Blah!  I haven't had lunch yet, and work is frustrating me.  The FAI install
process is going shitty considering that multiple machines are hanging during
the installation for no apparent reason.  I inadvertantly killed the department
telnet "server" because it was actually a workstation sitting out in the
"common space", the area designated to general use workstations.  That policy
will have to die.    Machines that are designated to provide network services
should NOT be available to users as workstations!

Oh, well.  What can you do but roll with the punches?  I have to say that this
FAI project has disappointed me somewhat.  It's not nearly as clean as it
should be, but given that it's just an rcS shell script that glues things
together, you can't expect much out of it.

So, what do I think would be better?  Why don't we expand upon the system a
bit.  Make pdmenu or something similar as the default interface to the machine
being installed, password protected by the root password.  How about multiple
screens that display the logging information as it's going, including a debug
mode.  How about making the tasks reentrant so that a partial install can be
reinitialized at any point, making a recover reinstall possible.  How about
making the automated install process capable of a stepwise, interactive
install?

I suppose that takes away from the idea of a "fully automated install", but it
is needed, none-the-less.

Anyway, back to the grind.


Mon Jan 28 15:51:11 CST 2002 -- GRR.  You know.  I'm pretty sick of this
sysadmin crap.  Give me a good code-monkey job, and I'll be happy.  I really
don't care if I get free Tuition w/the University.  I just want to code.  I
want a job that doesn't involve installing systems or software, providing
technical support for those who can't read man pages.

^chewie