Read the statement by Michael Teeuw here.
CALL FOR TESTERS: New install script
-
@karsten13 I tried here-docs initially, and it caused all kinds of problems, from missing newlines to empty files, although at least some of that probably was due to me writing the string to variables instead of directly to files and causing problems with the shell’s variable space.
Using base64 may not strictly necessary, but it’s robust and portable, and not in the least harmful. It’s also relatively easy to fact-check if you have a basic working knowledge of Linux. If you don’t, well then any software is a total black box to you and you just have to trust the person providing it. See the recent kerfuffle around obscured malicious code in ssh. I wouldn’t have been able to find it.
The way it works is, people who have the knowing fact-check and give the thumbs-up for those who don’t.
I’d also like to point out that
a) the contents of the files are listed as comments
b) if you were looking at a binary instead of a script, you’d be no wiser if you had it in binary rather than base64,
c) if I had made the pivot to makeself instead of encoding the files in b64, you’d see even less of the script before you executed it
d) most of the software you have on your system right now was provided in binary form, and
e) unless you are a closet uber-geek, you probably wouldn’t understand half of it if you had the source code, and
f) even if you are, a single human lifetime wouldn’t be nearly enough to fact-check the software on even a basic Linux install.I feel you are blowing the fact that I’m using base64 to encode those files WAY out of proportion. As it is, it’s working as intended, and I’m not going running that gauntlet of trying to get here-docs to work again without better reason than people getting queasy over seeing base64 strings in a file.
If you want to modify it, you’re welcome to do so and provide a well-tested pull request. If on the other hand you wish to reject my work on a technicality like that, that’s a shame, but it hurts the community WAY more than it hurts me.
-
@drdeath sure couldn’t tell from this chain. Feels like a solution in search of a problem.
-
Actually, there’s two more things I’d like to point out, now that I think about it.
First, I specifically put in the readme that the script is written for people with a basic understanding of Linux and X. That’s not saying it can’t be used by people who don’t have that, but everything we’ve been discussing so far boils down to “It’s obscure to people who lack a basic understanding of Linux and X”. Well, yes it is, and I won’t apologize for that.
Second, what sparked the whole controversy was originally the presence of the blackpixel executable in the script. Funny thing is, nobody even asked me about the purpose or the source code of the blackpixel executable when it was still in there. I would have gladly shown it off and explained it, but instead of asking, all anyone ever did was basically criticize me for it being there because they didn’t understand it just by looking at it.
Everybody should remember that IT isn’t easy. If it is easy, that’s because people who have the skills and knowledge put in the work to make it easy for those who don’t. I’m very grateful to all the great people who put in the hard work so I can have Linux, X, MagicMirror or a ridiculously cheap versatile computer like the Raspberry Pi. I just wish the world would reciprocate just this once.
-
I just presented a way to get by without the base64 that others have criticized.
To address me here now as if I was the critic is far-fetched.
If you call for testing here, you also have to be able to deal with criticism - regardless of whether it is justified or not.
-
@karsten13 Sorry, that didn’t come out right. I meant the first paragraph for you and the rest for everyone. Should have made that clearer, my apologies.
-
@drdeath I applaud you for the effort and time you put into this. I was just explaining what the encoding meant and how the others could go about decoding it. I have a fully setup system and my own dev environment and probably would not be able to test your script. My apologies for that. But again, good work and nice effort.
P/s - do not take offence to the community. We are all dev’s around the table and we try and assist to make things better where we can.
-
S sdetweil moved this topic from Upcoming Features on
-
@drdeath can you provide user guidance on choosing your solution vs the others available
-
@mumblebaj Thank you for your kind words. You can’t imagine how much I needed that right now - for at least one person to actually say “thank you”.
On the subject of the “standard user’s” reaction, I guess this is another occasion to break out my favorite corollary to a corollary to the famous statement of Arthur C. Clarke: “Everything looks like magic to those who don’t understand it”. Whether you condemn it as evil magic or marvel at the wonderful magic however depends entirely on your own personal disposition.
Personally I tend towards the opinion that these days users are totally used to making use of tools they don’t understand but know how to work. If you for instance went into a dark room and asked “How’s the light work?” you would much more likely get pointed to the light switch than an explanation of the function of the power grid. There would certainly be a few die-hard sceptics who refuse to use it on the grounds of “I don’t understand it, hell no” - to then complain about it on the forums they don’t understand either using their smartphone they understand even less, the irony - but most users would probably not look at it at all, or if they did, just shrug and run it anyways.
That however goes for end users, it certainly does not go for reviewers. Someone should definitely understand the code, and I would never hold it against anyone who doesn’t if they decided to wait until those who understand it better give their blessing.
What I will hold against people though is the attitude to condemn a thing merely because they don’t understand it and can’t be bothered to learn. That sort of thing gets right up my nose.
-
@sdetweil I most certainly can and will. Where would you like it to live? I’d suggest the README in the repo.
In a nutshell, if you want a reduced footprint in cpu, ram and memory usage and/or want your magic mirror system to be more of an embedded-appliance style rather than a general use computer running an application, then my script is right for you.
By the way, I just thought I should probably add the option to enable automatic system updates via apt as a logical extension of that concept.
What do you think? Should I include it now or when I get around to re-creating automatic updates for MagicMirror and its modules?
-
@drdeath we’ve had lots of successful appliances built so far without your approach.
and the user issues are mostly unrelated to the os or MagicMirror runtime.look and feel, consistency of error recovery
and module function/integration are the primary issues. power saving , new monitor hardware are the next most.and user skill is always a critical issue. we have a lot of new users that know nothing without a graphical desktop . cant find help, don’t know file commands, cd? redirects, copy, move, networking
and on and on.what can the user save by using your approach?
note that the older pis are going by the wayside with the os changes. pi4 and 5 class devices are the norm across sll the vendors
can they do without a fan?
functionally nothing else changesi am not in favor of automatic updates in this space, the amount of breaking changes are too high. we still have significant disruption of the existing user base on each release
some OS related (tools used for blanking the screen or video feeds dropped out or function limited), some deprecation limited (remove request and other libs no longer supported), new versions of electron taking new code with bugs not yet discovered which cause fatal errors for the user . new electron requires, new node version, which doesn’t run on this os… oops… but discovered too late
some MM related… the deprecated lib thing… we don’t want to carry dead baggage… oops authors didn’t know, we added checking for things to prevent crashes (good thing) which cause accidental side effects
position: “” used to work, now fails.
