Re: Please review netcfg templates for debian-installer

Holger Wansing <hwansing-cl+VPiYnx/[email protected]> writes:

> Hi all,
>
> a Happy New Year to you!
>
> I would like to ask for a review of some template changings regarding the
> network config in debian-installer.
>
> netcfg allows (for a long time already) to give an fully qualified domain
> name (FQDN), when the installer asks for the hostname.
> The wording in the templates however does not tell about this possibilty.
>
> So I have prepared a diff, to get a review.
> Diff attached.
>
> It would be great, if someone could take some time for review.

 _Description: Hostname:
  Please enter the hostname for this system.
  .
  The hostname is a single word that identifies your system to the network.

Isnt "to the network" wrong these days? a hostname identifies the system
full stop, and most systems are not reachable "from the network" in any
meaningful sense.


  If you don't know what your hostname should be, consult your network
  administrator.

Should this sentence still be here -- most users have no "network
administrator", and those that do dont need to be told to consult them

  If you are setting up your own home network, you can make
  something up here.

I suggest the template should assume this is what is happening, as that
is what most people will be doing -- and people doing something else
will need less help



+ .
+ Optionally it is possible to give a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) here,
+ which combines hostname and domain name in one string, with the labels
+ separated by periods.


it's understandable english (although "optionally it is possible" could
be just "optionally", and "period" is a bit unusual for non-american
readers), but i dont think this is easy to understand -- and hardly
anything has a FQDN for some years -- there was a discussion about
fqdn's meaning recently and someone wrote a wiki page
https://wiki.debian.org/Hostname which would be a better starting point
for all of this


Basically i tihnk this whole question should be modernised -- isnt it something like:

- give the system a meaningful name that identifies it - you can use any name you like
- but it has to be a single word with A-Z, a-z, 0-9, ., - (or whatever)
- if the system has an internet domain name you can use the bit before the first dot
- if the system has a FQDN you can use it




 Template: netcfg/hostname
 Type: string
 Description: for internal use; can be preseeded
  Hostname to set for the system; ignores names provided by DHCP or DNS.
 
 Template: netcfg/invalid_hostname
@@ -165,26 +169,31 @@ Type: error
 _Description: Invalid hostname
  The name "${hostname}" is invalid.
  .
  A valid hostname may contain only the numbers 0-9, upper and lowercase
  letters (A-Z and a-z), and the minus sign. It must be at most
  ${maxhostnamelen} characters long, and may not begin or end with a minus
  sign.
+ .
+ If you chose to give a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) as hostname,
+ all contained labels may only contain characters as stated in the rule quoted
+ above, and the whole string must be at most ${maxhostnamelen} characters
+ long.

i dont think this new bit before the comma is at all understandable, the
rule above applies to the whole string so isnt it obvious that "all
contained labels" have to also follow it? the term "label" should be
defined (you explain it in one of the other templates, but not here)


 Template: netcfg/invalid_domain
 Type: error
 # :sl2:
 _Description: Invalid domain name
  The domain name "${domain}" is invalid.
  .
- A valid domain name may contain labels separated with periods.
+ A valid domain name may contain labels separated by periods.

  Each label may contain only the numbers 0-9, upper and lowercase
- letters (A-Z and a-z), and the minus sign. It must be at most
- ${maxhostnamelen} characters long, and may not begin or end with a minus
- sign.
+ letters (A-Z and a-z), and the minus sign, but it may not begin or end
+ with a minus sign. The domain name must be at most ${maxhostnamelen}
+ characters long.

(I think this is probably OK, but it feels a bit over-complicated)
 
 Template: netcfg/error
 Type: error
 # :sl2:
 _Description: Error
  An error occurred and the network configuration process has been aborted.

is the word "process" really needed here?

  You may retry it from the installation main menu.