[nycbug-talk] screenshots of the installer

[Dru]

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005, Isaac Levy wrote:

> On Jul 29, 2005, at 3:05 PM, Dru wrote:
>
> <snip> New FreeBSD Installer</snip>
>
>> Yup, that's the one. Visualize that minus the cool ASCII art of the 
>> dragonfly.
>> 
>> Dru
>
> Now I'm totally a sucker for ASCII art, (ask around), but what- besides the 
> ASCII art, is the reasoning behind the new installer?  It is new, looks more 
> polished, but from experiencing similar new installers lately based on LiveCD 
> stuff, I'm not sure *why* this project is happening.
>
> I'm not meaning to be a nay-sayer, but I don't see any fundamental 
> improvements- just a different install design, different bugs, different 
> caveats.
>
> Where's the boat I've missed?  I *want* to be exited...


Scott Long talked a bit about this in Poland. sysinstall started as a 
quick hack that was supposed to be replaced within 6 months. That was 
nearly 10 years ago... He'd love to see a new installer (and was crossing 
his fingers for 6.0), but wanted the new one to still allow a minimal base 
install. (i.e. be text based)

I actually tried out 3 different bsd-based installations today (I'll post 
my results when I get there) so I have different installation routines fresh 
in my mind. I did find the 6.0 beta installer a bit more intuitive than 
sysinstall. No getting lost in an endless menu cycle until I remember to 
tab (instead of using arrows and enter). No getting stuck on a failed 
distribution (am I the only person who gets sick of ctrl c'ing forever 
when a media fails and it keeps retrying each and every distribution until 
I just cold boot and start over again?)

Personally, I think the installer should give a choice at the beginning 
for either a text install (so I can quickly install a server without 
looking as I already know how many enters and arrow movements I need) or a 
really snazzy looking GUI install. Why not have something pretty to look 
at if I'm installing a workstation? That's just my 2 cents.

Dru