Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 02:14:36 -0700 From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com> To: jfieber@cs.smith.edu (John Fieber) Cc: wilko@yedi.iaf.nl.iaf.nl (Wilko Bulte), doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: status of it all? Message-ID: <6573.798887676@time.cdrom.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 26 Apr 1995 00:43:16 EDT." <199504260443.AAA13511@grendel.csc.smith.edu>
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> * Putting together a summary of important changes that will be in > 2.1 (relative to 2.0 or 1.1.5.1?). A good job for a > FreeBSD-current junkie. I'll take it. It's on my mental whiteboard (really should xfer it to my TODO file :-) since I need to do this for the next release(s) anyway. > * New installation docs. Again, a good job for someone working > with current and the installation stuff in particular. This bit > of is CRITICAL. I can do _sections_ of this, but need more, especially in the area of setting up your network connection! I'd like to see us push more aggressively on the network installation stuff, both by providing more automation for doing neat stuff like becoming a "CTM customer" or grabbing packages from a network archive through a flashy front-end, and documenting/automating the low-level setup work of getting a PPP or SLIP connection on the air! More and more people are getting SLIP/PPP, a number that will be even higher by the time 2.0.5 starts shipping in quantity, and if we can't make that about 1000% easier in any future release then we'll drown under the tech support load. It will become our #2 question, right behind "Why can't I install FreeBSD on my computer?" I think that things like ijppp (which I'm using now, and it's a dream) should be substantially leveraged from if at all possible. It just takes someone writing a script to do all the glue work of configuring a ppp or slip configuration file somehow - dialer, login sequence, the works. I'm not sure whether I can promise anything myself there or not, but I'd sure like to see it done! It's right up at the top of my list. > * Kernel configuration. We got a good contribution for this one > with a promise for an update from the FreeBSD-current LINT file. > No follow through on the promise yet.... This one is also begging for a "Try It" counterpart. It suddenly occurs to me - wouldn't this be an interesting paradigm for all admin documentation? Each document comes optionally as an "active document" which we implement internally as some sort of specially-named companion file. You go read about some part of the system, like kernel configuration, and after reading for awhile (or not at all :-) you think "OK, sounds good, let's *do it*!" and you whap F2 or something and up comes the all-singing, all-dancing dialog based kernel auto-configurator script. Then go read about adding users, and when you've read enough a quick F2 brings up adduser on steroids or something. If a document has no associated "action" then the browser can just beep or something. I may be *just* talking about the installation docs here, mind you. I realize that the later all-singing, all-dancing system handbook to come up later will undoubtedly be Lynx based and an entirely different ball of wax. I'm thinking of a simple UI metaphor for the initial installation and setup docs. What do you guys think? > * Hardware compatibilty and reccomendations. Someone should pick > Rod's brain for this one. I am going to be jumping up and down on his braincase if necessary just for 2.0.5 - I NEED a "hardware prerequisites" document on the boot floppy! > * and more, but my wife needs to use the phone, and I shouldn't > be up at 1:00 in the morning wthen I have the flu... Here, eat some soup! Get some rest! You're gonna kill yourself with this stuff, child! :) Jordan
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