Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!mcsun!unido!mikros!mwtech!martin
From: martin@mwtech.UUCP (Martin Weitzel)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.admin
Subject: Re: Software installation opinions needed
Message-ID: <929@mwtech.UUCP>
Date: 22 Sep 90 19:22:43 GMT
References: <25908@shamash.cdc.com> <1990Sep19.125944.6489@cs.utk.edu> <1990Sep20.160212.241@naitc.naitc.com> <649@silence.princeton.nj.us>
Reply-To: martin@mwtech.UUCP (Martin Weitzel)
Organization: MIKROS Systemware, Darmstadt/W-Germany
Lines: 25

In article <649@silence.princeton.nj.us> jay@silence.princeton.nj.us (Jay Plett) writes:
[about (not) requiring an installation script running as root]
:I can't think of three better reasons why an install script shouldn't
:run as root.  If you think you have to do these things, you don't
:understand how people are using computers.  Each of these things should
:be done independently and manually by the installer, who should be
:given clear and concise step-by-step instructions together with an
:explanation of why they are necessary, how they will be used by your
:software, and what alternatives are available if your preferred modus
:operandi won't work at the installer's site.

Perfectly right. As intermediate solution I would like to see the
installation gathering all the commands that must be run by root as
commands in a special file, then tell the system administrator to run
this script.

In this way the not-so-experienced system administrator has the chance
to make things right without understanding (at least as right as if
all the steps were immediatly done during installation with a script
running as root).

The more knowledgable administrator can have a look at the script
before he or she runs it.
-- 
Martin Weitzel, email: martin@mwtech.UUCP, voice: 49-(0)6151-6 56 83