In message <20021216030400.GB856@endersgame.net>Sean Davis writes

>The main thing I see as an advantage to FreeBSD's 'slice' implementation is=
> the
>ease of partitioning. 

Isn't this a UI issue rather than a functionality or design issue?

If sysinst (or replacement) ran multi-user (as FreeBSD's
/stand/sysinstall does), wouldn't that address your concerns?