Re: The case for FreeBSD

supraexpress_at_globaleyes.net wrote:

>One of the main "stumbling blocks" to using FreeBSD is the installation
>process. I have had "lots of fun" (not!) with NetBSD's line-mode/shell-script
>"installer" and confusing companion installation instructions, in the past; I
>only tried OpenBSD once and don't remember anything about its installation
>process, but I seem to recall that it was similar to NetBSD's; FreeBSD's
>'DOS-like menu' system is a travisty and IS PROBABLY THE ONE THING THAT TURNS
>OFF MORE PROSPECTIVE FBSD USERS THAN ANYTHING ELSE - I know - I have heard!
>
>Besides, it is REALLY EASY to get lost in the FBSD installer "menu system",
>and not that hard to get caught in a "control loop"; this is not to say that
>the current FBSD installer is a piece of junk - I give kudos to its
>developers, but IT IS TIME TO MOVE ON, and this is the ONE thing that gets
>compared to with Linux "installers" as well as Winchoke, probably more than
>anything else, so if FreeBSD is going to be more appealing to "the masses",
>it needs a completely new installation process (note: I don't really care
>for Solaris' "wizard process" - though it is not TOO bad, and I am not
>trying to advocate a "wizard process" that mirrors others).
>
>I offer the following suggestions for cogitation and realize that some
>of MY choices may not be "the best", but here goes anyhow:
>
>a) redesign the "installer" as a graphical menu system with pull-down
>   options, organized as a linear heirarchy where there is NO possibility
>   of getting lost or of winding up in a "control loop", and the progression
>   is clearly visible; real graphical images of major processes/steps and
>   "systems/major applications" should be provided; THIS installer should
>   begin with THREE, and only THREE options: "user workstation",
>   "server", or "(expert) choice of workstation/server setups"
>
>
>b) design an "installation wizard", in line with contemporary systems,
>   that does nothing but install a "canned workstation environment" based on
>   OpenOffice plus Gnome (or KDE) - that's IT - NOTHING ELSE; Make sure
>   that a more modern graphical menu is used where sample images of Gnome
>   (or KDE) are presented, and do NOT install the entire Gnome (or KDE)
>   "suite"; THIS will appeal to the MILLIONS who have been brainwashed by
>   Redmond (or Apple?) into believing that there is only ONE "computing
>   environment" of any use or interest, AND IT WILL GIVE THEM WHAT THEY
>   WANT, even if it IS FreeBSD; this would be like a pseudo-Mac-X (whatever);
>   this will also appeal to those who don't really care about Unix or
>   FreeBSD as a "server", but really want a "desktop environment"
>   
>   a basic client-only, outbound-only-allowing firewall MUST BE
>   installed and activated (which will require some simple choices about
>   DHCP or assigned, static IP addreses); "ports" could be included as
>   an option, but would be better left to the "expert" wizard
>
>
>c) design an "installation wizard" that installs a "server system with NO
>   desktop installation" which provides some "canned" server "types" (such as
>   "mail server", "web server", ...) that choose the newest versions of
>   server applications (such as Apache2 versus Apache1; PHP5 versus PHP4)
>   as the "defaults", and pull-down menus for changing versions (such as
>   one pull-down for PHP that lists all of the available PHP "main"
>   packages, and possibly another pull-down that lists all of the available
>   PHP "sub-packages"), or altering the application "mix"
>
>
>d) design an "installation menu system" which provides ALL of the choices
>   for ALL of the available functions and services in a well ordered,
>   graphical, linear, hierarchy with sample images/snapshots and pull-down
>   menus to make choices easier to make, without having to go into and out
>   of many levels as the current installer does
>
>
>It would probably help if a "special design team" (project) were created for
>this, with calls to anyone/everyone to join in, unless - of course - that
>there just so happens to be a group of talented people who WANT to do all of
>this on their own ;)
>
>
>If some truly talented and adventurous people were to look at the installation
>process as an adventure in graphical layers where mousing over a box or image
>would open up a new sub-layer (to the side, or even BETTER, to wherever the
>user places their mouse or clicks on the background, or shouts at the monitor
>(we REALLY need to get some of the Hitchhiker's Guide into this process!),
>where small graphical images of options or related packages could be displayed
>so that the "installer" acted like a well designed "flowing image overlay
>system", THEN the FreeBSD installation process would be dynamite - literally!
>
>There are "circular menus" (ala one Firebird extension), layered pie-chart
>diagrams of the filesystem with size information (such as KDE's "filelight")
>where mousing over one of the concentric circles pops up an "info box", while
>clicking on one of them traverses down the filesystem path and creates a new
>set of concentric circles of lower level directories, and the exhilarating
>3D-Desktop as examples of unique, "futuristic", artistic, free flowing
>graphical "systems" that could lead to interesting ideas for the above
>mentioned "graphical installation system".
>
>  
>
Bah ... try Gentoo Linux sometime.  You might say that Debian is in this 
same group as well.  It is NOT lacking in fans.  Besides, I can think of 
several situations where you wouldn't really want a GUI based 
installation, in particular, when building and configuring a server.  A 
GUI based installation required the detection [perhaps accurate might be 
oder] of the video hardware, which in general just doesn't matter on a 
server.

-- 
Thomas T. Veldhouse
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