[Gslug-general] Idiot-proof questionless Linux install for recycled machines

[Anthony Chitwood]

Hi,

My first post on the list too.

I haven't used it myself but FAI looks like it may do what you want and it 
seems to work for most *nix's

http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/

Anthony

On Wednesday 05 December 2007 03:37:55 pm Paul Bartell wrote:
> It might be helpful to make a custom install cd, depending on time and
> how many computers you are installing on.
> http://reconstructor.aperantis.com/
>
> It will allow you to customize the packages automatically installed,
> as well as GDM preferences i believe. its been a while since i used
> it. I also think you can chroot into the cd that you are building and
> make any changes through that.
>
> On Dec 5, 2007 3:21 PM, Nick Ripley <automatik at gmail.com> wrote:
> > To complicate things further, with *buntu, there is a LiveCD that you can
> > install from, or there is what is called the "alternate desktop CD,"
> > which is not a live CD and is much like a typical Linux install CD. (I
> > believe my Thinkpad has some unusual hardware in it, so I had to use the
> > "alternate CD" to get a working installation.)
> >
> > When I first installed it from the LiveCD, it basically just dumped
> > everything onto the HD and asked me to reboot. It seemed to work OK,
> > (except the video card) and I bet on a system with common hardware, like
> > it seems what your friend is using, it'll work like it's supposed to. (My
> > issue was with the video card and we know how those things can be!)
> >
> > The thing with Ubuntu is, it seems to work really well out of the box. I
> > was using straight ol' Debian, then a distro geared toward Multimedia
> > apps (64Studio), and I could never, ever get the thinkpad's wireless to
> > work. I install Ubuntu, and *bingo* everything works upon first boot. (64
> > studio is GREAT if you ever need a distro just for working on multimedia
> > stuff, and if you have no need for wireless networking.)
> >
> > On this page: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/I386 I found
> > a lot more info on installing Ubuntu. The page suggests using the Live CD
> > to make sure the hardware is supported, and then install. That makes a
> > lot of sense to me, but I am not everyone.
> >
> > > Would need to tweak the default packages to install s.t. one of them
> > > can set the root password, ssh keys, local username, etc.  No admin
> > > for the default user, etc.
> > >
> > > Can you have gdm/xdm on ubuntu set up to automatically log the user in?
> > > That might be nice too.
> >
> > In the interest of honesty, I will say that I do not know the answer to
> > these questions. I want to try to bypass the login screen, and am working
> > that now, so I will let you know if/how that's done.
> >
> > > Would it be comfortable and intuitive enough for a bunch of windows
> > > kids?
> >
> > Yes. I think that the defualt apps are great, and the interface is very
> > easy to understand. I'll have this with me on my Thinkpad on Saturday so
> > you can look at it if you want to.
> >
> > I hope I'm phrasing this right: I believe Xubuntu has a special means by
> > which it can run both Gnome and KDE apps. There is a setting where you
> > can enable/disable the KDE or GNOME tools from starting up with the
> > system.
> >
> >
> >
> > One final thought: Maybe what would need to happen in this instance is
> > modifying a live CD to somehow work from the hard disk but still behave
> > like a live system? Live CD's don't ask you a bunch of questions, they
> > just start up. They have accounts all built-in already... I don't know
> > how or if this would work, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.
> >
> > --Nick
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Gslug-general mailing list
> > Gslug-general at gslug.org
> > http://lists.gslug.org/mailman/listinfo/gslug-general


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