Andrew Kelly wrote:
That's almost the model that I foresee actually working for whatever
unix-like system implements it first. Make the package manager just a
bit smarter and add a 'publish' button somewhere so a person who had
configured a nicely working system could export his installed package
list and custom configuration settings, and it would result in a URL
that anyone else could click to duplicate that setup slightly more
closely than matching kickstart installs would. That way someone could
tweak a machine to someone like Mossberg's satisfaction, he could push a
button, and the next day a million people could be running "Mossberg's
recommended Linux". Or the same for someone who actually knows how to
configure a linux box...
Outstanding idea, Les. You know if anybody is currently working on
anything like that?
No, everyone wants to make up new distribution names, spin CD's and
build incompatible repositories instead of cooperating and making a
package manager smart enough to do this.
Oh, you're talking about a completely new package manager. I thought you
just meant something standalone which would/could export a config,
basically building a better mousetrap in a kickstart sense of things.
That's a start - I'd probably do an extremely minimal kickstart install
followed by a yum install of a complete packagelist generated by some
invocation of 'rpm -q' on the master machine. But the install isn't
quite the point. I want to be able to track subsequent changes on that
master machine over the next many years at whatever interval the admin
exports updated lists, and I want to be able to switch to duplicate some
different master at any time.
Yum could almost do this, given repositories containing all of the
needed packages/versions but would need some help in terms of rolling
local config changes on the master into some sort of packages and
dealing with which packages and config items are really local (hostname,
ip address, etc.), which are hardware related, and which can be
duplicated. In my opinion, local/hardware/software-virtual settings
should never have been put in the same files to start with, but...
Whatever. I'm in, either way.
I've been looking for something of that magnitude as an anchor project
in a long-term thing I'm currently conceptualising.
The big problem would be having a stable repository containing all
needed packages in all versions that might be referenced by any
packagelist and a place to upload the master lists.
You in, too? Or are you in more of a "peel me another grape" place right
now?
I'm not in a position to write a lot of code or provide the repository
space, but I've sampled a lot of grapes and can comment on which are
suitable for general consumption. Personal opinion again, but the thing
that makes unix-like systems unsuitable for personal desktop use is that
there is just too much administration involved if everyone has to do it
all individually - and a few dozen expertly installed/maintained systems
could handle virtually everyone's desktop needs as long as the ability
to add new packages is still available. But "maintained" is the
operative word there - when the master updates or changes package
versions the copies need to track the changes over the life of the machine.
--
Les Mikesell
lesmikesell@xxxxxxxxx
