Suggestion: Installation Program for Windows

[Todd Deshane]

On 6/30/05, Mustafa Abbasi <lordverminard at gmail.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


On 30 Jun 2005 16:58:43 -0000, Michael <akikkeg02 at sneakemail.com> wrote:
> > 
> > For a while, I've thought that if Windows users could install Linux as 
> > easily as they can install any Windows program, they might be more likely to 
> > give Linux a try. When I came across 
> > http://marc.herbert.free.fr/linux/win2linstall.html I realized that it 
> > could be fairly simple to create such an installation program using existing 
> > tools. Here's a rough sketch of how such an installer might work, taking 
> > advantage of WINGRUB or GRUB4DOS (http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/) to 
> > allow a removeable media-less installation. (WINGRUB and GRUB4DOS allow a 
> > computer to boot into linux on a FAT or NTFS partion.) This system need not 
> > be wedded to any particular distribution, and different distributions will 
> > surely have varying ideas on how best to implement it.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > intro explanation
> > 
> > automatic (or guided) installation?
> > 
> > determine (confirm) language
> > 
> > determine time, date, timezone, keyboard layout
> > 
> > guess (confirm) good amount of space for linux partition 
> > 
> > create installation script based on previous information
> > 
> > prompt to close programs, eject media, click restart
> > 
> > determine whether windows=NT or =9x
> > 
> > if NT
> > 
> > append WINGRUB to boot.ini, set as default boot option 
> > 
> > copy kernel, initrd, linux.iso, boot.lst to \boot
> > 
> > if 9x
> > 
> > something similar with GRUB4DOS , never done it myself
> > 
> > reboot
> > 
> > user selects or defaults to WINGRUB/GRUB4DOS
> > 
> > linux boots and autodetects hardware (logged) 
> > 
> > script removes WINGRUB/GRUB4DOS from boot.ini (if installation fails, 
> > computer will not keep booting into linux)
> > 
> > installation program runs using install script, auto-detected hardware 
> > settings, installs GRUB to MBR (all logged)
> > 
> > reboot
> > 
> > next boot (windows or linux)
> > 
> > check installation log 
> > 
> > ask to send results to database
> > 
> > delete \boot
> > 
> > first linux boot
> > 
> > set up user
> > 
> > run program to copy over all windows documents, pictures, audio files, 
> > maybe even some settings
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Let me explain the installation process in plain English. In the first 
> > step, I imagine that the installer will give the user the choice between 
> > accepting all of the installer's guesses or having a chance to modify those 
> > choices. The installer would then examine the registry to determine the 
> > user's language, the system time/date/timezone, and the keyboard layout. It 
> > would then determine the amount of free space on the hard drive and, based 
> > on the amount of space needed for an installation and the amount of free 
> > space remaining, make a guess as to the proper amount of space to partition 
> > away for linux. Based on all this information, the installer would then 
> > create an installation sript for anaconda or the debian-installer or 
> > whatever the distro uses. It would place this script, the kernel, initrd, 
> > and installation program, the distro's base installation packages, and 
> > either WINGRUB or GRUB4DOS (depending on what version of Windows the user is 
> > running) in the \boot directory, and modify the user's startup files to boot 
> > into linux. On reboot, the computer would start up into linux and run the 
> > installation program using the installation script. In case something goes 
> > wrong and the installation cannot finish, the installer should set the 
> > computer to boot into Windows on the next boot as soon as possible. The 
> > installer would then partition the disk, install the base packages, install 
> > GRUB to the master boot record, and reboot. At startup, GRUB would greet the 
> > user and ask whether to boot into Windows or linux. Regardless of which OS 
> > the user boots, a program would run that would check the installation log to 
> > see if everything went well with the installation. With the user's 
> > permission, it would send a copy of the log to a database that would allow 
> > the distro to better assess it's installer. The program would then delete 
> > the installation program and the supporting files (like the kernel, initrd, 
> > and packages that were still on the windows partition). On the first linux 
> > boot, the user would be prompted to create a user. At this point, the user 
> > would have a workable linux distribution that would dual-boot with windows, 
> > all without having to so much as burn a CD. In an ideal world, a linux 
> > program would offer to copy over the user's files (and possibly some 
> > settings) from the windows partition.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Unfortunately, although I am computer literate, I have only the most 
> > basic programming skills and do not have the knowledge necessary to create 
> > this system. Obviously a lot of the work is already done: WINGRUB and 
> > GRUB4DOS can facilitate a diskless installation, the Nullsoft Scriptable 
> > Install System could serve as the base for the Windows part of the 
> > installer, and debian-installer and anaconda could serve as the linux part 
> > of the installer. The only thing left to do is to put these pieces together. 
> > If anybody actually reads this far, what do you think? Is this even a good 
> > idea? Would you be willing to work on this? Do you have any suggestions on 
> > other places to post this message (so far, I've only posted it to the Ubuntu 
> > users list and the Fedora Core desktop list)? Thank you for taking the time 
> > to read and consider this idea.
> > 
> > Best, Michael
> > 
> > --
> > ubuntu-users mailing list
> > ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> > http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
> > 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
>
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