On 07/15/09 12:08 PM, Jack Schwartz wrote: > Hi Sanjay. > > On 07/13/09 23:17, sanjay nadkarni (Laptop) wrote: >> Jack Schwartz wrote: >>> Hi Sanjay. >>> >>> On 07/09/09 23:36, sanjay nadkarni (Laptop) wrote: >>>> Jack Schwartz wrote: >>>>> Hi everyone. >>>>> >>>>> An installer may require a special driver (that is, a driver not >>>>> delivered by default) to reach an unusual installation disk or >>>>> storage >>>>> medium, if that installer is to be able to install on truly any >>>>> system. >>>>> Likewise, there may be other special devices for which a driver is >>>>> normally not installed, but for which a driver is required. >>>>> >>>>> Installers will need to support the use and installation of >>>>> drivers not >>>>> delivered by default, both to the system they are installing, and to >>>>> their own installation environment (booted while the installer is >>>>> running). The latter may be required to reach the installation >>>>> medium to complete the installation. >>>>> >>>>> The effort to make this happen will be known as the Driver Updates >>>>> Project. >>>>> >>>>> A proposed problem statement: >>>>> "All OpenSolaris installers must be able to install on any system, >>>>> regardless of any unusual devices a system has (storage devices, in >>>>> particular) and the drivers required to operate those unusual >>>>> devices, >>>>> as long as those drivers are available. All OpenSolaris installers >>>>> should make it as easy as possible to locate trusted and reliable >>>>> drivers for all devices." >>>> The use of the word "unusual" is rather awkward. I suggest >>>> rewording the problem statement to capture the key issues >>>> explicitly. As I see it, the key issue is that device drivers >>>> needed to instantiate a device may not be on the install media. >>>> This could occur for various reasons, such as closed drivers, third >>>> party drivers or support for the new devices was added after the >>>> media was published. To enable support for these cases, the >>>> ability to asynchronously deliver drivers needed for install >>>> critical. This is why DU is required. >>> Thanks for your input. Eloquently put. Here's a revision: >>> >>> All OpenSolaris installers must be able to install on any system. >>> Yet there could be a device driver which is not part of the >>> installation media, which is needed to operate a system device. >>> This could occur for various reasons: the driver could be closed or >>> third party, or could be support for a new device which was added >>> after the media was published. To enable support for these cases, >>> the ability to deliver drivers from locations other than the >>> installation media for install is critical. OpenSolaris installers >>> should make it as easy as possible to locate trusted and reliable >>> drivers for all devices, including drivers which do not exist on the >>> installation media." >>> >>> Please let me know any additional feedback sometime today. >>> >> Please add "locate and install drivers". > OK >> "Trusted" is a loaded term. I think what you mean is "known" or do >> you mean "signed" as in digitally signed. If so why is this a >> requirement ? For example, an external contributor could set up a >> repo and provide a driver. The user may decide to either choose or >> ignore that location. > "Trusted" means "known". That said, it is not the purpose of the > installer to determine which drivers are reliable and which are not, > except to prevent obvious problems (like architectural mismatches). > > So, changing "locate trusted and reliable drivers" to "locate and > install drivers" is what is needed here. > > Here's how the problem statement now stands: > > "All OpenSolaris installers must be able to install on any system. > Yet there could be a device driver which is not part of the > installation media, which is needed to operate a system device. This > could occur for various reasons: the driver could be closed or third > party, or could be support for a new device which was added after the > media was published. To enable support for these cases, the ability > to deliver drivers from locations other than the installation media > for install is critical. OpenSolaris installers should make it as > easy as possible to locate and install drivers for all devices, > including drivers which do not exist on the installation media." > > Thanks, > Jack > > P.S. Note that in the case of an automatic "install all missing > drivers" scenario, preference should be given to those drivers which > have the greatest potential to be reliable (i.e. from an official > OpenSolaris repo) if no other user-preference is provided. This will > be noted later as part of the functional spec, though... I would be concerned about picking up any extra drivers that are not critical to the install process since system resources can be fairly limited.
-Sanjay
