[Tech] Partimus (PXE?) (nearly?) unattended install solution(s?)

Thu Mar 26 13:23:10 PDT 2015

Hi,

Thanks for your thoughts, Tai.  My comments are in line below...

On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Tai Kedzierski <dch.tai at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> +++
> PXE booting might require isolating a subnetwork during install, which may
> not be fully suitable once the school hits 20+ machines and needs to
> refresh all of them...
>
> Unless they're all fitted with wireless. Has anyone got a way of isolating
> from the main network without requiring a mass deployment of cables? (my
> site networking skills are fairly basic, maybe I'm missing a trick here)
>

Abigail's Linux lab is fairly limited in scope, due to the size of the room
she is in.  It is not likely to grow beyond its current configuration,
which is summarized here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_s0E7w40zs80yZNrVRqupml6jqADKjD9XoJ3uFkhQMw/

>
> +++
> Customization from basic is pretty hairy.
>
> For those who've asked, the reason we are doing pre-customization is to
> have an image that has everything already on it. We're not burning the ISO
> to discs, but prepping it for serving as an online image over the local
> network.
>

In the past, there was some kind of boot CD that we would put in the CD
tray and reboot the machine.  That machine is summarized at a high level
here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zs4_G-hvTDho1K9lP4Nrcz3BqPdw7gIczESu5f7V114/

>
> +++
> Michael's alt dists
>
> @Christian we will have to ask you to look into those and decide. I'm
> continuing so far on the assumption of Lubuntu for now, though if you're
> getting more powerful machines in, can I suggest something with a MATE
> desktop or Xfce?
>

Yes, we are planning on growing the hardware capabilities of the lab, and
just yesterday we delivered 15 "new" machines to the lab.  But for now,
there are two reasons we need to stay with Lubuntu:

   1. Many of the machines are old, as shown in the lab summary linked
   below, some with as little as 500 MB of RAM.
   2. 100 children come through that lab every day, and training them on a
   new desktop is something that you have to build into the curriculum.  I
   think we are going to have to stay with Lubuntu for this reason alone
   through June of 2016.  We need to give Abigail time to plan her curriculum
   so at to re-train the kids on the new interface.

Here is a summary of the

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_s0E7w40zs80yZNrVRqupml6jqADKjD9XoJ3uFkhQMw/

>
>
> +++
> Abiword - @Christian mentioned this previously, I've found the ODT (text
> processing) engine to be rather non-compliant with standards, specifically
> on document styling structure which is key not only for formatting but also
> automatic chaptering and sectioning. Alas, Abiword is a poor reflection of
> what FOSS can do in a properly deployed environment.
>
> Then, that's just me. I prefer LibreOffice as it's as standards compliant
> as it gets - it's the reference implementation from the Document
> Foundation, and handles "the other standards" well too so interoperability
> can happen smoothly.
>

I wasn't aware that there was this problem.  I thought that AbiWord used
solid truly open standards.  I will ask Abigail what she uses for text
writing.

> +++
> Michael's suggestion of an information repository that reflects the
> "current state" (as a wiki methinks) is a good one. Just in trying to
> reconcile the threads just now was not the most fun I've ever had...
>
> I can set up a digitalOcean droplet as a temporary shim, but that'll
> disappear once the project is complete. If Partimus use digitalOcean, I
> believe I'll be able to pass stewardship of it over instead...
>

Sorry about that.  Partimus does have a wiki, but as I mentioned in a
preceding email, I have seen wikis get pummelled by trolls.

http://partimus.org/wiki/Provisioning_Server

I would like to keep that wiki low-traffic, because I have found that as
wikis gain public attention, they attract trolls who like to deface and
damage it.  Just my two cents.  A google doc like our sandbox page is nice,
because AFAIK only people invited can edit it:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UEgt_fkGUVdANcnZ1W2S5Rv15Hx3S92Ynn9Mui3xB_E/

>
> Oh, and let's have that multi-way chat/call. I can set up a Mumble server
> for this if everyone is comfortable with that.
>

I have started a doodle.com poll to see which times might be best for
everyone.  I do know that at least Mike Rojas is not available during the
work day, and I am not available on Sundays, so that only leaves us
Saturdays.  I hope that everyone will find a time that works for them.
Please bear in mind that Tai Kedzierski is in Scotland and Alexandro
Colorado is in Mexico.  The rest of us are in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Thanks very much for all of your great help to each of you!

>> --
Christian Einfeldt
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