Re: Comments re: SEUL installer (long)

[jfm2@club-internet.fr]

> 
> There should be *no* DOS-level work at all.  It has been discussed, and
> there are no advantages to requiring any, and plenty of disadvantages (not
> all of them technical).  One of the most obvious is the case where the
> user just doesn't have anything on the disk but data (say it was a
> secondary disk).
> 

  
The reason is quite simply plug and play.  Manufacturers provide data
for hardware autodetection to Microsft who for now is somply not
available to Linux.  And that allows than Windows 95 is, for now,
better at hardware autodetection than Linux.  To give an example: the
day I installed my new monitor Windows95 noticed somewthing had
changed.  Linux 2.2 wil have better plug and play but basing of what I
have seen of Linux 2.1 it will not autodetect monitors.  And knowing
the capabilities of the monitor is vital for the greatest pain in the
a.. of a Linux installation: configuring X.  It is far better to
extract the data from the register base (if the user has Loser95)
under Windows9[58] using a Microsoft API who will be up to date with the
format of the register base instead of trying to do it under Linux and
be forced to track changes of format.  


About the defrag problem: making a program running under Linux for
defragging Windows partitions is quite simply absurd.

  First: better use programmer time for _creating_ something instead
of duplicating functionality of a program the user has.

  Second: You can think the user will get a better impression to have
Linux take charge of all, I disagree.  Defrag is a _dangerous_ thing.
A user will feel than having an OS defragging a foreign partition is
more likely to do it wrong.  In addition it is possible than if
Microsoft changes slightly itsd file system format then a slightly old
Linux defrag program will corrupt the partition.

  Third: If something goes wrong in that critiacal phase it is better
to be able to point at a Microsoft program.  :-)

Having the intellectual satisfaction of a 100% Linux install is not
worth to the extra effort for programmers and danger for user data.


I have objections to other objections you made but I am no longer in
this project.

-- 
			Jean Francois Martinez

The worthy man is the one who would drink muddy water if such were the
water of truth.