On Tue, 11 Aug 2015 07:02:28 -0700
Go Linux <golinux@???> wrote:

> On Mon, 8/10/15, Steve Litt <slitt@???> wrote:

[snip]

> > * base install
> > * apt-get install xorg
> > * apt-get install xterm (if not installed by xorg)
> > * apt-get install Xfce (or whatever)
> > * apt-get install lightdm

[snip]

> Several years ago, I actually built up xfce (without the meta
> package) from a base install. Then I found refracta which simplified
> my life as it was very close to what I wanted. fsmithred has
> promised to build a devuan iso for the likes of me. But he's not
> been seen around here in some time and the refracta forums haven't
> had much traffic lately . . . maybe because it's summer. Once the
> beta appears I'm hoping he'll spin into action. Doing this all from
> scratch would be a bit of a challenge for me . . . the years are
> beginning to take a toll . . .

Hi golinux,

I've known you for what, a year now? My impression is you're smart and
skilled enough to find it almost trivial to install base, then xorg,
then xterm, then a window manager, then lightdm. I've seen you do a
lot more challenging stuff than that, including making very inciteful
contributions to discussions on infrastructure. My impression of
you is that if you put your mind to it, you could install Arch or
Gentoo, and those really do take some concentration and resolution of
ambiguities. But anyway...

I'll admit I've met people who couldn't follow a five step apt-get
sequence, but you're about a million miles from that.

Well, anyway, you were speaking for those guys who can't follow a 5
step recipe, and that's legitimate. *If* it's decided that the base
install should be minimal, it would be pretty easy to make a
shellscript to do all X installation in one command. If the base
install included nCurses and Dialog, it could even be a no-argument
script that queried for everything:

* Do you want a Graphical User Interface (GUI) (Y/n)

* Do you want to boot straight to Graphics mode? (y/N)

* If booting straight to Graphics mode, require password? (Y/n)

* Which window mgr? (Xfce/LXDE/Openbox/Whatever/Other)

* If Other, please enter the WM name here >    <

* Thank you. Press Enter to perform this work, press Ctrl+C to abort:


Of course, the prompts would need to be *much* more tailored to the
uninitiated user, who for instance, doesn't know what a Graphical User
Interface, a window manager are, or why he would or wouldn't want a
password.

The benefit of doing it this way is it's being performed on an already
installed system that's almost guaranteed to boot just fine.

SteveT

Steve Litt
July 2015 featured book: Rapid Learning for the 21st Century
http://www.troubleshooters.com/rl21