=== Parthenope -- Design and ideas

Link: +
link:https://gitlab.com/alfix/parthenope[Parthenope Repository] URL: link:https://gitlab.com/alfix/parthenope[]

Contact: Alfonso Sabato Siciliano <asiciliano@FreeBSD.org>

Parthenope is a modular, two-step installer for the FreeBSD operating system, written primarily in Lua.
The installation process is divided into two phases:

. In the first step, configuration files and installation commands are generated using a variety of interactive interfaces.
. In the second step, the actual system installation is executed based on the previously created files.

The project is simple, extensible, and flexible.
It is designed to support multiple frontends, languages, installation modes ("Auto", "Easy", and "Expert"), interactive levels, and logging options.

Parthenope began as a personal project to answer a simple question: "What features would I want when installing FreeBSD on my laptop?"
It has since evolved into an open source tool that anyone can use, adapt, or extend to meet their own requirements.

During this quarter:

* The motivations, a proof of concept, and some screenshot previews were presented at EuroBSDCon 2025, link:https://events.eurobsdcon.org/media/2025/submissions/FV7RJ7/resources/2-step-installer-zagreb-20_rpFDkax.pdf[slides].
* The ISO image generation script and the internationalization subsystem were refactored.
* A public repository was created.

At the moment it is not yet possible to install FreeBSD.
The next steps are:

* Refactor the configuration file.
* Refactor the subsystems: logging, modes, phase-2, etc.
* Implement the installer components: partitioner, network manager, date/time, etc.

In the initial phase, the only frontend will be a Text User Interface, very similar to bsdinstall, the default FreeBSD installer.
Additional frontends will be added in the future.
