[oi-dev] Illumos/OI development system installation

[Reginald Beardsley]

I should like to suggest that providing a turnkey development  installation that would permit someone like me to compile format(1m)  and fix the SEGV faults would go a long way towards increasing the number of people supporting OI and Illumos.

I labored through inaccurate wiki documentation quite a few years ago and eventually was able to get a successful build.  But when I asked on the dev lists how to install it, I got no response.  The message seemed pretty clear, "Go away.  We don't want you."  I got a similar response recently  when I asked how powerful a system I would need to build the GUI ISO overnight.  Dead silence.  I'm inclined to get an off lease system with a ridiculous number of cores, RAM and disk, but there is no seismic work to be had.  I don't need a supercomputer to surf the net.

I don't know how the developers communicate, but it is certainly not on  illumos-dev or  oi-dev.  That lack of transparency is a powerful barrier.  If a potential maintainer is excluded from following the discussion, they are not likely to contribute.  I joined the illumos-dev and oi-dev lists  expecting to see something I felt inclined to work on.

In my late 60's there are not the same professional incentives as when 30 something.  I have nothing to gain from working on OI and lots of other interests.  But things that annoy me I am willing to fix.

I suggest either a Developer ISO or  turnkey IPS  package would be a good first step to increasing the number of people contributing to  OI and Illumos support.  There are other barriers to be lowered, but that is the single biggest obstacle.  Without that the number will continue to decline.

Reg