From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Feb 8 04:21:39 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BBEBF16A4CE for ; Tue, 8 Feb 2005 04:21:39 +0000 (GMT) Received: from smtp815.mail.sc5.yahoo.com (smtp815.mail.sc5.yahoo.com [66.163.170.1]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 6B98B43D48 for ; Tue, 8 Feb 2005 04:21:39 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from krinklyfig@spymac.com) Received: from unknown (HELO smogmonster.com) (jtinnin@pacbell.net@64.173.27.163 with login) by smtp815.mail.sc5.yahoo.com with SMTP; 8 Feb 2005 04:21:39 -0000 From: Joshua Tinnin To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 20:21:37 -0800 User-Agent: KMail/1.7.2 References: <20050208034855.D211E43D45@mx1.FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <20050208034855.D211E43D45@mx1.FreeBSD.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-Id: <200502072021.38591.krinklyfig@spymac.com> Subject: Re: The case for FreeBSD X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 04:21:39 -0000 On Monday 07 February 2005 07:48 pm, supraexpress@globaleyes.net wrote: > One of the main "stumbling blocks" to using FreeBSD is the > installation process. I have had "lots of fun" (not!) with NetBSD's > line-mode/shell-script "installer" and confusing companion > installation instructions, in the past; I only tried OpenBSD once and > don't remember anything about its installation process, but I seem to > recall that it was similar to NetBSD's; FreeBSD's 'DOS-like menu' > system is a travisty and IS PROBABLY THE ONE THING THAT TURNS OFF > MORE PROSPECTIVE FBSD USERS THAN ANYTHING ELSE - I know - I have > heard! Well, this may be true, but I dunno, I had less problems installing FreeBSD than many Linux distros, and I found the process less confusing. It has nothing to do with graphics, at least not for me. A good installation from the end-user perspective doesn't necessarily need a GUI installer, unless that's your market, and even then, a text-based installation can be designed in a way that is less confusing than most GUI installations. UI designers are really dealing with interfaces, and text is just another interface. It can be made less cryptic, but, personally, I found it pretty easy to use, at least for all its reputation. And, really, do UNIX admins want this? You might risk frustrating them, and AFAIK that's the primary user-base right now. I think what would help users is a better way to configure xorg/XFree86, and a GUI would help in that case, but that's almost an entirely different issue. The *one* issue I have with the installation is that creating user-defined slices during the process is not clear at all. I have never been successful doing this. I end up going with the defaults and re-slice later, out of frustration. For some reason my changes never "take," and I'm stuck watching the installation fail, instead of being warned that there is nothing to write to - this is actually odd behavior, as I would expect some major "ARE YOU SURE?" type message if you don't have any writable slices mounted and you try to install. I am not a *nix guru, but I've installed many distros of Linux and haven't had this issue with them (however, many don't have default settings, so the fact that FreeBSD does is nice). - jt