====== Survey of existing graphical installers ======

This page aims to list and describe some existing graphical installers for unix-like operating systems, in order to present existing solutions from which good ideas can be used in the [[/finstall]] project.

===== PC-BSD installer =====

A %%FreeBSD%% installer aimed mostly for desktop users. [[http://docs.pcbsd.org/guide/chap2.3.html|Screenshot gallery]]

Pros:

  * Nice user interface
  * Has partitioning
  * Has simple RAID setup
  * simple firewall setup (pf)
  * I18N capable
  * Installs a complete (KDE) desktop, not only base system
  * Rudimentary audio card setup (?)

Cons:

  * Apparently lacks advanced / server-like options
  * No network login setup

Architecture:

  * KDE-based (?)
  * C++, QT
  * Monolithic (GUI code contains the install engine)
  * No internal scripting

License: BSD (except QT/GPL issues)

Used by: PC-BSD ([[http://www.pcbsd.org/]])

Notes:

  * No new releases on %%SourceForge%% page since 2005.

===== BSDInstaller =====

Installer not specifically tied to a BSD variant, intended for both server and desktop users. [[http://www.bsdinstaller.org/screenshots.html|Screenshot gallery]]

Pros:

  * Aims to be multiplatform and extensible
  * Supports multiple user intefaces (curses and web/CGI)
  * Has partitioning
  * Internal scripting via Lua (?)
  * Low system requirements (memory)

Cons:

  * No RAID setup
  * No firewall setup
  * Basic UI types are not particulary pretty
  * Apparently lacks advanced / server-like options
  * No multimedia devices setup
  * No remote login (LDAP/SMB) setup

Architecture:

  * C
  * Back-end (install engine) and front-end (UI) are separate

License: BSD

Used by: %%DragonflyBSD%%, %%FreeSBIE%% v1, pfSense

Notes:

  * Last page update of [[http://www.bsdinstaller.org/]] is in 2005.

===== RedHat "Anaconda" & derivative installers =====

This is a installer for RPM-based Linux systems, made originally by %%RedHat%%. Now it's used in Fedora Core, Red Hat Enterprise Linux & others. [[http://shots.linuxquestions.org/?linux_distribution_sm=Fedora%20Core%206|Screenshot gallery]] or [[http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_centos5.0|A second screenshot gallery]]

Pros:

  * Nice user interface
  * Multiple UIs (curses, Gnome)
  * Has partitioning
  * Has LVM RAID setup
  * Has (very) simple firewall setup
  * I18N capable
  * Installs a complete desktop, many variations / "metapackages" ("server"/"workstation")
  * Audio card setup
  * Can set up remote (LDAP/SMB) logins
  * Supports kickstart (?)

Cons:

  * Resource intensive (256MB minimum RAM)

Achitecture:

  * Python, GNOME
  * Scriptable

Used by: Fedora Core, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, others

License: GPL

Notes:

  * Pretty & usable

===== Ubuntu installer =====

Ubuntu is a risingly popular Linux distribution that emphasises ease of use. It's based on Debian and the installer uses Debian packages. [[http://content.zdnet.com/2346-12554_22-38830.html|Screenshot gallery]]

Pros:

  * Nice user interface
  * Multiple UI front-ends (including text mode but as separate engine)
  * Has partitioning
  * Has LVM RAID setup
  * Has (very) simple firewall setup
  * I18N capable
  * Installs a complete desktop, many variations / "metapackages" ("server"/"workstation")
  * Audio card setup
  * Can set up remote (LDAP/SMB) logins
  * Supports kickstart (?)
  * Supports GPT
  * Support for configuring multimedia devices
  * Advanced features: VPN setup, 3D desktop effects, tools for migration from other / older systems

Cons:

  * Resource intensive

Architecture:

  * Python, Gnome (?)

Used By: Ubuntu Linux

License: GPL

Notes:

  * Pretty & usable

===== Solaris 10 installer =====

Installer used for Solaris 10 is based on Java. [[http://hup.hu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7254|Screenshot gallery]]

Pros:

  * Relatively simple

Cons:

  * There's a relatively long console-based step before the GUI

Architecture:

  * C, curses, Java

Used by: Solaris 10

License: unknown, probably commercial

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