Re: [gentoo-embedded] Configuration of an embedded system

[Ryan Tandy <tarpman@gmail.com>]

On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 11:13:46AM -0000, Gareth McClean wrote:
> a) Do any open source projects target the initial setup of an embedded
> system i.e. basics like manually configuring an Ethernet port, configuration
> of wireless networking or possibly other essentials like hostname, timezone,
> etc?

I either use Gentoo's baselayout or openrc, or write my own simple init
script, depending on what I'm doing.  I don't know of any init system
projects that are targeted specifically at embedded.

> b) If not, do you perform your 'out-of-the-box setup' i.e. did you create
> your own set of tools using packages like awk, sed, perl etc?

Again, depending on the scale of the project, I use either a stripped
down Gentoo system or a simple Busybox-based system.

> c) How are you communicating with the user during the installation process?

Most of the systems I'm used to aren't designed to be installed by a
user - at least the software side of things.

> c) Are there any intentions to migrate the Linux 'system configuration' into
> a machine readable format like XML.

No.  Do you have any idea how long it takes to read and write XML?

> Ignore that that might sound like a call to implement the equivalent
> of the windows registry

It doesn't, although it does sound like unnecessary overhead.

> and focus on the fact I am concerned about the potential issues of
> processing unstructured, human readable text files

Which issues?  All of the base system configuration files seem fairly
structured to me.  At any rate I'd much rather be parsing simple text
files than XML.  Which files are you having trouble with?

> and want an easy/reliable way to programmatically change the system
> configuration and manage future system updates.  

Most people that I know of solve these problems with shell or
perl/python/language-of-the-moment scripts.

Bear in mind that these are just my opinions; other people on the list
will doubtless disagree with them. :)

Thanks,
Ryan