[oi-dev] Fwd: [developer] Please review 4989 - BIS

[Garrett D'Amore]

ntfs-3g doesn't depend on ntfsprogs.

I'd not heard that GParted wasn't supported on illumos, although I'm not
terribly surprised.  These days, dual boot seems to be infrequently used --
long since supplanted by use of virtualization technology (which is lots
easier for everyone to use.)

Does anyone within reach of this email still use dual boot systems?
 (Hmm... I had been doing so as recently as two years ago, and I still have
one system that is configured that way, but I've not booted 'the other
system' in a very long time indeed.)

GParted was introduced to facilitate having users try out OpenSolaris on
their laptops running Windows.  It was seen as a key enabler for those
masses of low income students in China that ponytail was so intent on
luring with the desktop focus Sun had just prior to its acquisition by
Oracle.  Its unclear that the strategy had even small amounts of success in
that regard; VirtualBox was a much better approach IMO.

If OI/hipster are prepared for this change, then I think it can proceed.


On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 4:52 AM, Alexander Pyhalov via illumos-developer <
developer at lists.illumos.org> wrote:

> On 07/22/2014 14:05, Nikola M. wrote:
>
>  First of all, sorry for replying late (I had some issues with
>>> illumos-dev ML).
>>> We have prepared for this change (I've prepared components for
>>> ntfsprogs and parted). I'd like to mention that removing parted is a
>>> bit unpleasant for us taking in consideration that current GNU parted
>>> lacks Solaris/illumos support. So, we stay with just the same old bits
>>> which currently are provided in illumos-gate. However, it's not
>>> critical, as GParted is shipped only for user convenience on slim CD
>>> and luckily is not used by the installer.
>>>
>> Gparted IS critical for new users wanting to install new installations
>> from Live CD on existing disk to dual-boot.
>> We can not loose parted/gparted "just because".
>>
>> if it is part of illumos, maybe it could be moved to Openindiana then to
>> maintain but i am asking, why would it be removed anyway?
>>
>> Will renewed ntfs-3g then be available in /sfe then? Since, without
>> that, users would loose ntfs in OI,
>> and that is unacceptable.
>>
>>
> 1) Gparted is not critical, because installer doesn't use it.
> 2) Do we have a lot of users installing OI on the same drive with Windows?
> I don't believe so. In any case dual boot can be set up without gparted /
> parted. The only case when it's very useful on install ISO is when you
> would like to shrink your NTFS partition to install OI. Other cases (like
> creating new partitions) are supported by the installer.
> 3) We can (and likely will) import parted into oi-userland if it is
> dropped from illumos-gate. However, having noone interested (and having
> skills) to support it, it is likely to rot there.
> 4) IIRC ntfs-3g doesn't depend on parted / ntfsprogs
>
> As I've said, taking in consideration that upstream GNU parted is not
> supported on illumos, dropping it from illumos-gate means it will die
> faster. Of course I'd prefer someone to port fresh GNU parted to
> oi-userland, as I lack skills and time to do it myself. But once again -
> loosing parted/GParted IMHO is not critical for OI.
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Alexander Pyhalov,
> system administrator of Computer Center of Southern Federal University
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
> illumos-developer
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