[ARMedslack] Quick question

[Stuart Winter]

On Sun, 31 Mar 2013, Ottavio Caruso wrote:

> The default method now is to untar a rootfs, there's no point using an
> installer. That is a remainder of the pc world. I did try it though and may
> recall it didn't work.

For me, the reasons to use the installer are:

1 - Someone has to provide rootfs's and if you want your users to be able
to install a -current, you need to keep them up to date.
Or if you don't update it, people will have to upgrade manually (or with a
tool). But for over 10 years of doing this, I have realised that many
people install a -current and *never* update it. Or they pick and choose
packages to upgrade, and end up with a broken OS; then tell you it's all
broken. You spend ages looking at it and realise it's just cause they
didn't update properly ;-)
If you can tell them "reinstall with the installer", and that's how you
(as a developer do it), then you know that they will get a sane
environment.

2 - If instead of providing rootfs's you supply scripts, you need to be
cognisant that if your users has no ARM machine, then they cannot
installpkg every package successfully since some packages chroot into the
installation and execute the binaries.  THis obviously will not result in
a properly installed package if it's installed from anything other than
the target architecture.  This is why the Slackware ARM miniroots are
built natively even though it'd be far faster to do on an x86.

3- You still have to do some OS configuration - and IMO, the installer is
the best place to do this up front.

I mean look at Fedora on the Trimslice - they provide a mini root but
Slackware ARM is installed using the regular installer without any real
effort. You just boot the installer as normal, install and reboot into the
OS.