[Gllug] Debian

[itsbruce at uklinux.net]

On Mon, Oct 20, 2003 at 11:35:47AM +0100, David Pashley wrote:
> But the debian installer is targetted at a different audience. Yes this
> many seem like a lame excuse but the installer is more powerful than the
> Redhat or Mandrake installer. 

I do not believe this is the case (note: Debian user).  The Red Hat and
Mandrake installers both have text modes and even in the Graphical mode
offer you all the same choices as the Debian installer (if in a
different order).  The Debian installer doesn't let you do anything
special, it just offers standard configuration options (disk
partitioning, choice of locale and so on).  There are significant areas
where the Debian installer is lacking: I know that the SuSE
installer offers LVM and I wouldn't be surprised if Red Hat and Mandrake
did the same.  If you want LVM with Debian then you have to install a
minimal system, add a custom kernel with LVM support (not available in
any of the stock Debian kernel images) and then set up LVM from there.

The Debian installer used to score over some of the other installers in
the flexibility of the sequence of events you could choose (some
installers have had a very linear path) but the others have caught up
and Debian hasn't moved on.  It is also very unhelpful in places: there
are a couple of instances where you are simply presented with a dialog
box containing a default value and asked to make a choice with no
information as to the location or nature of the other choices.  99% of
the time the right thing to do is hit return and move on but that's
something you simply have to learn from experience.

> There is a trade off between power and
> ease of use. Debian have gone with power rather than ease of use.

In the case of the installer, Debian simply hasn't updated the installer
in an age.  There isn't an official installer for Sarge at all - you
either find someone's unofficial tools (haven't really seen a good one
yet) or you install Woody and upgrade.  A new installer is long overdue
but it's a job that nobody really wanted and that is made harder by the
Debian project's flame-ridden democracy.

Now, whatever form the new installer finally takes, it won't be
graphical.  That suits me fine.  But don't pretend that the current
installer is something powerful or superior because it isnt.

-- 
Bruce

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