Re: project status

On Sat, Jan 15, 2005 at 01:49:25PM -0500, Michael Miller wrote:
> I personally think that in order for gentoo to reach the mainstream,
> it needs, in addition to a graphical installer, great configuration
> tools. I know everyone always says RTFM. Look at it this way. Is the
> average joe gonna read a 100 page manual on how to use gentoo, or use
> something more simple like red hat or mandrake? Gentoo needs good
> tools for keeping itself up to date.

That some popular distributions such as Fedora and Mandrake want to go that
way is their concern. If you follow their forums for a while, you'll notice
that people start to "reinstall" their distribution, again and again. I'm
seeing exactly the same computer-attitude on these distributions [1] as I
see in the local computerclub I'm managing - no knowledge of the system
they're using, resulting in a farce where it is the computer that decides
what the user does.

This is not the way Gentoo should be going to. Users who don't know what a
system is and how to properly configure it should take their hands of it.
All the rest, including users who don't know it but want to learn, should be
motivated to do so. There job should be made as easy as possible without
limiting the system _and_ the user.

An installer is a good thing for administrators who want to do stateless
installs. It is a good thing for users who's system is maintained by others
but who can't easily "come over and fix" things. An installer is a choice
that extends the possibilities. But an installer should not be seen as a way
to limit the user or try and reach the mainstream.

Wkr,
      Sven Vermeulen

[1] Note that this is not meant to be a stereotype - many Fedora/Mandrake
    users do know what they are doing

-- 
  Documentation & PR project leader

  The Gentoo Project   <<< http://www.gentoo.org >>>

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