Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2006 06:10:19 -0700 From: Pete Slagle <freebsd-questions@voidcaptain.com> To: Gary Kline <kline@sage.thought.org> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Efficacy vs. "friendliness" [Was: How to fix init -> /etc/ttys?] Message-ID: <45001A3B.70800@voidcaptain.com> In-Reply-To: <20060907000141.GA36761@thought.org> References: <20060906200225.GA35990@thought.org> <44FF3404.2040405@infracaninophile.co.uk> <20060907000141.GA36761@thought.org>
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Gary Kline wrote: > <SOAPBOX> > Anyway, this is to the entire list: A week or so ago > I loaned my 5.3 set to a non-geek friend who had occasionally > been using RH. He brought the box of discs back and said it > was too hard to install; that RH had a much easier installation > process. True. So I gave him my old Ubuntu boot disk. He's > happy with it. ---I realize how much smaller the FBSD hacker > base is.... Still, having a GUI-ish intro makes sense in > gaining new converts. I'm still here because this Berkeley > distro really *is* solid. One fatal trap in 11 years I > can handle. > < SOAPBOX> It's a test. If your friend thinks FreeBSD is difficult to install, then he is probably better served by something else. There are many choices. All is well. The idea that FreeBSD should be altered to better compete in a popularity contest for new users comes up regularly on this list, but that idea is suspect. Many FreeBSD users see it as a feature, an advantage, that no "GUI-ish"-ness impedes access to the O/S. Which is not to say that the GUI-ish stuff isn't available, but the beauty is that it isn't in the way when you don't need or want it. Changing FreeBSD to be more "friendly" to new users would inevitably make it less appealing to the experienced users who value concision, efficiency, and direct control (who comprise it primary user base) and thus is to be resisted.
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