Hi Guys,

My original message referred to the mac68k port, where the installer can
(and, for a first install does) set up /etc/fstab correctly. I understand
that this is not necessarily the case for other platforms. (The mac68k
installer does not set up rc.conf, on the other hand.) Also, the option of
having /usr on a different partition (SGI made me hate this option :-) may
complicates things further.
Rereading the contributions made so far to this thread, it seems that
whatever sounds good in one case may lead to a catch-22 otherwise, unless
the user is close enough to true guru status :-) Also, with many people
preferring to install or update under netbsd, relying on an installer to
set up files does not sound like a good idea either.

My impression is that the best solution would be an install script, living
in /etc, which first (interactively!) fsck-s and mounts the necessary file
systems, / and possibly /usr, using fstab as a lead if it is present, and
then sets up rc.conf, like Jukka suggested. Once everything is set up, it
should offer the option of starting a shell to do anything else the user
might want to do, and then reboot. (Even this may fail, of course, in case
the filesystem is seriously damaged, but I hope this is a rare condition
immediately after a fresh install/update.)

Best wishes,

        Nico

--
  Dr. N.J.R. van Eikema Hommes     Computer-Chemie-Centrum
  hommes@ccc.uni-erlangen.de       Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg
  Phone:    +49-(0)9131-856532     Naegelsbachstr. 25
  FAX:      +49-(0)9131-856566     D-91052 Erlangen, Germany