Contents of /trunk/installer/doc/TODO

Important things to do before beta release
==========================================

Here's a list of urgent things we need to do before issuing a preview
release.

  *** make sure powerpc cd installs are working ***

  * Fix mkreiserfs to not hang. (#213314) [Patch for reiserfprogs 
    submitted to BTS]

  * Error handling.  We need to make sure the user is told so when
    something goes wrong. It's especially bad for debootstrap.

  * There is no way to choose either grub or autopartkit, so these cool
    features are invisible on a normal install. (grub is also not even on
    the menu; it needs a priority change).

  * Progress bar when running mkfs (in partconf).

  * Is cfdisk really the best partitioner we can come up with on i386, 
    aside from autopartkit?

  * fix pcmcia-cs (trivial)

Current status
==============

        CD installs to i386 and (some) powerpc are working, with many
        successful installs (and many bugs).
        Some success with other install methods: floppy, USB, netboot, etc.

        debian-installer images are built daily for i386, powerpc.
        This includes CD images.

        debian-installer boot images (i386, powerpc) are available in
        the Debian archive, in unstable.
        
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 kind of a mechanism for udebs to declare what parts of
          busybox they need, so we can ensure that all deps are met while
          keeping the busybox footprint small.
          Packages depending on base-installer should use the
          utilities in /target so we can keep busybox's size down.
          (We will probably ship without this.)
        - lintian support for udebs, to catch all the common gotchas
        - ppp support
          Not as important for analog dialup, as for ISDN, pppoe.
        - wireless support
          If you're lucky, you may just get a nearby AP by default, but
          there is no wireless-tools, no way to configure it
        - some architectures
                arm
                hurd-i386
                sh
                s/390
                sparc

[30%] Might need large rewrites. Current implementation might
      work by accident
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - user documentation
                Short term we have the INSTALLATION-HOWTO, but the real
                install manual is still being put together, and lacks a
                Makefile.
        - 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.
        - cdrom-checker
                apparently broken (#213054)
        - pcmcia support
                may work, may not..
                pcmcia-modules are not installed onto the target 
                pcmcia-cs-udeb has a broken (reduced?) pcmcia config
                which makes it not work with eg, orinoco
                Probably need to re-run hw-detect after loading pcmcia from
                the net_driver floppy.
        - some architectures
                alpha
                hppa
                ia64
                m69k (some subarches)
                mips, mipsel
                
[60%] Needs some work, but does its grunt work
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - I18N
                Mostly there.
                Still working on various things such as moving menu items
                into debconf.
        - translations
                Varying languages translated to varying degrees.
        - language-chooser
                The perrenial problem is how to order/present the list of
                languages. Many complaints, but it works.
        - boot loader installers (lilo, grub, etc)
                Work, except for when they don't. See BTS.
        - disk formatter
                Works, except for reiserfs hang prolem.
        - base system installer
                debootstrap is stable, and has quite good support in
                base-installer
                Except for when it fails. See BTS.
                In particular, it always fails when used on a non-empty
                partition. Many users run into this.
        - netcfg
                Working, pending rewrite for IPv6 and multiple devices
                support.
        - anna
                Works, mostly.  Needs support for Releases 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.
        - kernel-package integration
                Moving to the new linux-kernel-di system, so far only i386
                is fully converted.
        - disk selector, partitioner
                There are two of them, autopartkit and partkit.
                partkit needs polish, both work, except for when they
                don't. (See BTS.)
        - iso-scan
                Works, but does not flag the disk the iso is mounted from
                as unusable by the rest of the installer.
        - web site
                http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
                Could be better laid out, lacking some sections, other
                parts are quite good.
        - archive integration
                We probably want to separate testing and unstable at some
                point.
                Only a few arches (i386, powerpc) have boot media in the
                archive.
                There is currently no mechanism to promote boot media
                or udebs from unstable to testing.
        - some architectures
                i386
                powerpc (some subarches)

[90%] Single missing important feature or bug.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - install media build system
                The mrvn branch needs to be tested and merged.
                The dest/ image names need to be reorganised.
        - partconf
                Reiserfs hangs, in interactive mode.
        - hw-detect
                Working but needs to be switched over to discover2
        - bts
                Search for bugs tagged d-i
                (Still need a non-manual way to tag our bugs.)

[100%] Those shouldn't need to be touched any more 
       (famous last words)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
        - udpkg
                May be eventually replaced with busybox dpkg.
        - cd installs
                Works mostly.
        - net retriever
        - cdrom retriever
        - ethdetect
        - library reduction
                Working (on all arches?)
        - post-reboot configuration
                base-cofig is stable, though stuff may need to be added to
                it to handle things d-i doesn't bother with. i18n is
                needed.
                Integration with debian installer's debconf database still
                needs to be done, although the current ugly system works.
        - cdebconf
        - dhcp
        - floppy retriever
        - main-menu
        - choose-mirror
        - busybox integration

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

  * Nothing should send error messages to stderr. If there is an error,
    use debconf to display a message. stderr messages will overwrite the
    newt frontend.

  * 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.

  * Use the cdebconf error template type for error messages, instead of
    note.
  
  * Most debconf title setting can be replaced with providing the
    appropriate title template and letting main-menu set it.

  * Some main menu items still need to be updated to provide menu entry
    templates.
1	joeyh	5723	Important things to do before beta release
2			==========================================
3	joeyh	5565
4	sjogren	2577	Here's a list of urgent things we need to do before issuing a preview
5			release.
6
7	joeyh	5758	* make sure powerpc cd installs are working *
8	sjogren	2577
9	ley	5802	* Fix mkreiserfs to not hang. (#213314) [Patch for reiserfprogs
10			submitted to BTS]
11	sjogren	2577
12	joeyh	5565	* Error handling. We need to make sure the user is told so when
13			something goes wrong. It's especially bad for debootstrap.
14	sjogren	2582
15	joeyh	5723	* There is no way to choose either grub or autopartkit, so these cool
16	joeyh	5788	features are invisible on a normal install. (grub is also not even on
17			the menu; it needs a priority change).
18	joeyh	5723
19	joeyh	5687	* Progress bar when running mkfs (in partconf).
20	mckinstry	3629
21	joeyh	5669	* Is cfdisk really the best partitioner we can come up with on i386,
22			aside from autopartkit?
23
24	joeyh	5759	* fix pcmcia-cs (trivial)
25
26	joeyh	5565	Current status
27			==============
28	joeyh	3469
29	joeyh	5531	CD installs to i386 and (some) powerpc are working, with many
30			successful installs (and many bugs).
31	joeyh	5687	Some success with other install methods: floppy, USB, netboot, etc.
32	joeyh	273
33	joeyh	5669	debian-installer images are built daily for i386, powerpc.
34	joeyh	5531	This includes CD images.
35
36	joeyh	5669	debian-installer boot images (i386, powerpc) are available in
37	joeyh	5565	the Debian archive, in unstable.
38	joeyh	5531
39	tfheen	1320	Status for different parts of debian-installer. The numbers are
40			approximate (as in +/- 50%) and may change in any direction, at any
41			time.
42	joeyh	273
43	joeyh	5531	[0%] Not begun
44	tfheen	1320	---------------------------------------------------------------------
45	toff	4452	- Some kind of a mechanism for udebs to declare what parts of
46	joeyh	615	busybox they need, so we can ensure that all deps are met while
47			keeping the busybox footprint small.
48	tfheen	698	Packages depending on base-installer should use the
49	joeyh	5531	utilities in /target so we can keep busybox's size down.
50			(We will probably ship without this.)
51			- lintian support for udebs, to catch all the common gotchas
52	joeyh	5565	- ppp support
53			Not as important for analog dialup, as for ISDN, pppoe.
54	joeyh	5669	- wireless support
55			If you're lucky, you may just get a nearby AP by default, but
56			there is no wireless-tools, no way to configure it
57	joeyh	5586	- some architectures
58	joeyh	5531	arm
59			hurd-i386
60			sh
61			s/390
62			sparc
63	joeyh	409
64	joeyh	5669	[30%] Might need large rewrites. Current implementation might
65	joeyh	5531	work by accident
66	tfheen	1320	---------------------------------------------------------------------
67	joeyh	5531	- user documentation
68			Short term we have the INSTALLATION-HOWTO, but the real
69			install manual is still being put together, and lacks a
70			Makefile.
71			- GUI frontend to cdebconf.
72			There are some basic implementations. The trick is to make
73			it a GUI that does not suck, while still using debconf
74			underneath.
75	joeyh	5586	- cdrom-checker
76			apparently broken (#213054)
77	joeyh	5565	- pcmcia support
78	joeyh	5669	may work, may not..
79			pcmcia-modules are not installed onto the target
80			pcmcia-cs-udeb has a broken (reduced?) pcmcia config
81			which makes it not work with eg, orinoco
82			Probably need to re-run hw-detect after loading pcmcia from
83			the net_driver floppy.
84	joeyh	5586	- some architectures
85	joeyh	5531	alpha
86			hppa
87			ia64
88			m69k (some subarches)
89			mips, mipsel
90
91			[60%] Needs some work, but does its grunt work
92	tfheen	1320	---------------------------------------------------------------------
93	joeyh	5531	- I18N
94			Mostly there.
95			Still working on various things such as moving menu items
96			into debconf.
97			- translations
98			Varying languages translated to varying degrees.
99	joeyh	5586	- language-chooser
100			The perrenial problem is how to order/present the list of
101			languages. Many complaints, but it works.
102			- boot loader installers (lilo, grub, etc)
103	joeyh	5531	Work, except for when they don't. See BTS.
104	tfheen	1071	- disk formatter
105	joeyh	5586	Works, except for reiserfs hang prolem.
106	joeyh	5531	- base system installer
107	tfheen	1320	debootstrap is stable, and has quite good support in
108			base-installer
109	joeyh	5531	Except for when it fails. See BTS.
110			In particular, it always fails when used on a non-empty
111			partition. Many users run into this.
112	joeyh	5586	- netcfg
113	joeyh	5531	Working, pending rewrite for IPv6 and multiple devices
114			support.
115			- anna
116	tfheen	1320	Works, mostly. Needs support for Releases files.
117			Support for signed Release files would be cool, but
118			needs gpgv-udeb.
119	joeyh	5615	Needs to have load-installer properly split out of the anna
120			binary to save space on root floppy.
121	joeyh	5531	- kernel-package integration
122			Moving to the new linux-kernel-di system, so far only i386
123			is fully converted.
124			- disk selector, partitioner
125			There are two of them, autopartkit and partkit.
126			partkit needs polish, both work, except for when they
127			don't. (See BTS.)
128	joeyh	5565	- iso-scan
129			Works, but does not flag the disk the iso is mounted from
130			as unusable by the rest of the installer.
131	joeyh	5531	- web site
132			http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
133			Could be better laid out, lacking some sections, other
134			parts are quite good.
135	joeyh	5565	- archive integration
136	joeyh	5586	We probably want to separate testing and unstable at some
137			point.
138	joeyh	5565	Only a few arches (i386, powerpc) have boot media in the
139			archive.
140			There is currently no mechanism to promote boot media
141			or udebs from unstable to testing.
142	joeyh	5586	- some architectures
143	joeyh	5669	i386
144	joeyh	5531	powerpc (some subarches)
145	joeyh	132
146	joeyh	5531	[90%] Single missing important feature or bug.
147	tfheen	1320	---------------------------------------------------------------------
148	joeyh	5531	- install media build system
149			The mrvn branch needs to be tested and merged.
150			The dest/ image names need to be reorganised.
151	joeyh	5565	- partconf
152			Reiserfs hangs, in interactive mode.
153			- hw-detect
154			Working but needs to be switched over to discover2
155	joeyh	5586	- bts
156			Search for bugs tagged d-i
157			(Still need a non-manual way to tag our bugs.)
158	joeyh	5531
159			[100%] Those shouldn't need to be touched any more
160	joeyh	5615	(famous last words)
161	joeyh	5531	---------------------------------------------------------------------
162	joeyh	5586	- udpkg
163	joeyh	5531	May be eventually replaced with busybox dpkg.
164	tfheen	1320	- cd installs
165			Works mostly.
166	joeyh	5531	- net retriever
167			- cdrom retriever
168			- ethdetect
169	tfheen	1320	- library reduction
170	joeyh	5531	Working (on all arches?)
171			- post-reboot configuration
172	tfheen	1320	base-cofig is stable, though stuff may need to be added to
173	joeyh	5531	it to handle things d-i doesn't bother with. i18n is
174	tfheen	1320	needed.
175	joeyh	5531	Integration with debian installer's debconf database still
176			needs to be done, although the current ugly system works.
177			- cdebconf
178	joeyh	5586	- dhcp
179			- floppy retriever
180			- main-menu
181			- choose-mirror
182			- busybox integration
183	joeyh	5565
184	joeyh	5586	Common problems and transitions
185			===============================
186	joeyh	5565
187			This is a list of common mistakes that need to be corrected throughout the
188			code base:
189
190			* All debconf commands that INPUT, GO, GET or SET questions should check
191			their return value. This is pure evil:
192
193			debconf->command(debconf, "GET", "mirror/distribution", NULL); /* unchecked return code ! */
194			asprintf(&command, "foo %s", debconf->value);
195			system(command);
196
197			* Nothing should send error messages to stderr. If there is an error,
198			use debconf to display a message. stderr messages will overwrite the
199			newt frontend.
200
201			* cdebconf's debconfclient.h has a set of macros for calling debconf
202			(debconf_get() and so on)
203			These should perhaps be used consistently throughout the code for
204			clarity.
205
206			* There needs to be a centralised logging method. Syslog will do, but
207			we currently have a lot of nasty code that appends messages to
208			/var/log/messages directly. All of that would be converted to pipe it
209			to logger. However, this is a problem, because piping a command to
210			logger loses the exit status of the command. Need some way to run a
211			command, logging the ouput to syslog, w/o losing exit status.
212
213			* udebs should not include md5sums files, or postrm, prerm, preinst
214			scripts. This includes ones generated by debhelper.
215	joeyh	5586
216			* Use the cdebconf error template type for error messages, instead of
217			note.
218
219			* Most debconf title setting can be replaced with providing the
220			appropriate title template and letting main-menu set it.
221
222			* Some main menu items still need to be updated to provide menu entry
223			templates.