[PATCH] Install customization packages left for us by a USB key.

[C. Scott Ananian]

On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 12:56 PM, Michael Stone <michael at laptop.org> wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 07, 2008 at 12:04:29PM -0500, C. Scott Ananian wrote:
>  > I asked for specific use cases.
>   a) Walter and the teachers he's training, who would like an easy way
>   to install gnuchess, since Gcompris doesn't yet bundle it.

This is a gnuchess problem.  Gnuchess is not properly packaged yet.

>   b) Individuals with large numbers of unreliably-networked laptops who
>   would like to install carefully chosen and tested software on them
>   en-masse, e.g. Bryan Berry and OLE Nepal.

This is an inadequate problem description.  What software?  Why can't
they be packaged as activities?  What are the risks / benefits
compared to the existing approach?

>   c) Individuals like me (and you?) who want a convenient way to install
>   a fixed software overlay on top of whatever recent build they are
>   presented with.

I believe we have a general design for such a system: trac #6432.  You
have provided one part of it; our full design included looking on
external media, and mechanisms for making trojan attacks via this
mechanism more difficult.  The general approach is valid as long as it
is not abused for deployment customization (your examples (a) and
(b)).  Checking for a developer key before invoking this mechanism
would be one way of ensuring this, since we have already posited that
presence of a developer key means that the user takes all
responsibility for updating their machine and protecting it from
theft.

>  My question is simply: were you speaking on behalf of the entire OLPC
>  development community, the OLPC-employed software team, or really,
>  solely, for yourself?

Of course, I am speaking only on behalf of myself.  I have no
authority, as you well know.  Like gnu, my influence is limited to
calling bullshit when I see it and trying to build consensus for sane
approaches.  I believe that your responsibility is also to build
consensus: you must make a best effort to satisfy objectors (including
myself) and make compromises.
  --scott

-- 
                         ( http://cscott.net/ )