Date: Fri, 6 May 2005 15:09:20 +1000 From: "anon:*:anon" <d4rkstorm@gmail.com> To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: boot banner project Message-ID: <245f0df105050522096c8c1d67@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <20050506022732.GJ51983@linwhf.opal.com> References: <6.1.0.6.2.20050426233321.084e9210@cobalt.antimatter.net> <6.1.0.6.2.20050427001118.0327cd50@cobalt.antimatter.net> <52515.216.177.243.42.1114586501.localmail@webmail.dnswatch.com> <d904a5e7050428062443496e3@mail.gmail.com> <61359.216.177.243.35.1114722481.localmail@webmail.dnswatch.com> <20050429105416.GA94049@wedge.madpilot.net> <d904a5e705042912342621236b@mail.gmail.com> <42728DF1.9040908@makeworld.com> <d904a5e705042912513785d2b6@mail.gmail.com> <20050506022732.GJ51983@linwhf.opal.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Some things that come to mind:
- graphical installer (with partitioner, dual boot
stuff, and ports installation ability)
- GUI-based package manager, with support for
vendor-provided packages
- decent Java installation (sorry, but what we have
now is a joke)
- up-to-date Flash support
- video/webcam support
- improvements to the plug-and-play support for
printers, scanners and a few other common devices
This is what i am talking about :-) , for me personally, i would
really like to see the Graphical installer happen, only so i can then
remove these silly M$ from the offie wich are needed by 'basic' users,
who wont even try a simple Linux distro (:( ive tried but to no
avail.) The average user, does like to just see a smooth, fast Hi im
PC! How are u today" it seems, sorry for my use of the great technical
wording,its friday ;) and thankyou for adding in this list, its very
much a sore point amongst usergroups I know and people I associate
with, and I would hardly call them illiterate, just under knowledge,as
i was before using a nongui based platform.
Thankyou for anyand all input on tis, im suckin it in,and hoping :)
If all else fails, heck, will just have to help or write my own! :)
Regards,
Drew B.
On 5/6/05, J.R. Oldroyd <fbsd@opal.com> wrote:
> On Apr 29, 14:51, John Sconiers wrote:
> > Do you want to get / keep new users, compete wth other operating
> > systems, etc....
> >
>=20
> This question touches on why this discussion is so important.
>=20
> Let's not forget that FreeBSD tends to be used by folk who are more
> computer literate and for serious computing purposes. These folk
> want the detail and completeness of what we currently have.
>=20
> Let's also not forget that this discussion is taking place in
> freebsd-current, so the folk here are the most dedicated of these
> serious computer people. It's to be expected that many folk here
> don't want a graphical boot banner, and they view it as bloat.
>=20
> But when we talk of attracting new users, and especically new desktop
> users, we need to consider the not-so-savvy computer user who is
> probably better off not seeing things like boot messages at all.
> Consider the millions of M$ users who are happy when the boot
> sequence is just a graphic screen. For them, the hood is closed
> and they don't see what goes on inside. If the FreeBSD community
> is interested in making the fruits of all its great development
> work available to the wider world, we need to be able to close the
> hood, too.
>=20
> But, as was stated long ago in this thread, that's what splash(4)
> does. For non-computer-savvy end-users, a system configured with
> splash(4) and a cool image is all that's needed. At the same time,
> for the more advanced user, things can stay as they are now.
>=20
> And, yes there are side benefits to a cool image display. It's not
> seen only once. It's seen every time the system is booted. How
> often have you been in a meeting or sat on a 'plane and seen the
> Windows screen on the next passenger's laptop? Putting a cool
> FreeBSD logo there for a minute or so during the boot would be a
> great way of advertizing FreeBSD. I.e., read this comment to suggest
> that we need an installation option for end-users that enables
> splash(4) with a cool FreeBSD logo -- this installation would be
> separate, of course, from the standard installation for computer-savvy
> folk.
>=20
> Personally, I am not sure there's a whole lot of benefit to an
> in-between option of semi-verbose or tidier messages. But if there's
> demand for this and you want to do it, go for it.
>=20
> There are, however, some additional gaps in FreeBSD that frustrate
> potential new end-users. We need to address these in order to offer
> a more complete system that competes with other desktop systems.
> Some things that come to mind:
>=20
> - graphical installer (with partitioner, dual boot
> stuff, and ports installation ability)
> - GUI-based package manager, with support for
> vendor-provided packages
> - decent Java installation (sorry, but what we have
> now is a joke)
> - up-to-date Flash support
> - video/webcam support
> - improvements to the plug-and-play support for
> printers, scanners and a few other common devices
>=20
> This list of gaps is not a long list. While some of these issues
> might need real work to address, we are in sight of a much more
> complete system. Discussions have taken place on this and other
> freebsd lists about some of these, but it's not clear if work is
> progressing.
>=20
> We should discuss packaging a distribution of FreeBSD aimed at
> attracting more new users. We'll need to add these (and other)
> missing features and we may need to close the hood over things like
> boot messages. Yes, it's time that we do compete with those other
> operating systems and we should attract more of their users.
>=20
> -jr
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-current@freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-current
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-current-unsubscribe@freebsd.org=
"
>=20
--=20
------------------------------------------
Signature Here
------------------------------------------
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?245f0df105050522096c8c1d67>