Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 05:53:58 +1000 From: "Doug Young" <dougy@gargoyle.apana.org.au> To: "Steve Fagan" <sfagan@pmr.com>, <msilver@sc.rr.com>, "'freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org'" <freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: new books, changing my pt. of view Message-ID: <016801bffcbb$68385770$847e03cb@ROADRUNNER> References: <DBB3921EFE2AD211A81500A0C9B5FE760579452C@msg04.scana.com> <06a801bffc9d$73c1a9c0$1600010a@pmr.com>
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Certainly a step in the right direction, although a few too many assumptions about prior knowledge. Possibly the info one needs is in print someplace, but the stuff is so horribly fragmented that its a jigsaw puzzle trying to locate all the pieces & assemble them .... and assuming the particular pieces of the jigsaw puzzle one needs are actually written in some language of planet earth. As I said in another posting, propellorheads are the LAST people who should be writing docs ...... if something can't be easily comprehended by newbies there is no point clogging up bandwidth or murdering trees. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Fagan" <sfagan@pmr.com> To: <msilver@sc.rr.com>; "'freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org'" <freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG> Cc: "'Doug Young'" <dougy@gargoyle.apana.org.au> Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2000 2:19 AM Subject: Re: new books, changing my pt. of view > Check out http://www.mostgraveconcern.com/freebsd > > One site I like. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "SILVER, MICHAEL A" <MSILVER@scana.com> > To: "'freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org'" <freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG> > Cc: "'Doug Young'" <dougy@gargoyle.apana.org.au> > Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 11:10 AM > Subject: RE: new books, changing my pt. of view > > > > I couldn't agree more. > > > > >My point was / is that there's nothing wrong with the reliability of > > FreeBSD, > > >however its badly lacking in usable "how to get blah working in 5 steps" > > >type documentation. If that issue could be properly resolved it would > > certainly > > >challenge Solaris / SCO etc The manual & Complete FreeBSD still lack a > > >heap of the essential details needed to get stuff working quickly .... to > > get > > >something unfamiliar working one has to read disjointed bits of this & > bits > > of > > >that, attempt to piece the lot together so its halfway intelligible, then > > >post heaps of questions to the list and hope someone has been down the > > exact > > >same road recently and remembers how to solve the issue. That's maybe OK > > >for hackers with unlimited resources of time, but its not practical for > > businesses > > >who just need the thing working yesterday. > > > > You have hit the nail on the head. I have heard profressional UNIX > > programmers complain about this same thing. > > > > I wonder if this gap could not be filled by a well designed web site. > > Basically a 'What is' and 'How to' database. For example, if you wanted > to > > set up a firewall, search for 'firewall', and a list of the available > > packages would be displayed with detailed layman descriptions of each with > > advantages and disadvantages, home web sites, and most importantly, step > by > > step setup instructions and maybe some troubleshooting guidliness pulled > > from past messages. This would help 1) in finding the appropriate package > > for a given situation, and 2) in setting it up, which is always the > hardest > > part. The instructions would have to written to the lowest common > > denomenator (like me). > > > > Let me know what you think about this. Perhaps it already exists??? If > > not, it may be time for us 'newbies' to step up to the plate. > > > > ...Michael... > > > > > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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