On Sat, May 02, 1998 at 12:15:32PM +0100, Mark Baker wrote: > > - targetted towards desktop use only, no server apps, just a few games > > > > - minimal size - optimized for installation via 28.8k modem via FTP, > > which will be the primary distribution mechanism (not CD). > > These don't seem consistent to me. If people are the wrong side of a dialup > link, they need to have a local MTA (actually most people ought to have that > even if they're not, although the configuration is significantly simpler if > they're on a permanent fast network connection and so don't need local > mailboxes) and a local news server.
You need MTA. You just do. But you don't need a complex MTA. If you consider sendmail the standard to judge by, most everything is smaller, simpler, or better for personal systems. My personal choice for an MTA is qmail. The savings in configuration and maintenance (or lack of needing to do either) far outweighs the time required to wait and watch it compile. You DON'T need a news server. slrn is a good thing here! You don't need ftpd and telnetd. You probably do need an http server for documentation, but then again dhttpd is small and does the job nicely. The only other servers that I can fathom a home user wanting are xservers.. hehe > Other than that, it sounds good---not for me, and probably not for the > majority of Debian's existing users, of course, but for people who want a > simple desktop OS that's easier to use than Windows. Well, I wouldn't want the games, but essentially the small dist that is easy to use would be a REALLY NICE THING. And really there is almost NO work duplicated because all you need to make of your own is any custom packages you want, a new base-files, and of course installation floppies. I'm collecting names of those who have either emailled me or mentioned interest in seeing Debian a little easier on the novice user (but without getting annoying to the experienced user!) and will be in the next day or two trying to see if maybe we can get some projects organized to make Debian and Linux in general a little more friendly. The net result is that the above games dist and my mini-show-off-the-power-of-linux dist will be possible. Just build base-files and floppies. The rest is already in debian. I don't think many people mind a few unofficial debian dists that meet needs Debian doesn't quite fill. Of course, with such a diverse group, I'm probably wrong, but I'll take my chances this time. =>
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