Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 11:29:21 -0800 (PST) From: Nicole <nicole@unixgirl.com> To: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org Subject: Re: sysinstall vs BSD Installer Message-ID: <425347.15096.qm@web51804.mail.yahoo.com>
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--- Jona Joachim <walkingshadow@grummel.net> wrote: > Hi! > There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether sysinstall > should be replaced or not. > The purpose of sysinstall is to initially install FreeBSD and it > serves > this purpose quite well. However sysinstall is also the first thing a > > new user gets to see of FreeBSD. People which are used to shiny Linux > > Live CDs with Framebuffer boot sequences and all the jewelry are shoked > when they are confronted with the ncurses interface and walk away > most > of the time. This is a pity because you really use the installer once > every couple of years and it says nothing about the OS. > Would it be worth considering to provide the BSD Installer [1] as an > alternate choice to sysinstall for a default FreeBSD installation? > I'm sure several people already thought of it and it might be > interesting to hear their conclusions. > > Regards, > Jona To me the whole issue boils down to flash vs substance. (stands on soapbox) If someone is building a server, they want something easy, simple, fast, and will work on any of the myriad of weak built-in video cards available... or even via a serial port. The current installer is fine. Some, however, while building a workstation for X-windows etc. might expect something pretty, to belay the experience to come while running the the full X experience. They may want some flashiness and the appearence of something gee wiz and cool. "Is this what I am giving up windows for?" But, you cannot please everyone. However, I believe that if people get past the "where's my gee wiz flashy installer" they will enjoy the ncurses elegant simplicity. FreeBSD, to me, has always stood for stability, not flashiness. Of course elegant simplicity is not what the internet is about these days is it? We now even have advertisements that flash and spin and now even play video at us! So why can't they make an installer do the same thing? Just like with the barrage of annoying adverts these days, just because something can be done, doesn't mean its the right thing to do. Nicole -- Music: http://www.myspace.com/theparts Music2: http://www.drumslayer.com Words: http://www.unixgirl.com Images: http://www.deviantimages.com Image Hosting: http://www.picturetrail.com
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