On Tue, 13 Nov 2001 10:27:03 -0500 "Matt Fahrner" <Matt.Fahrner@xxxxxxxx> wrote: > This is not to put down the developers in any way, but Kickstart, the > anaconda install, and RPMs all seem like forgotten children of RedHat. I have to dispute this. These tools continue to evolve to meet the internal needs of Red Hat, which is what they've always been for. Anaconda is actually realtaively new and has had some major overhauls since its first release (7.2 being the most recent). Kickstart also gets enhanced, but it has some legacy issues (many of them thanks to poor planning on my part) that folks are still stuck with. Please remember the Red Hat Linux, just like other open source projects, is a collaborative process. The scripts for building CD's are written primarly for internal use, and we give them to our users because they provide a good starting point. We'd welcome enhancements or documentation to them, and would be happy to include such changes. While they look quite crude, they are actually much more sophisticated then the scripts we used in the "old days" which were never distributed. Building custom boot disks is similiar. The process is unwieldy, and we've never built tools for it because we never have to do it internally. It would be very nice to have scripts that would let mere mortals (like myself!) build custom boot disks, and I'll answer any questions that would help someone get this done. > The problem is with the growing use in large enterprises, this is > exactly the sort of area that is most critical. Half of the battle is > the install, and large companies need to do lots of them on diverse > platforms with consistent results. We actually get very few complaints regarding our install from large enterprises. There are a few things they don't like which we continue to address, and many of the enhancements in other parts of the operating system are motivated by their concerns. None of this is to imply we're perfect; obviously, anaconda continues to need changes, enhancements and documentation. We can't do anything, and we do prioritize based on our perceptions of the needs of our user base. Extensive customization of the install just isn't a high priority for most of our users. Erik ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | "Amazingly, there are significant numbers of 30-something women now who | | want to learn how to box - something that most sensible American men gave | | up years ago." - New York Times Magazine |
