Live/Install CDs

[John Richard Moser]

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Why not package LiveCDs with an extra Net-Install boot menu option and a
Net-Install Gnome GUI frontend?  For those of us wanting LiveCDs, an
extra couple megs (10-20?) won't matter; for those of us installing, an
install from net is usually sufficient.

I think this would be nice as well because you could have a special
install-to-GUI mode to get up while still installing.  In this mode, you
go as far as to partition the disk, select mount points, and create a
user.  Then /home is mounted, and the installer exits.

Once this is done, the LiveCD could have a copy of the user account
created in the LiveCD /etc/passwd.  The user would then get pushed into
the LiveCD (X/Gnome).  A gnome-session wrapper (or whatever is
appropriate) would detect if this was being done, and would additionally
start up the installer using a Gnome interface (doesn't Debconf allow
this?) and pick up where it left off.

Once the user is done using the GUI installer to the point that it's
downloading and unpacking packages, he can switch desktops and do
something in a fully functional Ubuntu environment while Ubuntu
installs.  He'll be working directly on what will become his /home
directory, so it's like Ubuntu is already installed.

When the installation is finished, the user can reboot into his new
system.  Optionally, all installation tasks could be completed from the
LiveCD so that a reboot wouldn't require 10 minutes of waiting.

It'd be interesting at least, if not potentially useful.
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