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. 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. 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. Screenshot gallery or 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. 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. 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