Squat progress 13 November 2003: more installation and distribution details

Craig Latta craig at netjam.org
Thu Nov 13 21:03:34 UTC 2003


	(Squat project and mailing list info at http://netjam.org/squat )

Hi--

	Here are a few more details about Squat installation and component
distribiution.

	I've made some improvements to the installer (which started out life as
the "relief" demo). The biggest changes recently are auto-detection of
the visitor's host platform, and the removal of all hardwired references
to any particular domain name in the installer machine code. Here's a
recap of the chain of events during installation.

	Someone who'd like to run Squat (the "visitor") visits one of several
Squat distribution websites. That site is running a "meta-installer".
That is, the site autodetects the HTTP visitor's host platform, and
transfers an appropriate installer to the visitor's machine, where the
installer runs (assuming the visitor chooses to proceed from any
security warnings issued by the host platform).

        The installer downloads the system, while the meta-installer
displays installation progress via the visitor's web browser. The
installer then starts the system, which requests a session-unique
sentinel file from the meta-installer's web server (the name of the
sentinel file is encoded into the name of the installer executable). The
meta-installer detects this request, and redirects the visitor's web
browser to a web server now running in the system. The visitor may now
choose additional components to install into the running system.

        Distributors may configure this mechanism so that the system
installs and runs particular components of its own accord, rather than
waiting for the visitor to specify them. This is done by referring to a
component (by UUID) in the sentinel file. In this way one could, for
example, provide one URL which, when visited, just installs and runs a
system that waits for further loading instructions, and another URL
which runs a system that provides some application(s). In any case, the
visitor installs and runs each system by simply visiting a URL, and
quite possibly an easy-to-remember URL at that. :)

        Components are provided by a relay network of servers, via
remote message-sending.

	I anticipate the first public release when I have a working demo of a
minimal snapshot "putting its head back on", by loading appropriate
modules from the Net, and displaying something on the visitor's screen.
I'm interested in discussing the timing of possible integration of Squat
with the Squeak release schedule. It feels like a few weeks from being
usable, certainly in time for the next major Squeak release (version 4)
given the nominal scheduling of Squeak releases.

	Any feedback is very welcome, especially feature requests to the Squat
mailing list. I'm usually on the Squeak IRC channel
(irc://irc.freenode.net:6667/#squeak) from 1800-0300 GMT, sometimes
0400-1100 too.


	thanks,

-C

--
Craig Latta
http://netjam.org/resume
craig at netjam.org
[|] Proceed for Truth!




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