Contents of /trunk/installer/doc/TODO

Things we really should fix before rc2:

        - tasksel/aptitude problem that prevents installation of standard
          packages
                (fixed in aptitude 0.2.15.6-0.sarge3 in t-p-u)
        - aptitude bug that prevents tasks from working in some locales
                (#264716)
                (apparently fixed in aptitude 0.2.15.6-0.sarge3 in t-p-u)
        - fix desktop task (missing kde in testing)
        - finish 2.6.8 and 2.4.27 kernel upgrades, all applicable arches

Things that would be nice for rc2, but can't block it:

        - partman-efi, for reasonable setup of EFI partition on ia64
                (uploaded, needs propigation to sarge)
        - gnome-session needs update in testing, so users log into gnome,
          and not kde, from gdm (2.6.2-5 fixes it or 2.6.1-5.sarge1 in t-p-u)
        - pcmcia-cs resource range detection
        - X's failure to use read-edid at all (#264792)
        - console-data missing be-latin1 keymap breaks Belgian keyboard
          selection (console-data patch in #262620)
                (fixed in version 2002.12.04dbs-46)
        - s390-dasd lacks a progress bar while formating disks
        - zipl-installer/vmelilo-installer needs to remove no_bootloader
          from /target/etc/kernel-img.conf
        - whiptail breaks time zone selection for argintina, other bad bugs
                (fixed in whiptail 0.51.6-12)


This TODO list can only touch on some larger issues, but there are a great
many open bugs on various components of the installer. See all bugs tagged
d-i in the BTS. Also, there are many unprocessed installation-reports bugs.


Status for different parts of debian-installer.  The numbers are
approximate (as in +/- 50%) and may change in any direction, at any
time.

[0%] Not begun
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - some architectures
                hurd-i386 (we will ship w/o this)
                sh (we will ship w/o this)

[30%] Might need large rewrites. Current implementation might
      work by accident
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - GUI frontend to cdebconf.
                There are some basic implementations. The trick is to make
                it a GUI that does not suck, while still using debconf
                underneath.
        - ppp support
                  Not as important for analog dialup, as for ISDN, pppoe.

        
[60%] Needs some work, but does its grunt work
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - I18N
                Mostly done, still filling in minor holes.
        - translations
                Varying languages translated to varying degrees.
                http://people.debian.org/~seppy/d-i/translation-status.html
        - boot loader installers (lilo, grub, etc)
                Work, except for when they don't. See BTS.
        - anna
                Works, mostly.  Needs support for Release files.
                Support for signed Release files would be cool, but
                needs gpgv-udeb.
                Needs to have load-installer properly split out of the anna
                binary to save space on root floppy. Or removed, not used
                anymore.
        - disk selector, partitioner
                We have switched to partman everything except a couple of
                subarches and s390.
        - bugreporter-udeb
                only supports saving to floppy, which many lack
                should offer a way to save via network or to usb stick
        - post-reboot configuration
                base-config is stable, though it could use more polish
                i18n is needed.
                Some questions repeat questions from d-i.
        - web site
                http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
                Could be better laid out, lacking some sections, other
                parts are quite good.
        - archive integration
                No automatic propagation to testing.
                No source propagation for udeb sources!
        - pcmcia support
                Much improved, generally works now.
                Automatic PCI resource range exclusion based on probing
                still needed, work in progress.
        - low memory support
                Where "low" is 32-46 mb!
                Works, but user must be careful to set up swap ASAP.
                There is no sanity checking, and some bad failure modes.
        - user documentation
                Installation manual is up-to-date for i386.
                Needs sanity checking for other architectures.
                Translations need updates.
        - developer documentation
                We understand it, but casual hackers have a high barrier to
                doing simple things like using a custom kernel.
        - 2.6 support
                Works on i386, with minor bugs.
                Works on powerpc, at least newworld. Testing on
                other subarches needed, especially G5 and oldworld (with
                mkvmlinuz).
        - some architectures
                i386
                ia64
                powerpc
                mips
                        SGI (mips/r4k-ip22 and mips/r5k-ip22)
                                - fix parted's DVH disk labels support (#239371)
                                - install dvhtool
                        Broadcom SWARM (mips/sb1-swarm-bn)
                                - Needs a working boot loader in the archive
                        Documentation, manual
                        XXX the above may be somewhat out of date
                mipsel
                        DECstation (mipsel/r3k-kn02 and mipsel/r4k-kn04)
                                - cannot boot from CD (see end of #241231)
                        Cobalt (mipsel/cobalt)
                                - figure out whether to set link_in_boot=yes
                                  (see trunk/packages/rootskel/debian/templates-arch)
                                - boot has to be ext2 -r 0
                                - support installs via SSH, w/o serial console
                                - boot: use: execute rd_start=0x{initrd-start} rd_size=0x{initrd-size} console=ttyS0,{console-speed}
                                - debconf should output progess on the LCD
                        Documentation, manual
                        XXX the above may be somewhat out of date
                m68k (some subarches)
                alpha
                sparc
                arm (some subarches)
                hppa
                amd64 (unofficial)
                s/390
                        lowmem issues
                        On its first release, probably still some problems.

[90%] Single missing important feature or bug.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - hw-detect
                Working but needs to be switched over to discover2
        - iso-scan
                Works, but does not flag the disk the iso is mounted from
                as unusable by the rest of the installer.
        - netcfg
                Working, pending rewrite for IPv6.
        - bts
                Still need a non-manual way to tag our bugs.
        - language-chooser
                The perennial problem is how to order/present the list of
                languages. Many complaints, but it works.
        - base system installer
                It can break due to testing package churn. cdebootstrap
                would fix this; also debootstrap/apt/archive changes in
                progress to add Base: overrides to Packages files.

[100%] Those shouldn't need to be touched any more 
       (famous last words)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - udpkg
        - cd installs
        - net retriever
        - cdrom retriever
        - ethdetect
        - cdebconf
        - floppy retriever
        - main-menu
        - choose-mirror
        - busybox integration
        - install media build system
        - kernel-package integration
        - library reduction
        - wireless support

Common problems and transitions
===============================

This is a list of common mistakes that need to be corrected throughout the
code base:

  * All debconf commands that INPUT, GO, GET or SET questions should check
    their return value. This is pure evil:

    debconf->command(debconf, "GET", "mirror/suite", NULL); /* unchecked return code ! */
    asprintf(&command, "foo %s", debconf->value);
    system(command);

  * cdebconf's debconfclient.h has a set of macros for calling debconf
    (debconf_get() and so on)
    These should perhaps be used consistently throughout the code for
    clarity.

  * There needs to be a centralised logging method. Syslog will do, but
    we currently have a lot of nasty code that appends messages to
    /var/log/messages directly. All of that would be converted to pipe it
    to logger. However, this is a problem, because piping a command to
    logger loses the exit status of the command. Need some way to run a
    command, logging the ouput to syslog, w/o losing exit status.

  * udebs should not include md5sums files, or postrm, prerm, preinst
    scripts. This includes ones generated by debhelper. Linda will find
    these pretty well.

  * There is no need to set the seen flag anymore. All code that does so
    should be removed, unless that code is expected to also possibly run on
    a normal debian system (choose-mirror).
1	joeyh	18979	Things we really should fix before rc2:
2
3			- tasksel/aptitude problem that prevents installation of standard
4			packages
5	joeyh	18981	(fixed in aptitude 0.2.15.6-0.sarge3 in t-p-u)
6			- aptitude bug that prevents tasks from working in some locales
7			(#264716)
8			(apparently fixed in aptitude 0.2.15.6-0.sarge3 in t-p-u)
9	joeyh	21204	- fix desktop task (missing kde in testing)
10			- finish 2.6.8 and 2.4.27 kernel upgrades, all applicable arches
11	joeyh	18979
12			Things that would be nice for rc2, but can't block it:
13
14			- partman-efi, for reasonable setup of EFI partition on ia64
15	joeyh	20417	(uploaded, needs propigation to sarge)
16	joeyh	18979	- gnome-session needs update in testing, so users log into gnome,
17	joeyh	20053	and not kde, from gdm (2.6.2-5 fixes it or 2.6.1-5.sarge1 in t-p-u)
18	joeyh	19006	- pcmcia-cs resource range detection
19			- X's failure to use read-edid at all (#264792)
20			- console-data missing be-latin1 keymap breaks Belgian keyboard
21			selection (console-data patch in #262620)
22	joeyh	20319	(fixed in version 2002.12.04dbs-46)
23	waldi	19208	- s390-dasd lacks a progress bar while formating disks
24			- zipl-installer/vmelilo-installer needs to remove no_bootloader
25			from /target/etc/kernel-img.conf
26	joeyh	20319	- whiptail breaks time zone selection for argintina, other bad bugs
27			(fixed in whiptail 0.51.6-12)
28	joeyh	18979
29
30	joeyh	18889	This TODO list can only touch on some larger issues, but there are a great
31			many open bugs on various components of the installer. See all bugs tagged
32			d-i in the BTS. Also, there are many unprocessed installation-reports bugs.
33
34
35	tfheen	1320	Status for different parts of debian-installer. The numbers are
36			approximate (as in +/- 50%) and may change in any direction, at any
37			time.
38	joeyh	273
39	joeyh	5531	[0%] Not begun
40	tfheen	1320	---------------------------------------------------------------------
41	joeyh	5586	- some architectures
42	joeyh	12043	hurd-i386 (we will ship w/o this)
43			sh (we will ship w/o this)
44	joeyh	409
45	joeyh	5669	[30%] Might need large rewrites. Current implementation might
46	joeyh	5531	work by accident
47	tfheen	1320	---------------------------------------------------------------------
48	joeyh	5531	- GUI frontend to cdebconf.
49			There are some basic implementations. The trick is to make
50			it a GUI that does not suck, while still using debconf
51			underneath.
52	joeyh	13965	- ppp support
53			Not as important for analog dialup, as for ISDN, pppoe.
54	joeyh	15590
55
56	joeyh	5531	[60%] Needs some work, but does its grunt work
57	tfheen	1320	---------------------------------------------------------------------
58	joeyh	5531	- I18N
59	joeyh	17927	Mostly done, still filling in minor holes.
60	joeyh	5531	- translations
61			Varying languages translated to varying degrees.
62	joeyh	12043	http://people.debian.org/~seppy/d-i/translation-status.html
63	joeyh	5586	- boot loader installers (lilo, grub, etc)
64	joeyh	5531	Work, except for when they don't. See BTS.
65			- anna
66	joshk-guest	10765	Works, mostly. Needs support for Release files.
67	tfheen	1320	Support for signed Release files would be cool, but
68			needs gpgv-udeb.
69	joeyh	5615	Needs to have load-installer properly split out of the anna
70	joeyh	10321	binary to save space on root floppy. Or removed, not used
71			anymore.
72	joeyh	5531	- disk selector, partitioner
73	joeyh	15590	We have switched to partman everything except a couple of
74	joeyh	17927	subarches and s390.
75	joeyh	12622	- bugreporter-udeb
76			only supports saving to floppy, which many lack
77	joeyh	17927	should offer a way to save via network or to usb stick
78	joeyh	6748	- post-reboot configuration
79	kraai	18910	base-config is stable, though it could use more polish
80	joeyh	12043	i18n is needed.
81			Some questions repeat questions from d-i.
82	joeyh	5531	- web site
83			http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
84			Could be better laid out, lacking some sections, other
85			parts are quite good.
86	joeyh	5565	- archive integration
87	joeyh	12043	No automatic propagation to testing.
88	kraai	18910	No source propagation for udeb sources!
89	joeyh	10321	- pcmcia support
90	joeyh	17927	Much improved, generally works now.
91	joeyh	18889	Automatic PCI resource range exclusion based on probing
92			still needed, work in progress.
93	joeyh	8218	- low memory support
94	joeyh	10131	Where "low" is 32-46 mb!
95	joeyh	8218	Works, but user must be careful to set up swap ASAP.
96			There is no sanity checking, and some bad failure modes.
97	joeyh	12043	- user documentation
98	joeyh	18889	Installation manual is up-to-date for i386.
99			Needs sanity checking for other architectures.
100	kraai	18910	Translations need updates.
101	joeyh	12043	- developer documentation
102			We understand it, but casual hackers have a high barrier to
103			doing simple things like using a custom kernel.
104	joeyh	14114	- 2.6 support
105	cjwatson	16609	Works on i386, with minor bugs.
106	joeyh	18889	Works on powerpc, at least newworld. Testing on
107	cjwatson	16609	other subarches needed, especially G5 and oldworld (with
108	joeyh	17927	mkvmlinuz).
109	joeyh	5586	- some architectures
110	joeyh	5669	i386
111	joeyh	6748	ia64
112	joeyh	17927	powerpc
113	joeyh	6437	mips
114	tbm	15619	SGI (mips/r4k-ip22 and mips/r5k-ip22)
115			- fix parted's DVH disk labels support (#239371)
116			- install dvhtool
117			Broadcom SWARM (mips/sb1-swarm-bn)
118			- Needs a working boot loader in the archive
119			Documentation, manual
120	joeyh	17927	XXX the above may be somewhat out of date
121	joeyh	14340	mipsel
122	tbm	15619	DECstation (mipsel/r3k-kn02 and mipsel/r4k-kn04)
123			- cannot boot from CD (see end of #241231)
124			Cobalt (mipsel/cobalt)
125			- figure out whether to set link_in_boot=yes
126			(see trunk/packages/rootskel/debian/templates-arch)
127			- boot has to be ext2 -r 0
128			- support installs via SSH, w/o serial console
129			- boot: use: execute rd_start=0x{initrd-start} rd_size=0x{initrd-size} console=ttyS0,{console-speed}
130			- debconf should output progess on the LCD
131			Documentation, manual
132	joeyh	17927	XXX the above may be somewhat out of date
133	joeyh	8944	m68k (some subarches)
134	joeyh	8218	alpha
135	joeyh	11633	sparc
136	joeyh	14340	arm (some subarches)
137	joeyh	15590	hppa
138	joeyh	17927	amd64 (unofficial)
139			s/390
140	joeyh	18889	lowmem issues
141			On its first release, probably still some problems.
142	joeyh	132
143	joeyh	5531	[90%] Single missing important feature or bug.
144	tfheen	1320	---------------------------------------------------------------------
145	joeyh	5565	- hw-detect
146			Working but needs to be switched over to discover2
147	joeyh	10321	- iso-scan
148			Works, but does not flag the disk the iso is mounted from
149			as unusable by the rest of the installer.
150			- netcfg
151			Working, pending rewrite for IPv6.
152	joeyh	5586	- bts
153	joeyh	7843	Still need a non-manual way to tag our bugs.
154	joeyh	12043	- language-chooser
155			The perennial problem is how to order/present the list of
156			languages. Many complaints, but it works.
157			- base system installer
158	cjwatson	14888	It can break due to testing package churn. cdebootstrap
159			would fix this; also debootstrap/apt/archive changes in
160			progress to add Base: overrides to Packages files.
161	joeyh	5531
162			[100%] Those shouldn't need to be touched any more
163	joeyh	5615	(famous last words)
164	joeyh	5531	---------------------------------------------------------------------
165	joeyh	5586	- udpkg
166	tfheen	1320	- cd installs
167	joeyh	5531	- net retriever
168			- cdrom retriever
169			- ethdetect
170			- cdebconf
171	joeyh	5586	- floppy retriever
172			- main-menu
173			- choose-mirror
174			- busybox integration
175	joeyh	10321	- install media build system
176	joeyh	12043	- kernel-package integration
177			- library reduction
178	joeyh	17927	- wireless support
179	joeyh	5565
180	joeyh	5586	Common problems and transitions
181			===============================
182	joeyh	5565
183			This is a list of common mistakes that need to be corrected throughout the
184			code base:
185
186			* All debconf commands that INPUT, GO, GET or SET questions should check
187			their return value. This is pure evil:
188
189	joeyh	8489	debconf->command(debconf, "GET", "mirror/suite", NULL); /* unchecked return code ! */
190	joeyh	5565	asprintf(&command, "foo %s", debconf->value);
191			system(command);
192
193			* cdebconf's debconfclient.h has a set of macros for calling debconf
194			(debconf_get() and so on)
195			These should perhaps be used consistently throughout the code for
196			clarity.
197
198			* There needs to be a centralised logging method. Syslog will do, but
199			we currently have a lot of nasty code that appends messages to
200			/var/log/messages directly. All of that would be converted to pipe it
201			to logger. However, this is a problem, because piping a command to
202			logger loses the exit status of the command. Need some way to run a
203			command, logging the ouput to syslog, w/o losing exit status.
204
205			* udebs should not include md5sums files, or postrm, prerm, preinst
206	joeyh	12043	scripts. This includes ones generated by debhelper. Linda will find
207			these pretty well.
208	joeyh	5586
209	joeyh	12043	* There is no need to set the seen flag anymore. All code that does so
210			should be removed, unless that code is expected to also possibly run on
211			a normal debian system (choose-mirror).