[Devil-linux-develop] Future improvement ideas.

[Bruce S. <bw...@ar...>]

I've said before that it'd be nice to have some kind of a web based
configuration program for DL.  That will take a lot of work.  How about
something simpler in the mean time?

Being heavily involved in my local LUG, I see a LOT of novices who want
to get started with Linux.  A lot of these people would like a firewall
at home, but Devil Linux is not for the novice user.  i.e.  Creating an
iptables script is above their heads.

How about a (simple?) improvement that would allow Devil Linux to work
"out of the box" (no configuration) for many broadband users?

User Requirements:
o  Broadband (cable/DSL) with Ethernet connection w/NO authorization,
   which gets IP from ISP via DHCP.  This covers MANY cases.
o  Ethernet cables and hub/switch.
o  PC with 2 NIC's, 64 MB memory, CDROM drive, Floppy drive, etc.

Instructions:
o  Plug one PC NIC into cable/DSL modem, other into HUB.
o  Download & burn DL ISO.
o  Insert _BLANK_ FORMATTED floppy.
o  Set PC to boot from CDROM.
o  Boot.  That's all!
   (if it doesn't work, reverse Ethernet cables and try again)

What would it take for DL to do this?

o  Simple, default, iptables script that does masquerading.
o  Simple, default, dhcpd.conf file for a private IP range.
o  New/default option in /etc/sysconfig/nic/ifcfg-eth[01]:
   MODULE=probe
   where it tries a few popular NIC modules.
o  During boot, if it finds an EMPTY/FORMATTED floppy, it 
   copies the default configuration to the floppy for next boot.
   If it finds the normal tar'ed etc directory, it uses it as normal.

The advanced user would still be able create their own custom
configuration on floppy, just like they do now.  It wouldn't effect the
power user at all.

Thoughts?  Am I missing anything?

 - BS