Cmap tools (with image customization cross over)

[Daniel Drake]

On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 8:35 PM, Greg Smith <gregsmitholpc at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dan,
>
> Here's a good use case for the "image customization" feature. To install
> Cmap, I open the X activity, downloaded a zip, then unpacked it which
> created a bin file. I made that executable and ran it which launched an
> installer which installed Java and some other stuff into a directory I chose
> (data). I also assume they would want to tweak the X activity initrc file to
> make it launch Cmap automatically. The whole thing is within a Rainbow
> instance but I believe its re-usable if its in the data directory.
>
> Would your customization stick strategy allow me to make this whole thing
> part of an image installable on many XOs as described?

Putting my reservations on the X activity aside, and also my
reservations on cmap tools...

Yes, it would be possible, you just bundle it all as one activity and
put it onto a customization stick. Once you're happy that is working,
you use this tool to turn it into an image including the OS:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Image_builder
and then you figure out a way to get that image signed (which depends
on the outcome of the lease delegation discussions -- can deployments
sign their own images, or does OLPC still have to do that). Then it's
in the right form to be blasted using NANDblaster, installed at the
factory, or whatever.

The above case does not even require any changes to the technology -
we already have a customization stick which can install activities.
The only questions would be around signing of the resultant image:
would OLPC sign something as ugly as cmap + X activity + java, and/or
can we allow deployments to do the signing instead?

Daniel