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Re: Are we losing users to Gentoo?



Gerfried Fuchs wrote:
> > But maybe instead, back at debian.org's front page, you picked the
> > "Getting Debian" link instead. Only to end up on a page that links to cd
> > vendors and "downloading over the Internet". Ok, the latter. But it
> > points to a page that only lets one download unnofficial netinst iso
> > images, which are of varying quality, and well, unnoficial.
> 
>  You are right, there should be added a link to the $(HOME)/CD/http-ftp/
> on that page, too.  Thanks for the (quite hidden) suggestion.  Joy, do
> you think that would help, too?

Perhaps I was too obscure, because you still missed my point: In user
interface design, having two suboptimal ways of doing something is
*worse* than have one, even suboptimal, way of doing something. There
are currently two paths from the front page to two different pages for
downloading debian on iso.

The current layout is:

                front page ----> getting debian
                |              . |
                |             .  | 
                |            .   |
                |           .    |
                v           v    v
                debian on cd     downloading over the internet
                |       \        |
                |        \       |
                |         \      |
                |          \     |
                v           \    v          / a few inconsistent
                mirror list  `-> minimal cd - but useful
                /| | | | |\                 \ and unofficial images
               / | | | | | \    
              v  v v v v v  v
             oodles of badly maintained
             and inconsistant mirrors

Adding the proposed link shown by the dotted line does not make this one
whit easier to use. For a linear task like deciding how to download
debian and finding a place to do so, it's a mess. A sane structure would
look something like this:

                front page --------> gimme an i386 iso now! --> .iso
                |
                |
                |
                v
                downoad debian
                |
                |
                |
                v
                debian on cd
                |      |
                |      |
                |      |
                |      v
                |     unofficial mini isos
                |
                v
                mirror list
                /|   |\
               / |   | \    
              v  v   v  v
             just a few well
             maintained and
             consistent mirrors
  
>  But your first approach was correct, only that you seem to have been
> confused by third party html layouts on which we don't have any
> influence.

If my first approach was correct, and my second approach therefore,
presumably, incorrect, they why do we have a prominent link to the
second approach on the debian web site, under the attractive label of
"Getting Debian"? Think about it.

-- 
see shy jo

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