Provide mechanism for OEM info [$50]

[Cassidy James Blaede]

Some OEMs and distributors have mentioned that they'd like a place in the OS to put their contact information, i.e. in the About plug. This sounds like a good idea to me since our policy is generally that redistributors assume the support responsibilities for their customers.

I could see this implemented simply as a GSettings key to provide a distributor name and contact URL.

[Corvallis Computer, LLC (accounts-w)]

OEM here. I'd like to be able to launch the installer in OEM installer mode and have it prompt me for OEM info while I'm filling out batch information and such. Then while I'm configuring the installation it's already there, and possibly read-only since there's no need to change it.

[Cassidy James Blaede (cassidyjames)]

Providing it in the OEM mode installer might be a bit trickier (since that's currently Ubunutu-maintained code), but I agree that it would be a great time to collect it. I could also see having it baked into an install image, though the ability for either would be ideal.

[Cassidy James Blaede (cassidyjames)]

Sam Hewitt designed this

[Cassidy James Blaede (cassidyjames)]

I am leaning toward a sort of key/val system where we have a number of optional supported keys and the OEM can set their values.

i.e. something like...

Manufacturer: System76
Model:
  - Name: Galago Pro
  - Number: galp2
Phone: [phone]
Email: <email address hidden>
Website: https://system76.com/support
Warranty:
  - Text: 3 Year Ltd. Hardware Warranty
  - Link: https://system76.com/warranty
Regulatory: https://system76.com/disclaimer

...actual format tbd.

Things like links and email addresses should be handled automagically. One thing that's in Sam's mockup that I haven't fully thought of (but that should be figured out) is how to support an image/logo.

[Cassidy James Blaede (cassidyjames)]

Keys should also be translated if/when exposed in the UI

[Corvallis Computer, LLC (accounts-w)]

I like what Sam has in mind there. Wouldn't you just be able to name your image logo.jpg or some other variable and put it in a folder, such as /var/oem/logo.jpg and the system would automagically scrape that? Replacing the default logo that was there, possibly.

And if we do a key-based system, like @cassidyjames has in mind, how difficult is that for an OEM to modify? My intern who knows little about Linux might be the one doing this and it should be easy to change.

[Cassidy James Blaede (cassidyjames)]

After talking with folks at System76 again, I think we could start much simpler.

A keyfile at `/etc/oem.conf` could profide the following information:

```
[OEM]
Manufacturer="System76 Inc."
Product="Galago Pro"
Version=galp2
Logo=/etc/oem/logo.png
URL=https://support.system76.com
```

Eventually this could be expanded to include more keys, but I think this is covers the essentials that are relatively easy to set. `Logo` would be to any local file that is also provided by the OEM.

[Cassidy James Blaede (cassidyjames)]

There is a $50 bounty for this bug at https://www.bountysource.com/issues/34339179-provide-mechanism-for-oem-info

[Neal Gompa (ngompa13)]

I would suggest not putting the content in `/etc/oem`, but maybe in `/usr/share/os-oem` or some similar location that would be considered immutable. `/etc/oem.conf` could be a symlink pointing to `/usr/share/os-oem/info.conf` or something like that, mimicking the way `/etc/os-release` is handled on modern systems.

The reason I suggest this is that I expect OEM content to be preloaded and static for a given system. While in RPM based systems (such as Fedora), it is possible to have files in `/etc` that are not treated as config files and thus would always be replaced, Debian doesn't really allow that with traditional packaging styles. Even so, `/etc` is one of those places where the system needs to be tolerant of user changes, and generally speaking, you don't consider OEM information to be one of those things.

Also, would any of this information be available through something like EFI variables or what not? It seems like some of the information might already be there...