Suggestion: Installation Program for Windows

[Todd Deshane]

On 7/1/05, michael <installer at dslextreme.com> wrote:
> 
> Todd Deshane wrote:
> >
> >
> > On 6/30/05, *michael* <installer at dslextreme.com
> > <mailto:installer at dslextreme.com>> wrote:
> >
> > > > anybody who goes through so much trouble will probably be better of
> > > > with a live distro
> >
> > > looks like a livecd installer is the goal.
> > > http://udu.wiki.ubuntu.com/GraphicalInstaller
> >
> > If I want to show someone what linux is, a LiveCD is the right tool to
> > use, and a LiveCD installer would be even better. However, many Windows
> > users do not even know how to burn a CD. They know how to download and
> > install programs like AIM or WinZip, but they have no idea what to do
> > with an ISO image. A program that would allow inexperienced users to
> > install linux as easily as AIM or WinZip would open up linux to many
> > more people.
> >
> > > For breezy they are working on an OEM installer to
> > > "Provide an installation method which is suitable for OEMs."
> > > http://udu.wiki.ubuntu.com/OEMInstaller
> > <http://udu.wiki.ubuntu.com/OEMInstaller>
> > > That could be used for the first boot part.
> >
> > Good thought.
> >
> > > I think once you can do the process manually successfully and
> > > reliable, someone could then help with the programming details.
> > > And with the breezy pieces you could use out of the box peices
> > > it looks like. I have no experience with WINGRUB or GRUB4DOS,
> > > but if you can provide a howto on the process you want tested
> > > i could probably test in the windows lab at school.
> >
> > I actually have done this process manually. I've just created a wiki
> > page at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/InstallUbuntuWithoutRemoveableMedia to
> > describe the procedure. Let me know how it goes for you.
> >
> >
> > It worked pretty well. I think it has a lot of potential, especially
> > when the ubuntu installer is a little easier to use, does
> > partitioning/resizing
> > for you and graphical would be a plus.
> >
> > A few comments/corrections for you:
> > By default windows doesn't know what to do with tar.gz file
> > so I had to download 7-zip (probably not a big issue, especially
> > if the first part was done by an installer)
> >
> > the menu.lst file goes in c:\boot\grub (you can update the wiki)
> >
> > The is a problem with how the menu.lst file shows up on the
> > wiki, it looks like it is all on one line and there is a file:////{{{
> > in there that might be confusing if you don't know how to setup
> > grub.
> >
> > And the rest of my issues are with the installer itself, which
> > hopefully will be taken care of with breezy.
> > (for example my country, the us, wasn't in the list of mirrors)
> >
> > I think this has a lot of potential and should be done as a
> > simple windows installer as you mentioned, (including the
> > post install)
> >
> > Also, if we could leverage the customizable installer
> > to let the user decide how to do partitioning, how much
> > space to use etc. (give defaults of letting the ubuntu installer
> > do the work, but if they have a partition set aside or are more
> > comfortably doing things their way let them)
> >
> > I would like to see this roll out with breezy as an alternate
> > way to install, i can see your point that people don't know
> > what to do with a live or install cd, but if they think they are
> > installing ubuntu like an application, they might feel more
> > comfortable, (windows users are more used to the overhead
> > of rebooting a lot post installs etc.)
> >
> > Have you found any interest from anyone that is willing
> > to create the windows side of the installer?
> >
> > Regards,
> > Todd
> 
> I've updated the wiki per your comments. I'm glad that you are
> enthusiastic about this idea, but so far it's just you and me. I of
> course would love to help out in any way to make this idea a reality,
> but my lack of any coding skills prevents me from doing anything to get
> this going. Do you (or anybody else reading this thread) have the
> skills to get this going, or do you know where to look for people who
> might? I'm pretty new to the Ubuntu community, so I'm not really sure
> where to look.


I will look into I see what I can do. I would be interested if
someone on the breezy development team would be happy 
to see this done as an alternative method of installation
or have any thoughts.

I will keep in touch on this thread (cc me please)

Thanks,
Todd

Michael
>
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