[SoaS] [Sugar-devel] SOAS 2 problems

[Douglas McClendon]

On 01/26/2010 07:51 PM, Bernie Innocenti wrote:

>> The disadvantages of your proposal (as I see it) are:
>> - Some one needs to do the coding to produce the images
>
> I've alread produced an image, and described how to do it. Others
> pointed out that there's already a rule in the Makefile.
>
>> - No upstream QA
>> - Doesn't work in all environments that we currently support so we'd
>> need to have Yet Another Image
>> - No wide spread testing
>> - Lots of corner cases that would need to be documented or developed
>> around
>
> All the above items seem to disregard that what I've proposed is the
> most common filesystem layout used by upstream on all sort of writable
> block media.
>
> No more, no less... The very same stuff you have on your hard drive.
> Perhaps I'm not good at making this point very clear, because people
> keep asking me to do QA/testing and even write new code :-)

Documentation is code too.

Step 1) Write your installation/deployment documentation
Step 2) if Step 1 involves complicated manual steps instead of a simple 
'pushbutton' design, then an installer application needs to be written

Depending on how your installer works, you may need installer logic 
inside the distro.  I.e. maybe an initscript that detects a fresh 
installation somehow (a bit from the installer application, or an 
assumption), and then does on online resizefs of the rootfs.

Then, sit back and offer that as a well documented alternate 
installation method for SoaS, much as zyx-liveinstaller already is.

You do see how zyx-liveinstaller provides a deployment solution, that 
utilizes the traditional livecd (or traditional liveusb) as a golden 
unmodifiable installation media, then installs in a way that is 100% in 
line with your desired end-goal.  Right?  you do see that don't you?. 
I.e. after running zyx-liveinstaller, the user has a traditional 
non-squash, non-dmsnapshot rootfs installed on their stick?  I mean, 
you're clearly intelligent, and I can't honestly believe that you dont 
get that zyx-liveinstaller *already* does, _exactly_ what you are 
talking about.

And if your installation/deployment method is as great and awesome as 
you say it is, then it becomes the popular road going forward.

So go, write the code, even if the code is really documentation for an 
alternate installation method.

But don't pretend that you are revealing some effortless truth that we 
are all blind to.

-dmc