George: I just wanted to take a minute to let you know that over the past year I've been subscribed to this list I've developed an opinion about you that whenever I see one of your posts I think, "Finally, here will be some solid knowledge, delivered with tact and grace, from what appears to be a really decent guy." (I don't actually think those words of course, but the idea is there floating in my subconcious.)
This comment you sent just reinforces that perception. I really appreciate you hanging around the list and offering so much help. George Bonser wrote: > > On Mon, 5 Jul 1999, John Galt wrote: > > > > > Okay, leave. Debian doesn't need you more than you need it. See you when > > you get a clue. > > > > Well, I think THAT kind of comment is just as bad. I have been using > Debian since before 1.0 and it IS difficult to install and get set up. The > thing is that the initial installation is important to a newbie because > that is what they are focused on at the start. The fact that it will save > them hours and hours down the road in maintenance once they DO get it set > up is not very important at that stage. > > The installation procedure is Debian's weak point but I think a little > education of the user might help more than snide comments. > > If the installation were to auto detect and set up everything for you, it > would need to be rather arrogant and start making decisions for you. > Rather then be stuck with a default installation based on the best guess > by the installation builder, Debian asks you EVERYTHING. > > Try this analogy ... Slackware is like building an unassembled model kit. > All of the pieces are there and they are precut to assemble together > provided you have a little skill and follow the directions. Red Hat takes > that model, assembles it, paints it, adds all the decals and decorations, > and even puts it on a nice display stand. Trouble is that if you want a > different paint job or decoration scheme, you are going to have to go to a > lot of trouble to undo their work. > > Debian assembles the model but leaves it unpainted and certain options off > until they ask you how you want it. Even then, it is up to you to paint it > the way you want (X config is very plain vanilla in Debian). Debian is > the "unfinished furnature" store of Linux. You get it and apply the final > touches yourself. That is why it is so popular with experianced > administrators. Debian assumes as little as possible about the way you > want your system installed. > > There SHOULD however be some way of helping someone that has no clue how > they want it to look because they have never seen one before. There is no > reason why the svga X server can not provide an option to install a > pre-built config file that presents a reasonable display on ANY svga > capable monitor .... just the basic svga modes. So the display is not > "tweaked" to the capabilities of your hardware but it is useful. Some > "canned" sound configurations for the most popular sound hardware would be > nice too. > > The original poster was probably just frustrated after having spent a > weekend trying to get Debian installed. Comments such as the one you made > do not show the Debian user community in a good light. The poster exposed > the major weakness in Debian. Don't shoot the messenger ... listen. > > -- > Unsubscribe? mail -s unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] < /dev/null
