Roadmap and TODOs

Goals

As easily and as robustly as possible, convert a standard Windows system to dual boot with Linux without the need for a USB drive or firmware changes.
Linux to be configured the same as Windows with similar applications.

Technology

This is subject to change over time.

Runs from Windows as exe file
Written in Powershell and Python
YAML configured

Versions

MVP

Opinionated, limited, non-robust
Requires: Powershell 1.0, Win 10 64bit, Single OS(win), single disk, C:, EFI
Installs: Dual boot, Linux Mint 64bit w/Cinnamon
Auto-Configure basics: user account, locale, lang
No support: XP/7/8, MBR, Bitlocker, AD, 32bit, LVM
Run as exe as administrator (ps2exe)

MVP 2

Add Support: Other Ubuntu variants, Full disk, MBR convertion
Port config: wifi passwords, locale, Chrome/Firefox settings
Limited efi backup/restore/revert functionality. before.cfg, after.cfg

1.0

Add support: Windows 7/8, MBR, flexible partitioning, 32 bit Windows, Bitlocker, Full disk
Choice of several Debian/Ubuntu based distros
Port settings and apps
Plugins and flexible configuration to make it easy for others to help
Buttons to go to web sites for help: google search, ubuntu support
LVM and/or partition util?
Desktop icons: efi recover, OS in VM, reboot, browse files
VirtualBox Linux host runs Windows partition.
Keyboard layout preseed/import
Detect accidental Linux MBR install. Fix and/or replace.
Nvidia options: restrict distro list, install driver, disable nvidia, do nothing.
Laptop specific packages and settings
Add useful secondary repos and other common distro tweaks
Autoupdates checkbox
Tunic welcome app
nomodeset checkbox.
Detect SATA mode RAID. Inform user to set to AHCI.
Troubleshooting screen, if tunic was used before (to completion).

Other Possible Use Cases and sub-components

Spins

USB/PXE Tunic. Meant for multiple machines. Can save inputs to USB file for use on subsequent machines.
OEM Tunic. Useful as initial installed launchpad OS. Wifi required. Pi spin.
Enterprise Tunic. Uniform PXE/USB installations.
Distro Tunic. Regular app for specific distro.
Tunic for MacOS/Linux/RaspPi/ChromeOS.
Tunic for Android. Similar to Termux.
Evil Tunic. Auto-install. No user password. iso and exe variants.

Windows

Import apps from Windows to OSS Windows
Cleanup disk
Install Linux in a VM
Full convert from Windows to Linux
Install existing Linux partition as VM
Uninstall Linux dual boot
Install WSL to partition. Boots Ubuntu and chroot to WSL.
Convert Linux VM to a partition
Run Linux in file on ntfs/ext4 loopback
Auto-repair Linux nvram entry. Auto-reboot, if linux was default and last booted OS.
"Reboot to Linux" shortcut

Windows and Linux

EFI/Grub/boot menu restore or repair
Make persistent USB
Shrink/Split/merge/move partitions.
Shrink windows/expand Linux
Backup/Restore MBR/EFI
Make Live USB
Live USB with multiple distros

Linux

Convert Windows Partition to VM and delete from grub/nvram
Distro hop switcher
Import settings/apps from Windows to Linux
Remove Windows
Install Windows after Linux
Install Windows into VM
Install another Linux distro over current.
Recovery partition/chroot. Non-LVM. Alpine. Grub, LVM tools and scripts.
Convert to LVM
Fast EFI boot (fwbootmgr -> efistub w/ ext4,lvm efi drivers)
Decimate Windows. Delete all except user files. defrag, shrink.
access WSL from Linux. /mnt/wsl. v1 read only. v2 mount the VM disk.
"Reboot to Windows" shortcut

Stability and Robustness

Before start of install, remove custom grub by Tunic.
Grub timeout. Boot back to windows and remove tunic's grub.
Windows Task on boot that reinstalls Grub's NVRAM entry, if missing.
Windows Task on boot that removes custom grub by Tunic.
NVidia warning. Recommend PopOS. Disable opt-out. Driver package.
Model/Vendor specific workarounds for various issues.

Far Future

Theming/ricing
Support for: Windows Vista/XP, 32bit w/MBR, MBR
AD domain login
Fully remove Windows with option to convert to VM
Minimal distro default if <=2GB.
Non-debian distros.
Distro switcher. Add multiple distros into menu.
Assist with backup
Warnings/help for known problematic hardware
MacOS to Elementary OS

TODOs

Development

Short-term Challenges

Install grub from single source (ubuntu 18.04 + grub-for-windows)
Re-enable swap. fix caption

Medium term challenges

Auto-Resume from reboot
Disable swap without reboot

Long Term Challenges

Install powershell if not available
Help with backup/clone

Testing setup

Vagrant
Linux host. Possible WSL/Cygwin support.
Download ISO and place in a cache directory.

Documentation

Plugins how-to
contribute.md
support
how to write a ticket: .log file

Contributing doc

Work in branch
Suggest: ticket first with "thumbs up" from me.
Follow standards

standards

.editorconfig
lint check
grub syntax checker

User Warnings and Errors

Checks

Administrator
enough space
64 bit
Not on battery
EFI/GPT/MBR, no secure boot
Windows 10
Powershell libs available
Command line apps available
Bitlocker
Compatibility (some day)

Hardware warnings and help

Detect nvidia. Give options with caveats.

Warnings

Backup
Upgrade firmware
Might brick your machine
Limited support

Uninstallers

grub.cfg + initrd.lz - Undo installation (up to this point)

Support and Testing

Manual Testing

MBR vs EFI
Test on Windows 7
Bitlocker
Secure boot

Automated Testing

VirtualBox in VirtualBox. Nested VBox only supports 32bit OSes
Download VMs from Microsoft
Install apps in Windows
Cache file downloads (option)
Scenarios: MBR/EFI, Win 7/10
Scripted.
Limit phases. Use snapshots for start phase.

Basic Flow

Clean
Create new parition
Copy ISO to partition (not including MBR)
Modify ISO partition to include seed files
Copy grub files to efi partition
Reboot to Linux

Safety and Qualtiy

If Windows VM, disable ignore flush, enable host cache. https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/4651
Immediately uninstall tunic grub during start of install
Disable nouveau