desktop-installer(1)

NAME

desktop-installer - Quickly configure a NetBSD desktop system

SYNOPSIS

desktop-installer

DESCRIPTION
The NetBSD desktop configuration process requires installing many packages and configuring many different subsystems, which can be a daunting task for all but the most seasoned users. The desktop-installer script automates the process of configuring a NetBSD machine as a desktop system running any desktop environment or simple window manager in the pkgsrc tree. Several of the most popular desktops are explicitly supported and any other can be configured using the "Custom" option. To use "Custom", you need only know the category/packagename of the desktop you want, and the command for starting the desktop from xinit or xsession, e.g. xfce4-session for the XFCE desktop. This command can be found in category/packagename/pkg-plist. The only other advantage to explicitly supported desktops is automatic installation of a few common utilities. You can easily install the utilities you want using "pkgin install" or "auto-admin" after a Custom desktop install. Desktop-installer is a post-install script, i.e. one that you run AFTER doing a standard operating system and booting the new installation for the first time. ( See details below. ) Desktop-installer installs all the software necessary for the chosen desktop as well as common desktop-independent packages such as CUPS, Firefox, LibreOffice.org, etc. It also configures system services and settings to facilitate convenient use of CD/DVD drives, USB ports, etc.

MOTIVATION
This script is meant to provide a middle-ground between totally manual configuration and complete distributions such as GhostBSD or Ubuntu Linux. The post-install script approach has some advantages over complete distributions. The post-install script itself is far easier to maintain and unlike separate distributions, the resulting desktop system is a nearly pristine NetBSD system with minimal differences from the default install. The system can therefore be maintained and upgraded using traditional NetBSD command-line tools (pkgin install, adduser, NetBSD-update, etc.), or stock tools of the chosen desktop suite. For easy management of common system settings, try the auto-admin menu. Desktop-installer supports all CPU architectures that run NetBSD and all supported NetBSD versions, whereas distributions are generally limited to one version on AMD64.

BASIC USE
To use desktop-installer: 1. Install a basic NetBSD system. The recommended install options are a basic user system including:
All binaries
Docs in your preferred language(s)
Source code
It is best to use desktop-installer on a pristine NetBSD installation. Desktop-installer can also be used to upgrade all the software on an existing system, but there are too many possibilities for failure to support here since it is impossible to predict what kinds of system hacks it might encounter. Also, it's generally a good idea to back up your data, wipe your disk clean, and reinstall everything every few years, since data on magnetic disks can fall victim to "bit rot" (magnetic polarity fades over time) and read errors will eventually occur. Desktop-installer can install software from source or from binary packages (pkgin install). Binary packages install much faster (seconds per package, vs minutes or hours per package built from source). However, installing from source allows you to install on systems for which binary packages are not maintained. If you enjoy a simple life, install a -RELEASE or -STABLE version rather than -CURRENT. If you would like to help the project move forward by testing the latest changes, run -CURRENT. If you do not choose to install software from source, desktop-installer installs most packages over the network using "pkgin install", but falling back on build-from-source where necessary. (e.g. some software cannot be distributed as a binary package for licensing reasons.) 2. Install desktop-installer:
    pkgin install desktop-installer or (if you have a pkgsrc tree installed)
    cd /usr/pkgsrc/sysutils/desktop-installer
    make install or if you want the latest development version of desktop-installer, install from the latest NetBSD-pkgsrc-wip:
    pkgin install auto-admin
    auto-pkgsrc-wip-checkout
    wip-reinstall-pkg auto-admin
    wip-reinstall-pkg desktop-installer 3. Run desktop-installer:
    rehash # If using tcsh and just installed desktop-installer
    desktop-installer

SEE ALSO
auto-admin

AUTHOR
J. Bacon
Acadix Consulting, LLC