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#1 2014-02-23 00:48:38

thegtproject
Member
Registered: 2014-02-23
Posts: 5

Linux installer

I'm looking for a simple (as simple as it gets, anyway) linux installer (Redhat's anaconda for example, but its a bit large). I'm not looking for a working installer, I am just very interested in learning and making my own for my own arch builds. Again, this is just for my own learning pleasure, so compatibility and future proofing is of no value. Anyone have any relevant links?

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#2 2014-02-23 00:53:30

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 20,469

Re: Linux installer

https://www.archlinux.org/about/

tl;dr

To summarize: Arch Linux is a versatile, and simple distribution designed to fit the needs of the competent Linux® user.

I respectfully suggest that Arch does not answer the mail.


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
The shortest way to ruin a country is to give power to demagogues.— Dionysius of Halicarnassus
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

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#3 2014-02-23 01:12:01

thegtproject
Member
Registered: 2014-02-23
Posts: 5

Re: Linux installer

I'm not 100% sure what you're getting at there, but i'll take this as an opportunity to clarify- I'm interested in an installer to LEARN how one makes an installer. I am in no way in need of an installer to use arch. As arch has been my distro of choice for nearly a decade, yes if I made an installer I would make it work for arch. - IN THE END, this request independent of arch, I just wonder what my arch bros know about installers out "there"


None important info follows;

The reason I'm interested in this actually is because I have a friend who is a power user, but for some reason he recently clings onto Mac OSX. I fully believe it's because of the way the install and boot process is presented to him (which is contradictory to me calling him a power user, i know). So I want to test my theory by mimicing what I think he'll fall for and finally convert him to arch. I'm an evil genius at heart.


EDIT: Explained why I'm interested in this project just fyi

Last edited by thegtproject (2014-02-23 01:26:49)

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#4 2014-02-23 01:33:18

Trilby
Inspector Parrot
Registered: 2011-11-29
Posts: 30,404
Website

Re: Linux installer

I'm sorry that this will undoubtedly sound a bit blunt, but it is true: "Helping" someone install archlinux by giving them a magic pill that will do it for them is a disservice both to them, and to the archlinux community as they will undoubtedly come here to fix all the problems they face, but they will not be equiped to use the help provided to them.  Please do not do this.


"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

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#5 2014-02-23 03:12:42

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 20,469

Re: Linux installer

thegtproject wrote:

I'm looking for a simple (as simple as it gets, anyway) linux installer

....

As arch has been my distro of choice for nearly a decade, yes if I made an installer I would make it work for arch.

With one, now two, posts to your credit... I would not expect the second assertion to have followed the first.  Sorry about that.
Further, you did not ask for an installer for Arch, you asked for an installer for "Linux"
I stand by my first thought.  Arch is not a distribution in search of an installer for a rank beginner.


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
The shortest way to ruin a country is to give power to demagogues.— Dionysius of Halicarnassus
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

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#6 2014-02-23 16:44:28

thegtproject
Member
Registered: 2014-02-23
Posts: 5

Re: Linux installer

I really didn't intend any of this to come as an offense towards you guys or arch. This is 100% a learning exersice for myself (people still program for fun and learning's sake, don't they?). There is no intention to build and upkeep the project nor introduce it to the Arch eco-system. My side-goal of building something for my friend is also moot, he would not come bug these forums for help, he has me. I only came to ask the Arch forums because: this is my favorite community and has been for the last ~decade. They are the smartest group of people i've ever met and I figured if someone knew or had a clue about what it is im searching for they might be in these forums.

edit: and yeah, i know the post count thing is a little awkward. I'm not much of a forum guy, never have been. But as far as linux comes, I can hold my own with the best of 'em. Now programming, I'm not new, but I'm also not great- so, there ya have it.

Last edited by thegtproject (2014-02-23 16:46:51)

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#7 2014-02-23 16:52:23

Trilby
Inspector Parrot
Registered: 2011-11-29
Posts: 30,404
Website

Re: Linux installer

In that case I'm not sure what you are really looking for.

An 'installer' could be as simple as a shell script that runs all the commands needed to do the install (see the beginners guide or installation guide for what those steps are).

If you want a gui installer, then just add your preferred gui to an iso and have it boot into a graphical target.  The gui might be a series of Xenity dialogs, or you could use python pygtk for a more sophisticated look, or C and any needed toolkit for another approach, or ...

You could  add a presentation software to the iso which automaticall starts, and have a presentation prepared to teach the end user some bits they'll need to know while the installation is running.  This would make what I'd call a linux mint-style installer.  I'm sure some other distros do this too, but mint is the last one I've seen with that.

So the question isn't how to make an installer, it's what do you mean by "installer"?  What do you want the installer to do?


"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

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#8 2014-02-23 17:26:37

thegtproject
Member
Registered: 2014-02-23
Posts: 5

Re: Linux installer

That "mint-style" installer is what I had in mind actually. And what I'm looking for is maybe an active group or project site dedicated to it's development. Then i could learn all i want from that. Thanks for bearing with me, I love the arch community smile

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#9 2014-02-23 17:27:54

jasonwryan
Anarchist
From: .nz
Registered: 2009-05-09
Posts: 30,426
Website

Re: Linux installer

thegtproject wrote:

That "mint-style" installer is what I had in mind actually. And what I'm looking for is maybe an active group or project site dedicated to it's development.


That would be Manjaro. And that isn't Arch.


Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

Registered Linux User #482438

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#10 2014-02-23 17:59:24

x33a
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2009-08-15
Posts: 4,587

Re: Linux installer

Yeah, you can probably take a look at Manjaro's or even Chakra's installers, and try to adapt them for Arch.

Last edited by x33a (2014-02-23 17:59:40)

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#11 2014-02-23 19:56:51

thegtproject
Member
Registered: 2014-02-23
Posts: 5

Re: Linux installer

These are great suggestions thank you.

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#12 2014-04-03 13:04:35

chickenPie4tea
Member
Registered: 2012-08-21
Posts: 309

Re: Linux installer

@ thegtproject  good luck with the installer -  I disagree with the others.  I think it would be a good thing for arch if there was an option for someone who was alwys put off by the difficulty of installing arch to use an installer or script to help them.
After using arch for a while if they liked it they would probably learn more about how it works and we would have another arch convert.   I also think that just because someone struggled to install arch from scratch without a script does NOT mean they won't be asking questions about problems they encounter. I myself installed from scratch but don't know much abt arch I would have used a script if I had known of a good one to help. Now that I have it installed I am reading and reading about how to change it to my liking etc and the more I learn about arch the more I am inclined to stick with it.

Last edited by chickenPie4tea (2014-04-03 13:13:16)


You can like linux without becoming a fanatic!

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#13 2014-04-03 14:51:31

KairiTech
Member
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: 2011-06-04
Posts: 275

Re: Linux installer

All this talk about a 'simple' installer for Arch in my opinion is totally misguided.

It doesn't get much simpler than:
[Edit] Hmmmm...Now that I've actually posted this I'll take the time to include setting up a normal user, a desktop and browser and make sure it all works. Stay tuned.

# pacstrap /mnt base syslinux

# genfstab -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

# arch-chroot /mnt

# ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Athens /etc/localtime

# mkinitcpio -p linux

exit

# umount -R /mnt

# dd bs=440 conv=notrunc count=1 if=/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/gptmbr.bin of=/dev/sda

# mkdir /boot/syslinux
# cp -r /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/*.c32 /boot/syslinux/
# extlinux --install /boot/syslinux

cat > /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg<<EOF
 PROMPT 1
 TIMEOUT 50
 DEFAULT arch
 
 LABEL arch
         LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
         APPEND root=/dev/sda2 rw
         INITRD ../initramfs-linux.img
 
 LABEL archfallback
         LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
         APPEND root=/dev/sda2 rw
         INITRD ../initramfs-linux-fallback.img

 LABEL hdt
         MENU LABEL Hardware Info
         COM32 hdt.c32
 LABEL reboot
         MENU LABEL Reboot
         COM32 reboot.c32
 
 LABEL poweroff
         MENU LABEL Power Off
         COM32 poweroff.c32

EOF

Now getting the underlying storage for /mnt and /mnt/boot -  that's the real challenge.

I use LVM2 on an encrypted RAID array but the actual install script would work on almost any other storage strategy. I find it odd that there isn't already a distribution independent app to configure storage for whatever strategy you decide on.

The syslinux bootloader is dead easy. There’s also the boot loader that’s all the rage who’s name I dare not speak.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Last edited by KairiTech (2014-04-03 15:04:06)

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#14 2014-04-03 16:14:52

drcouzelis
Member
From: Connecticut, USA
Registered: 2009-11-09
Posts: 4,092
Website

Re: Linux installer

Installing Arch Linux isn't difficult, but it isn't simple either.

Anyone can do it. It just requires reading.

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#15 2014-04-03 17:38:26

clfarron4
Member
From: London, UK
Registered: 2013-06-28
Posts: 2,165
Website

Re: Linux installer

My problem with these "simple" installers is that they often aren't simple. I find that Anaconda is a nightmare to work with and the configuration of Ubiquity doesn't always give you the best solutions for setups like LVM on LUKS, but those are distribution specific choices.

You can probably do it with a bash script (isn't there such a bash script knocking around on the forums along the lines of "Arch Ultimate Installer" or something?) or revive the Arch Installation Framework (you know, the pre-September 2011 installer?).


Claire is fine.
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