> that sounds cool :)
>
> why not taking this chance of writing (perhaps) a new sysinstall to
> make further changes?

That is what I'm doing.  If it works, I'll donate it to the NetBSD 
Foundation so they can include it with a distribution if it's any good.

> * using XML for data sets like the timezone list (there's more or
> less a kind of dynamic change in it)

I'm not sure if that's a good idea.  The XML parser will take up 
precious space in an install image (that would be the RAM disk).  And 
it would add extra complexity to the sysinst where we should keep it as 
simple as possible, with fewer points for potential failure.

> * making the whole process (more?) scriptable, e.g. for mass rollout
> events (might be very useful in cluster environments)

Forgive my ignorance, but how would this work?  Is it possible at all to 
setup on one machine and have all the rest get installed from there, 
without touching them?

Maybe they just contact a machine on the LAN and suck down the install 
image and get on with it, unattended, according to a file listing the 
packages to install, how to lay out the disk partitions, etc?  Of 
course that means putting a setup CD in each machine to run a program 
to tell it what to do.

> * etc. i didn't think of yet due to lack of coffeine :D

;-)