On Fri, 12 Jul 2019 11:11:09 +0200 Philip Hands <p...@hands.com> wrote: > I've just pushed a branch to salsa: > > > https://salsa.debian.org/installer-team/user-setup/tree/bug-931911-empty-root-password-OK > > that is an attempt to make this better. Comments welcome.
That looks like an improvement. But could we go a step further, please? In order, from least to most controversial: 1) Let's *always* install sudo, and *always* add the initial user to the appropriate group to use sudo, with a low-priority expert-only debconf question for preseeders to use to disable. 2) Let's fix anything that still asks for the root password to do something compatible with a sudoer and no root password. 3) Let's ask for the root password as a medium-priority or lower question, defaulting to not asking at all. If you actually need a root password, it seems trivial to `sudo passwd root` later, or use preseeding (ideally with a hashed password). In an ideal world, I'd suggest a single prompt that asks: User full name: __________ Username: __________ (with guess from full name, as we do now) Password: __________ Repeat password: __________ [ ] Advanced options And "Advanced options" could support configurations like "set a root password" and "don't create a user at all". (I'd also like to see an easy way to configure almost nothing, and install a system that boots up into a desktop "initial setup" application, but that only applies if installing a system that'll boot an interactive desktop environment (and have a local console), so we still need the ability to completely set up the system from the installer.)
