Re: INSTALLING LINUX OVER THE INTERNET

["L. C. Robinson" <lcr@onewest.net>]

On Sat, 18 May 2002, Janina Sajka wrote:

> Yes, Debian appears better suited to an install over the net.
> The Red Hat network installation appears oriented to local
> networks, not the Internet. 

One can download the images, though, and without writing to CD,
can install from a local hard disk containing the images.  For
details, see
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.3-Manual/install-guide/s1-x86-begininstall-hd.html

This, of course, would provide a good alternative for a user
without a CD burner.

One could also look at some of the many new apt-rpm (apt-get)
type utilities that are becoming available for Red Hat, though I
haven't really looked at them in terms of installing (is this
possible?).
 
> It is, nevertheless, all about keeping the connection. So, if
> you have one that's reliable, it will work over http, ftp, (and
> nfs).

Yes, and as you noted, a utility that can resume the download of
a CD image is essential when downloading ISO images.

There are some other strategies that could be used, too, that
would allow downloading just a base set of rpms, etc, and get up
and running, but that would involve, perhaps, a bit more than
your average new user would be willing to handle, in terms of
complexity. 

That complexity/expertise could be encapsulated, though, in a
script, for more easy accessibility, and could include additional
access type installation, including such things as soft speech,
and other access technologies.  Red Hat has already laid the
groundwork for such scripting, with their many installation
options, and with kickstart scripting.  It should be possible to
make a floppy disk image that would ask the user a bunch of
questions, autosense much of the hardware, and then automatically
download and install everything needed.
 
-- L. C. Robinson
reply to no_spam+munged_lcr@onewest.net.invalid