Not too long ago I was working on making erlang connect via ODBC to my MySQL server. I spent 4 days installing and recompiling only to find out that my own erlang code was the problem, not erlang or the ODBC drivers. I figure I wasted 2 days on that, but in the process I really streamlined my installation process.
I now have a set of RPMs that lets me install a minimal version of Fedora Core 4, map a few NFS shares and run one script that installs ODBC, erlang, NTP and a few other things that are needed for everything to run. It also creates my configuration files and a few other settings as well.
From the point of booting off the install DVD to having a working erlang environment configured to communicate with my system it takes 15 to 20 minutes depending on the processor and the person doing the install.
Important stuff for anyone who hopes to be running 20+ erlang nodes within the next 6 months.