Re: [RULE] do we need a spreadsheet of the software?

[Jason Roysdon]

From: Colin Mattoon <address@hidden>
Subject: Re: [RULE] do we need a spreadsheet of the software?
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 22:47:57 -0800

Just to add my own (non-expert and quite possibly, irrelevant)
observations here:

Network installtion is often vital for this class of equipment,
because low end hardware is more likely than new gear to lack a CDROM,
and the owner is less likely to have access to a CD-RW.  But I'm not a
big fan of Internet installs, even though I use Debian quite a bit.

I would encourage the developers to restrict network installations to
NFS and to advise all potentional users to download only once -- to a
machine that can act as an NFS server.  The first installation of RULE
(to setup an NFS server) should be something done from the hard drive.
Subsequent server and workstation installations can be performed
within the LAN through NFS.

*snip*

Later,
Colin Mattoon


I agree that Internet installations are a bad idea (too hard to troubleshoot 
for end-users), but I disagree not allowing it to be from ftp.  There are a 
ton of simple Windows ftpd clients out there which would make it very easy 
for a new user who was slightly technical to install from ftp.  Personally I 
have a very small free tftp/ftp/syslog client from 3Com that I use all the 
time for router work called 3CDaemon: 
http://support.3com.com/software/utilities_for_windows_32_bit.htm

Secondly, I'd guess that more folks have experience with an ftp server than 
with NFS (which implies you have some sort of *nix server up and running 
already).  Yes, in a classroom setting NFS makes the most sense, but for 
someone just trying to get a network install up and working (no CD-ROM, but 
has two PCs, and especially one being a Windows PC).

Just my two cents,
Jason Roysdon
http://jason.roysdon.net/


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