Messages in this thread | | | Date | Mon, 18 Jan 1999 13:33:15 -0800 | From | Ian Eure <> | Subject | Re: [OFFTOPIC] Re: *** next draft - press release *** |
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On Sat, Jan 16, 1999 at 01:14:18AM +0000, Riccardo Facchetti wrote: > Eva, > > > IMHO it is not only important to have a competent GUI desktop for linux > > to make it more popular for home PC users. What I think is missing for the > > not-so-experienced PC user is an easy to configure installation tool for > > the kernel configuration. The make menuconfig is not sufficient > > as it still requires a lot of knowledge about hardware chips and card > > definitions, IRQs and such which isn't common knowledge to a new PC user. > > > > I don't know if that's an issue or of anybody else concern in this > > disussion, just would like to know if it's addressed anywhere in general. > > Some distributors try to address the idea but the solution is > > proprietary to the distributor. > > Are you referring to some kind of autodetection during kernel > configuration ? > > I ask this because all the config options alredy have useful help that > explain the meaning of every single option and give some hints about the > choice the user should make. > > The only way to automate the configuration process is some kind of > autodetection ... I am thinking at some user-level program that is capable > of detect the hardware it is running on and generate a .config file. > > main() { > .... > detect_processor(); > detect_ide(); > detect_scsi(); > detect_audio(); > .... > generate_config(); > } > > Obviously every single device supported by the kernel should be probed. > Not a short thing to code :) > And I am not sure all the devices supported by linux can be probed in user > space. > Well, a lot of the work can be done for us by the kernel. As long as the kernel supports PCI, all devices on the PCI bus are reported via /proc/pci and/or /proc/bus/pci. The CPU type is already in /proc/cpuinfo. And something like pnpdump from the isapnptools can help quite a lot as well. That should be enough to take care of around 75% of all the systems running linux, and for the rest you could implement an expert mode where they could select non-pci/isapnp and/or advanced options (fbcon, serial terminal, etc) with a standard (perhaps more informative in places) help system.
Another approach would to have pre-set "kernel options profiles" for certain makes/models of computers for, say, a user-type person switching a box they bought at Computer City from Windows to Linux.
> And I have never heard about something like this. > That's just because nobody has done it yet. :)
-- ______________________________________________________________ | ian eure, network admin, freelance security consultant, and | | manically depressed paranoid schizophrenic, at your service. | ; <ieure@minion.org> - http://minion.org ; : raw speed = 105.6 wpm with 4.5% errors : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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