In message <3EE48905.CB1E6117@greendragon.com>, William Allen Simpson writes:
>It appears that the group has reached consensus on the questions asked 
>about the direction of systinst partitioning. 
>
> #1 some believe that one important method is a swap and a single 
>    large partition.  Three label examples were proposed:
>      a) workstation (single user)
>         Default layout (best for first-time users)
>         Monolithic
>
> #2 many believe that one important method is divided partitions, with 
>    /tmp, /var, /usr, /usr/local, /usr/pkg, and /home, each in a 
>    separate partition.  Two label examples were proposed:
>      b) server
>         Advanced layout (asks questions to determine best layout)
>
> #3 there is little support for a third method.  Instead, both of the 
>    above methods should display the resulting layout and allow 
>    custom modification of the underlying default.
>
> #4 systinst should always display the commands that are being 
>    executed.  Before each step, systinst should display text 
>    explaining the next steps.  The current text needs updating.
>
>It appears to me that we should let the fellow take the consensus, and 
>chose his own labels, and write his own text.  After all, he's doing the 
>work!  We can modify the result after we've seen the concrete details.
>

I'd add one more thing:  make sure the user doesn't have to do any 
arithmetic, and warn about overlaps.  BSD/OS's disk partitioning is
much easier to use than NetBSD's, because it gets that right.


		--Steve Bellovin, http://www.research.att.com/~smb (me)
		http://www.wilyhacker.com (2nd edition of "Firewalls" book)