Fwd: Publish firmware selector

[Rich Brown]

[Forgot to switch to non-HTML mail]

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Rich Brown <richb.hanover at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: Publish firmware selector
> Date: November 14, 2020 at 9:07:24 AM EST
> To: Thomas Endt <tmo26 at gmx.de>
> Cc: Paul Spooren <mail at aparcar.org>, openwrt-adm at lists.openwrt.org, moritzwarning at web.de
> 
> 
> Hi Thomas (and all),
> 
> Moritz beat me to a response, and I agree. But since I've done all this typing, I'll send along my thoughts, too.
> 
> Rich
> 
>> On Nov 14, 2020, at 7:41 AM, Thomas Endt <tmo26 at gmx.de> wrote:
>> 
>>> von Paul Spooren
>>> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 5. November 2020 10:02
>> 
>> [...]
>> 
>>> Please test the selector and share objections against a release.
>> 
>> I'm still missing the "Big picture" and the plan behind it.
> 
> Let me jump in here with my thoughts:
> 
> 1) Back in Hamburg, Paul Spooren mentioned in passing something about automagically building images with all the desired package "on the fly". My ears pricked up, and I promised to remember, but the conversation went another direction, and I didn't follow up.
> 
> Subsequently, Paul has done a bunch of work to create the ImageBuilder at chef.libremesh.org to implement that vision.
> 
> Here's how this could evolve (Paul & Moritz - pull me off the wires if I have this wrong...)
> 
> - The Firmware Selector (https://firmware-selector.staging.openwrt.org/) is a test bed for the machinery for selecting the right binary file from an imprecise description of a device manufacturer/model. It needs testing today. 
> 
> - If that process works as desired, then we can start to advertise the ImageBuilder. It lets you to enter your favorite list of packages, and returns a build from cache, or builds it on the fly. This needs a ton of testing. (I used one of those scripts for listing manually-installed packages, pasted that list into the ImageBuilder web page, and retrieved an image. In a one-out-of-one test, that worked fine for me.)
> 
> - (Here's the cool part.) The router *already knows* what packages have been manually installed. Once the ImageBuilder facility is reliable and robust, a LuCI page can derive the package list, request an updated binary, install it  keeping settings, and Presto! you're back on the air. (I understand Paul has a prototype LuCI page now...)
> 
> So my sense is that these are testing stages for this path: 
> 
> 	Firmware Selector -> ImageBuilder -> LuCI page to install updates
> 
> 
> 2) That said, Thomas raises the very good point: What is our grand plan? How does any of this work fit into the current site?
> 
> I envision the Firmware Selector/ImageBuilder page will eventually become the "home page" of downloads.openwrt.org replacing the current "All Downloads" page.
> 
> This decision, in turn, requires lots of adjustments in lots of places:
> 
> - We need to begin the process of updating all the "how do you get your image" references in the wiki to describe the new facility. This will take a long time: we (wiki-maintainers) only need to adjust the "official places"...
> - Firmware Selector/ImageBuilder page would obviously need to be enhanced to include links to the current "All Downloads" pages.
> - The Firmware Selector/ImageBuilder page may need more explanatory text to address questions like "What the heck is this thing?" and "This couldn't possibly work, could it?"
> - We need to decide when to change the wiki theme to match these new pages.
> 
> Thoughts? Thanks.
> 
> Rich
> 
>> What is the plan how to really integrate this into the current working
>> infrastructure (i.e. the wiki, which I feel is simply ignored completely),
>> i.e. make the downloads for the specific devices available on the
>> devicepages?
>> The devicepages is where the download links are needed, because that's where
>> the installation instructions reside.
>> 
>> Having a separate firmware selector page leaves the next question open: Now
>> that I have downloaded the firmware, how do I install it?
>> Why are we ripping apart firmware download links and installation
>> instructions?
>> Why do we need the firmware selector in the first place?
>> 
>> The wiki should be your one-stop-solution: Enter your model name into the
>> wiki search, find the devicepage and you will have all information (download
>> links, installation instructions, and more) about your device on one page.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Thomas
>> 
>> 
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>