From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Jan 3 21:24:58 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9FD0416A403 for ; Wed, 3 Jan 2007 21:24:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from bobmc@bobmc.net) Received: from smtp-out.fcibroadband.com (smtp-out.fcibroadband.com [64.119.104.17]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 62D9813C468 for ; Wed, 3 Jan 2007 21:24:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from bobmc@bobmc.net) Received: from localhost (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by smtp-in1.fcibroadband.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id CB5221B2444 for ; Wed, 3 Jan 2007 16:24:57 -0500 (EST) Received: from smtp-out1 ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (smtp-out1 [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10025) with SMTP id 23781-09 for ; Wed, 3 Jan 2007 16:24:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from [192.168.1.100] (unknown [209.104.163.93]) by smtp-out.fcibroadband.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 243B41B174F for ; Wed, 3 Jan 2007 16:24:53 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <459C1F22.5070301@bobmc.net> Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:24:50 -0500 From: bobmc User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.4 (X11/20060615) To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <20070103151318.92e9b0c2.wmoran@collaborativefusion.com> In-Reply-To: <20070103151318.92e9b0c2.wmoran@collaborativefusion.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Status: No, hits=1.415 tagged_above=0 required=7 tests=AWL, BAYES_05, HTML_30_40, HTML_MESSAGE, MIME_HTML_ONLY, WEIRD_QUOTING X-Spam-Level: * MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Subject: Re: FreeBSD Installer vs RedHat Linux Fedora Core Installer? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:24:58 -0000 Bill Moran wrote: In response to "Peter aka SweetPete" [1]: Hello, I used to be on this mailing list several years ago, and have recently rejoined. [2]http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/using-sysinstall.h tml [3]http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install/main1.png vs. [4]http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/install-guide/fc6/en/ch-beginninginstallation. html#sn-booting-from-disc [5]http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/install-guide/fc6/en/figs/bootprompt.png Could I begin a thread (now) about a comparison (and relatively inferiorness) of the following two installers please?? I WOULD run FreeBSD at home instead of Fedora if the installer were more .....erm, """Microsoftly.""" Do you among the developer circle hear this kind of thing from time to time? This seems to come up over and over again. About every other month. The developers are aware of it. The general consensus is that "yes, our installer could be nicer/prettier/easier/etc" However, until someone either takes the time to write a better one, or foots some cash to get a better one written, or blackmails a developer in to doing it or something else, we still have what we have. I think the biggest problem is that the installer is "good enough" -- so nobody is particularly interested in rewriting it until it's not good enough any more -- even though it could be better. Coincidently, issue 68 of linuxuser.co.uk has a positive review of Fedora 6. But Cons: "Anacoda installer is clumsy and poorly designed, due for a major overhaul". (in the reviewer's opinion). It looks fine to me? I like Mepis Linux for it's superior usability and attention to detail. But in FreeBSD I am looking for a lightweight efficient OS that can run a media management system (TBD) on a low-power Mini-ITX computer. IMO, iterative and incremental developement in the FOSS way is more effective than paradigm shift. Therefore, the existing sysinstall program can be improved by setting up a mini-project to do just that. I am sure there are plenty of ideas to improve usability. How about replacing most of these sequential dialogues with tabbed panels where you can check settings in any order? -Bob- References 1. mailto:swtpete@gmail.com 2. http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/using-sysinstall.html 3. http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install/main1.png 4. http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/install-guide/fc6/en/ch-beginninginstallation.html#sn-booting-from-disc 5. http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/install-guide/fc6/en/figs/bootprompt.png