Re: The case for FreeBSD

Thanks for the URL - I read Scott's "wishlist" when it first appeared and
agreed, to myself, that the installer DOES need to be revamped. I have
mentioned this in the past, and as in some responses to the latest posting
about this - the same theme seems to be RAMPANT - "I like it so don't bug
me", "If it isn't broken, don't fix it", "It is quick and easy so why would I
want anything more fancy", "When can we expect YOUR patches?", .....

I offered some ideas about "fancy" embellishments to the "installer wishlist"
but will not retract them. Having multiple installers, as someone else
concurred with, would probably be the "best solution" - a simple one for
those who want it or as an initial loader where H/W availability may be an
issue, and a more complete and enhanced graphical installer (started by the
simpler, initial one - this is what Solaris does, if I remember correctly),
not just to be more user friendly, but to PUSH FreeBSD into the future and
into the forefront of technology - it languishes in the attics of mailing
lists.

WHY all of the moaning and groaning about "lack of exposure" for FreeBSD when
the Installer is one of the main reasons for this? I know of someone, a
"general user", who specifically gave up on FreeBSD because of the Installer,
and jumped over to one of the Linuxes which was "much easier to install". I
have had to help a couple of others through the Installer because they had
"gotten lost". This is NOT an excuse for excluding people from discovering or
using FreeBSD!

I noticed that there was only one comment on the other system installer
comments included in the last "dream" post, and I didn't even mention
Commodore's Amiga (one of which I still have, and it still works!), IBM
VM/Linux (what a nightmare!), or IBM OS/390-z/OS USS (is this really Unix?).

OK - I will let this ride for now, as in the past when nothing more was
discussed or offered - just some heated comments about not changing anything.
So much for increasing FreeBSD's exposure, popularity, and/or usefulness.


On  8 Feb, Jeremy Messenger wrote:
> Had to do the top post.... You can read Scott Long's wishlist, which it  
> included about the installer.
> 
> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current/2004-December/043809.html
> 
> Cheers,
> Mezz