[arch-general] Fifa: Flexible Installer Framework for Arch linux

[Dieter Plaetinck]

Dieter Plaetinck wrote:
> Thought I would give you guys a little update...
>
> Several things have been changed/refactored/re-thought out again
> eg
> - phases are now just arrays listing the workers, not functions, it's 
> easier to override and it's cleaner.
> - exit codes of all phases/workers are tracked automagically which can 
> be useful for reporting at the end, simplifying flow control etc.
> - functions for logging and debugging added (long overdue  ;-)
> - ...
>
> My TODO file has had a makeover and now contains the roadmap of where 
> I want to go with this. (See 
> http://github.com/Dieterbe/fifa/tree/master/TODO )
> Basically:
> - pre-alpha: (now): a few showstoppers remaining, but we're pretty 
> close to having a workable version of both an ftp-based and 
> cdrom-based installation.
> - alpha: when ftp-based and cdrom-based installations "work" I would 
> like to get more input from other developers/community so I/we can fix 
> more bugs, refactor, iron everything out,... basically make everything 
> better.
>   For this I would like to setup a bugtracker (or get a category on 
> some already existing bugtracker would be nice too *cough* ;-) ).  
> It's in this phase that still a lot of refactoring and cleaning can be 
> done.
> - beta: get fifa on the (beta) installcd as an experimental, 
> alternative installer. -> more input from more people -> improve even 
> more
> - "release" -> someday, fifa might become so good it could become the 
> primary installer...
>
> Obviously you guys are more familiar with the whole process of 
> developing for Arch.  This is just my limited view on it so I would be 
> glad to hear your input.
>
>
> Code, readme,howto,... @ http://github.com/Dieterbe/fifa
>
> Dieter

Okay, the /arch/setup is now ported to the new framework and most of the 
big refactoring is done.
I got rid of the showstoppers too.  I've been trying different 
combinations in virtualbox (cdrom / ftp install, automatic partitioning 
/ manual partitioning/mounting, 'crazy' fs'es like xfs, jfs etc...) and 
it all seems to work.  (eg the installer produces an arch installation 
that boots and works in all tested procedures)
There are obviously bugs remaining (There is especially one bigger bug 
that causes /home not be on a separate filesystem during the 
auto-partitioning, I'm still trying to fix that one) but then again, 
during the porting there are also a few bugs in the original code that 
got fixed/improved, and some things made more useful.

According to my previously explained master plan, this means we're now 
in the alpha phase and it would be cool if I could get input from 
developers and some power users both on the code/design level as on the 
functional level.

Can you guys maybe give your opinion on my plan and give me some 
support?  I can still work on this but I need input.

If you want to try it, fire up virtualbox, load the official installer 
cd and follow this simple howto:
http://github.com/Dieterbe/fifa/tree/master/HOWTO
You can start the port of /arch/setup by typing: "/arch/fifa.sh interactive"

In /home/arch/fifa/runtime there are some interesting files, most 
notably fifa.log which contains all log messages and
debug messages if you've exported DEBUG=1 before starting fifa.

Thanks,
Dieter