Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 03:48:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Annelise Anderson <andrsn@andrsn.stanford.edu> To: David Johnson <djohnson@acuson.com> Cc: Rick Hamell <hamellr@heorot.1nova.com>, "'freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG'" <freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Newbie packages Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10210140338541.6379-100000@andrsn.stanford.edu> In-Reply-To: <39FDF2CF.A0E53CA9@acuson.com>
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On Mon, 30 Oct 2000, David Johnson wrote: > Rick Hamell wrote: > > > At this point this almost sounds like it'd be easier to add to > > each port's description.... If the user is going to have to to through the > > trouble of reading each of these that'd be easier. I still think as > > "suggested" list is the better track, heck even both would be a good idea. > > But at last count there were 4004 packages! I don't want to get this > document too involved, only a few packages in each area, and just a > couple of comments for them. What I am trying to avoid is spending hours > going through all of the package descriptions during installation. > > By now most of us know which ones we use and need, but for the first > time user, particularly if they aren't coming over from the Linux world, > 4004 choices to make is VERY intimidating. One friend of mine tried out > SuSE and aborted the installation to take a deep breath. And it only had > about 2000 packages. His first question to me was "which editor should I > install, 'cause there's twelve of them here?" > > David > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message > Just FYI, I tried in my book to review each category of ports and highlight the ones that would be most useful to new users, while still identifying the "power houses" that might be useful in advanced systems administration etc. There are 7000+ ports now, of which I estimated about 10% are foreign language duplicates-- certainly of interest if you're learning the foreign language or communicating internationally, but otherwise not. I gave short schrift to some technical categories that interested people would be able to explore on their own (e.g., math, cad). Nevertheless it was a difficult job and I don't use all of the ports-- so I can hardly say what is the *best* for doing this or that--I was however able to identify the "favorites" of other people, or suggest a couple of alternatives to some of the more standard fare. People thanked me for various aspects of the book...but no one ever thanked me for the run-down on the software. Annelise -- Annelise Anderson Author of: FreeBSD: An Open-Source Operating System for Your PC Available from: BSDmall.com and amazon.com; now with 4.6.2, soon with 4.7 installation CD Book Website: http://www.bittreepress.com/FreeBSD/introbook/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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