> Date: Sun, 8 Oct 1995 14:31:25 -0500 (CDT)
> From: quantum <brettw@io.com>

[ ...set disk partition sizes in MB, not cylinders...]

> This points out an area that I think needs to be address before 1.1 is
> released.  We need an improved install facility.  But, I don't want one
> that is i386 centric.  I run NetBSD on a PC clone, but also on an Amiga.

It may be a bit late to do this for the 1.1 release.

> NetBSD is a multi-platform OS.  It seems to me that in spite of that, the
> install could be fairly generic, once specific hardware was configured.
> Maybe an install script could run a platform specific install script followed
> by a generic install script.  Does this sound feasible to anyone else?

Having just finished up an old-fashioned "miniroot" installation
system, I have to say I like it better than many others I've seen.

The basic idea of the "miniroot" (for those that haven't seen it) is:
1: partition the disk
2: copy a miniroot into the swap partition
3: reboot with root-on-swap
4: finish the installation

After step 3, one can have a quite full-featured environment.
(That is why I like it! 8^)

Steps 1 and 2 are typically with either a special stand-alone
program, or with a stripped down RAM-disk kernel.

If I were re-writing the i386 install, I'd probably do miniroot.
(But I'm not voluneering, thanks.  I'm busy enough as it is...)

Gordon