you might also want to ask the user if they want to use pipewire or pulce
audio, this will minimise problems post installation, I have had issues
with ethernet during installation and have to do them all offline because
even if I install using wifi, I don't have it post install and the
installer fails to detect I have an ethernet cable connected when links is
working.
if only we could install on secure boot systems as my acer and linux were
made for each other
On Wed, May 18, 2022 at 12:36 AM Didier Spaier <didier@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi,
after much thoughts I come up with this proposal for new installer:
1. Only one installation process instead of two (auto vs manual).
2. The greeting screen will ask if the user has or wants to partition and
format
the drive where the Slint system will be installed.
If yes (former "manual" mode) users will then (if not yet done, for
instance
using gparted live) use another tty to prepare the drive(s). This includes
setup
the partitions table(s) but also format the partition using the
mkfs.something
utilities, using the file systems of their liking among those available
(this
includes at time of writing btrfs, ext3, ext4, f2fs, ntfs, xfs and vfat).
After that the installer will take charge. It will list the formatted Linux
partitions on all drives and ask which one to use as / (root system
partition),
then list all other partitions (beginning with the Linux ones) and for
each ask
if the user wants to use it then the name of the associated mount point
(for
Linux partitions only /home, /opt and /usr/local are allowed among the
"system"
ones).
If no (former "auto" mode) the installer will probe the drives, let the
user
choose which to use to install Slint, using the whole space on the it (if
not
yet used or wiping all data on it) or the biggest free space available if
big
enough. the installer will set the btrfs file system with two subvolumes
for /
and /home. Then the installer will list the other formatted partitions on
all
drives and ask if the user wants to use each and the name of the associated
mount point (for Linux partitions /opt and /usr/local are not allowed in
this
case but can be set after installation as subvolumes of /). This will
allow the
installer to set up the /etc/fstab configuration file.
So the user will be able to to have automatically mounted not only Slint
partitions but also partitions shared with other systems or used for
backup, for
instance.
Regardless of the installation mode, the user will be proposed to encrypt
the
drive where Slint will be installed. The scope of encryption will then be
the
main Slint volume in case of btrfs else all system partitions (including
/home,
/opt and /usr/local case occurring).
If all partitions set up belong to the same drive and this drive is
removable
and USB attached, users will be proposed to make the Slint system portable.
From this point the new installer will work as the current one.
Notes about btrfs:
In the "auto mode", the subvolumes / and /home will have copy on write
enabled
(this is the default) which allows to make snapshots and compress the
files to
save space and for better performances.
No snapshots will be made by default but the "snapper" and "btrbk"
software will
be included that can help automating them.
Scripts will automate the maintenance of the btrfs file systems.
It is possible to convert ext4 file systems to btrfs, and to resize
(expand and
shrink) btrfs file systems.
I plan to provide a beta ISO as soon as the new installer will be ready.
Comments requested.
Cheers,
Didier
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