During operating system installation and tailoring, how difficult is “system generation” (sysgen) across different platforms?

Introduction / Context:
System generation (sysgen) is the process of configuring an operating system to a specific hardware and workload environment. It can include selecting device drivers, tuning parameters, enabling services, and building bootable images. The complexity depends heavily on the OS, hardware diversity, and administrative tooling.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Different OS families offer different automation levels (wizards, package managers, declarative installers).
• Enterprise platforms may involve complex network, storage, and security integration.
• Embedded/real-time systems may demand cross compilation and fine grained configuration.

Concept / Approach:

Because contexts range from consumer laptops to clustered servers and embedded devices, sysgen effort varies widely. Some systems provide near push button installation; others require domain expertise for kernel configuration, driver selection, and dependency resolution. Therefore, the only universally true statement is that difficulty varies by system.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:

Practical experiences and vendor guides confirm that installer sophistication and required expertise differ across distributions and versions.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• always quite simple / always very difficult: overgeneralizations.
• requires extensive tools: sometimes true, sometimes not; not universally accurate.

Common Pitfalls:

• Assuming one platform's ease or difficulty generalizes to all others.

Final Answer:

varies in difficulty between systems.