Result -- machine in ambigious state.
