Re: [Proposal-Suggestion] for a better and more user friendly NetBSD installation experience
[email protected] Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:40:54 +0000
| Newsgroups | gmane.os.netbsd.devel.installation |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
------=_Part_4_31814289.1770907255146 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dunno, maybe my point it's just the point of a NetBSD newbie. But I really think the Void installer is on top. Not because installing NetBSD was hard to do, but because I think it could = made more accessible and flexible. I was like "damn, it could be awesome if it will be concept with this kind = of mindset & approach" when I install NetBSD 2026-02-12T11:26:27Z Mouse <[email protected]>: >> Subject: [Proposal-Suggestion] for a better and more user friendly NetBS= D >> installation experience >=20 > "user friendly" is *heavily* user-dependent.=C2=A0 One person's > user-friendly is another's user-hostile and yet another's obnoxiously > user-obsequious.=C2=A0 Without a specific and well-defined metric, "bette= r" > is similarly subjective. >=20 >> I've noticed that NetBSD does not permit an easy manual partitioning >> at install time, >=20 > This disagrees with my experience.=C2=A0 I don't use the installer much o= n > any port, but with one exception I think it has always let me manually > partition the disk the way I want (that exception being the few cases > where I want overlapping partitions). >=20 > I've used Linux installers even less, but in the few cases where I've > seen them run they've been significantly less me-friendly (ie, > user-friendly to me) than the NetBSD installer.=C2=A0 I don't know whethe= r > Void is one of the ones I've seen. >=20 >> and in general, it lacks of tools for disk management, like cfdisk, >> parted , garted or listing tools [like] lsblk. >=20 > It does?=C2=A0 I'm not much of a Linux admin and I'm not terribly familia= r > with cfdisk or parted, and garted I don't think I've ever heard of. > But NetBSD has fdisk and disklabel (including disklabel -e), and there > are probably numerous tools that work better for their authors - I've > written one myself.=C2=A0 As for lsblk, I'm not familiar with it, but for > listing disk devices NetBSD does have the hw.disknames sysctl, though, > like a lot of NetBSD, it's pretty minimalist, providing mechanism > rather than policy. >=20 >> Another thing, ipv6 is very slow, >=20 > This too disagrees with my experience; I've been using IPv6 for decades > and I find it close enough to IPv4 in speed that I'd have to measure > carefully to detect a difference in comparable cases. >=20 > /~\ The ASCII=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0= =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Mouse > \ / Ribbon Campaign > X=C2=A0 Against HTML=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 mouse@rode= nts-montreal.org > / \ Email!=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39=C2= =A0 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B ------=_Part_4_31814289.1770907255146 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <html> <head> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> </head> <body> <span dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">Dunno, maybe my point it's just the point of a NetBSD newbie.</span> <br> <br><span dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">But I really think the Void installer is on top.</span> <br> <br><span dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">Not because installing NetBSD was hard to do, but because I think it could made more accessible and flexible.</span> <br> <br><span dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">I was like "damn, it could be awesome if it will be concept with this kind of mindset & approach" when I install NetBSD</span> <br> <div class="fairemail_quote"> <div dir="ltr"> <p>2026-02-12T11:26:27Z Mouse <[email protected]>:</p> </div> <blockquote style="margin:0;border-left:3px solid #ccc; padding-left:10px;"> <div> <blockquote style="margin:0;border-left:3px solid #ccc; padding-left:10px;"> Subject: [Proposal-Suggestion] for a better and more user friendly NetBSD <br> installation experience <br> </blockquote> <br> "user friendly" is *heavily* user-dependent. One person's <br> user-friendly is another's user-hostile and yet another's obnoxiously <br> user-obsequious. Without a specific and well-defined metric, "better" <br> is similarly subjective. <br> <br> <blockquote style="margin:0;border-left:3px solid #ccc; padding-left:10px;"> I've noticed that NetBSD does not permit an easy manual partitioning <br> at install time, <br> </blockquote> <br> This disagrees with my experience. I don't use the installer much on <br> any port, but with one exception I think it has always let me manually <br> partition the disk the way I want (that exception being the few cases <br> where I want overlapping partitions). <br> <br> I've used Linux installers even less, but in the few cases where I've <br> seen them run they've been significantly less me-friendly (ie, <br> user-friendly to me) than the NetBSD installer. I don't know whether <br> Void is one of the ones I've seen. <br> <br> <blockquote style="margin:0;border-left:3px solid #ccc; padding-left:10px;"> and in general, it lacks of tools for disk management, like cfdisk, <br> parted , garted or listing tools [like] lsblk. <br> </blockquote> <br> It does? I'm not much of a Linux admin and I'm not terribly familiar <br> with cfdisk or parted, and garted I don't think I've ever heard of. <br> But NetBSD has fdisk and disklabel (including disklabel -e), and there <br> are probably numerous tools that work better for their authors - I've <br> written one myself. As for lsblk, I'm not familiar with it, but for <br> listing disk devices NetBSD does have the hw.disknames sysctl, though, <br> like a lot of NetBSD, it's pretty minimalist, providing mechanism <br> rather than policy. <br> <br> <blockquote style="margin:0;border-left:3px solid #ccc; padding-left:10px;"> Another thing, ipv6 is very slow, <br> </blockquote> <br> This too disagrees with my experience; I've been using IPv6 for decades <br> and I find it close enough to IPv4 in speed that I'd have to measure <br> carefully to detect a difference in comparable cases. <br> <br> /~\ The ASCII Mouse <br> \ / Ribbon Campaign <br> X Against HTML [email protected] <br> / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B <br> </div> </blockquote> </div> </body> </html> ------=_Part_4_31814289.1770907255146--