Ubuntu Considering an HTML5-Based OS Installer (phoronix.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Ubuntu's Self-Appointed Benevolent Dictator for Life, Mark Shuttleworth, is considering backing a new Ubuntu installer that would be using HTML5 via the Electron Framework. This theoretical installer would re-use the company's existing HTML5 code for managing MAAS installations, integrate with Electron, and also better support their Snap packaging format, according to his proposal. What could possibly go wrong with an HTML5/Electron operating system installer? Mark also announced that Ubuntu 18.10 is codenamed the Cosmic Cuttlefish.

Comments

So?

[c]

He's talking about replacing Ubuntu's configuration/install engine with... a different configuration/install engine. It's fundamentally just a big script that gathers input from the user and punts the results to a bunch of other scripts and applications to do the actual install magic.

Other than the people maintaining it, who really gives a shit what language/framework it's built with?

Cue to complain about JS

[Daneel Olivaw R.]

I understand that Javascript is evil/slow/only for soyboys and "real" programmers use QT (or some other equivalent hell)... but remember thanks to Electron, writing Desktop UI is no longer shitty, most of the heavy lifting for cross-platform is taken care of, and most importantly, developers get more time to do shit that matters. Yes, it does mean memory hungry programs, but thats an evil I can live with especially when I am getting something for free. P.S: I am allowed to make soyboy comment bec I am vegan

Why?

[ArchieBunker]

Just write the damn thing in Python or whatever language is hot at the moment. Use framebuffer graphics and a simple mouse driver like FreeBSD uses. How high up the abstraction layer can we go just to copy files to a storage device?