* Explain usage of "owner" prefix when setting values for debconf variables

  intended for the target system at the boot prompt.
* Give some examples of preseeding questions from the boot prompt.
* Document how to install the KDE desktop environment instead of GNOME.
* Don't list unsupported frontends in boot parameters section.

4 files changed, 110 insertions, 30 deletions

diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 836069d19..61f1ad1c1 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -82,8 +82,13 @@ installation-guide (2006xxxx) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
   [ Frans Pop ]
   * Add condition "g-i" for arches that support the graphical installer.
   * Document mouse/left boot parameter.
+  * Explain usage of "owner" prefix when setting values for debconf variables 
+    intended for the target system at the boot prompt.
+  * Give some examples of preseeding questions from the boot prompt.
+  * Document how to install the KDE desktop environment instead of GNOME.
+  * Don't list unsupported frontends in boot parameters section.
 
- -- Frans Pop <fjp@debian.org>  Wed, 22 Nov 2006 21:36:17 +0100
+ -- Frans Pop <fjp@debian.org>  Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:13:01 +0100
 
 installation-guide (20060726) unstable; urgency=low
 
diff --git a/en/appendix/preseed.xml b/en/appendix/preseed.xml
index 7a2ff8d4d..9488398fb 100644
--- a/en/appendix/preseed.xml
+++ b/en/appendix/preseed.xml
@@ -292,14 +292,30 @@ Note that <filename>preseed/url</filename> can be shortened to just
   </sect2>
   
   <sect2 id="preseed-bootparms">
-  <title>Using boot parameters to supplement preseeding</title>
+  <title>Using boot parameters to preseed questions</title>
 <para>
 
 If a preconfiguration file cannot be used to preseed some steps, the
 install can still be fully automated, since you can pass preseed values on
-the command line when booting the installer. Just pass
-<userinput>path/to/var=value</userinput> for any of the preseed variables
-listed in the examples.
+the command line when booting the installer.
+
+</para><para>
+
+Boot parameters can also be used if you do not really want to use preseeding,
+but just want to provide an answer for a specific question. Some examples where
+this can be useful are documented elsewhere in this manual.
+
+</para><para>
+
+To set a value to be used inside &d-i;, just pass
+<userinput><replaceable>path/to/variable</replaceable>=<replaceable>value</replaceable></userinput>
+for any of the preseed variables listed in the examples in this appendix.
+If a value is to be used to configure packages for the target system, you
+will need to prepend the <firstterm>owner</firstterm> of the variable as in
+<userinput><replaceable>owner</replaceable>:<replaceable>path/to/variable</replaceable>=<replaceable>value</replaceable></userinput>.
+If you don't specify the owner, the value for the variable will not be
+copied to the debconf database in the target system and thus remain unused
+during the configuration of the relevant package.
 
 </para><para>
 
@@ -308,7 +324,8 @@ have a shorter alias. If an alias is available, it is used in the
 examples in this appendix instead of the full variable.  In
 particular, the <literal>preseed/url</literal> variable has been
 aliased as <literal>url</literal> and has some extra magic to allow
-shortened urls to be used.
+shortened urls to be used. Another example is the <literal>tasks</literal>
+alias, which translates to <literal>tasksel:tasksel/first</literal>.
 
 </para><para>
 
diff --git a/en/boot-installer/parameters.xml b/en/boot-installer/parameters.xml
index bfcfdd3f4..1674827b9 100644
--- a/en/boot-installer/parameters.xml
+++ b/en/boot-installer/parameters.xml
@@ -126,23 +126,16 @@ installer. The current possible parameter settings are:
 </listitem><listitem>
 <para><userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=newt</userinput></para>
 </listitem><listitem>
-<para><userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=slang</userinput></para>
-</listitem><listitem>
-<para><userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=ncurses</userinput></para>
-</listitem><listitem>
-<para><userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=bogl</userinput></para>
-</listitem><listitem>
 <para><userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=gtk</userinput></para>
-</listitem><listitem>
-<para><userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=corba</userinput></para>
 </listitem>
 </itemizedlist>
 
-The default front end is <userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=newt</userinput>.
+The default frontend is <userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=newt</userinput>.
 <userinput>DEBIAN_FRONTEND=text</userinput> may be preferable for
 serial console installs. Generally only the
 <userinput>newt</userinput> frontend is available on default install
-media, so this is not very useful right now.
+media. On architectures which support it, the graphical installer uses
+the <userinput>gtk</userinput> frontend.
 
 </para></listitem>
 </varlistentry>
@@ -304,7 +297,7 @@ this misbehavior.
 
 Specify the url to a preconfiguration file to download and use in
 automating the install. See <xref linkend="automatic-install"/>.
-Short form: <userinput>url</userinput>
+Short form: <userinput>url</userinput>.
 
 </para></listitem>
 </varlistentry>
@@ -315,7 +308,7 @@ Short form: <userinput>url</userinput>
 
 Specify the path to a preconfiguration file to load to
 automating the install. See <xref linkend="automatic-install"/>.
-Short form: <userinput>file</userinput>
+Short form: <userinput>file</userinput>.
 
 </para></listitem>
 </varlistentry>
@@ -394,9 +387,60 @@ performing a normal installation. See <xref linkend="rescue"/>.
 </varlistentry>
 
 </variablelist>
-  </sect2>
 
-  <sect2 id="module-parms"><title>Passing parameters to kernel modules</title>
+   <sect3 id="preseed-args">
+   <title>Using boot parameters to answer questions</title>
+<para>
+
+With some exceptions, a value can be set at the boot prompt for any question
+asked during the installation, though this is only really useful in specific
+cases. General instructions how to do this can be found in
+<xref linkend="preseed-bootparms"/>. Some specific examples are listed below.
+
+</para>
+
+<variablelist>
+
+<varlistentry>
+<term>debian-installer/locale</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+Can be used to set both the language and country for the installation.
+This will only work if the locale is supported in Debian.
+Short form: <userinput>locale</userinput>.
+For example, use <userinput>locale=de_CH</userinput> to select German as
+language and Switserland as country.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+<term>netcfg/disable_dhcp</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+Set to <userinput>true</userinput> if you want to disable DHCP and instead
+force static network configuration.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+<term>tasksel:tasksel/first</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+Can be used to select tasks that are not available from the interactive task
+list, such as the <literal>kde-desktop</literal> task.
+See <xref linkend="pkgsel"/> for additional information.
+Short form: <userinput>tasks</userinput>.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+
+   </sect3>
+
+   <sect3 id="module-parms"><title>Passing parameters to kernel modules</title>
 <para>
 
 If drivers are compiled into the kernel, you can pass parameters to them
@@ -434,6 +478,6 @@ to use the BNC (coax) connector and IRQ 10, you would pass:
 </screen></informalexample>
 
 </para>
+   </sect3>
   </sect2>
  </sect1>
-
diff --git a/en/using-d-i/modules/pkgsel.xml b/en/using-d-i/modules/pkgsel.xml
index 372788c2b..d9c57383f 100644
--- a/en/using-d-i/modules/pkgsel.xml
+++ b/en/using-d-i/modules/pkgsel.xml
@@ -47,24 +47,38 @@ un-select the tasks. You can even opt to install no tasks at all at this point.
 </para>
 <note><para>
 
-The <quote>Desktop environment</quote> task will install the Gnome desktop
+The <quote>Desktop environment</quote> task will install the GNOME desktop
 environment. The options offered by the installer currently do not allow to
-select a different desktop environment like for example KDE.
+select a different desktop environment such as for example KDE.
 
 </para><para>
 
-It is however possible to get the installer to install KDE by using preseeding
+It is possible to get the installer to install KDE by using preseeding
 (see <xref linkend="preseed-pkgsel"/>) or by adding
-<literal>tasksel/first=kde-desktop</literal> at the boot prompt when starting
-the installer.
+<literal>tasks="standard, kde-desktop"</literal> at the boot prompt
+when starting the installer. However, this will only work if the packages
+needed for KDE are actually available. If you are installing using a full
+CD image, they will need to be downloaded from a mirror as KDE packages are
+not included on the first full CD; installing KDE this way should work fine
+if you are using a DVD image or any other installation method.
+
+</para><para>
+
+The various server tasks will install software roughly as follows.
+DNS server: <classname>bind9</classname>;
+File server: <classname>samba</classname>, <classname>nfs</classname>;
+Mail server: <classname>exim4</classname>, <classname>spamassassin</classname>,
+<classname>uw-imap</classname>;
+Print server: <classname>cups</classname>;
+SQL server: <classname>postgresql</classname>;
+Web server: <classname>apache</classname>.
 
 </para></note>
 <para>
 
-Once you've selected your tasks, select
-<guibutton>Ok</guibutton>. At this point,
-<command>aptitude</command> will install the packages you've
-selected.
+Once you've selected your tasks, select <guibutton>Ok</guibutton>. At this
+point, <command>aptitude</command> will install the packages that are part
+of the tasks you've selected.
 
 </para>
 <note><para>