Bug#5583: marked as done (Shortcomings of install.txt and debian-manual.txt)
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and subject line Shortcomings of install.txt and debian-manual.txt
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From: Axel Boldt <boldt@cardinal.math.ucsb.edu>
To: debian-bugs@pixar.com
Subject: Shortcomings of install.txt and debian-manual.txt
Package: manual
The docs that come with debian are not particularly good, especially
for people completely new to Linux. install.txt, the only doc that's
accessible on the ftp server before installation, explains the basic
procedure not as thoroughly as the install docs of the competing
distributions IMHO:
* It does not sufficiently cover the topic of partitioning. Many
DOS/Windows users might never have heard about logical partitions
for example, but cfdisk requires knowledge of that concept. Also,
newbies have no idea as to how much swap they should use or how big
the native Linux partition should be for a reasonable
system. Deciding about the right partition size is rather important
though.
* install.txt throws the new user into dselect without explaining
anything. What are packages? How can I "transport them to my
system"? Which ones should I download? What exactly do I have to
have on floppies if I don't have a net connection?
* I think it's fatal that the lilo docs are not provided with the base
system. How to boot back into DOS?
* install.txt does not mention how to properly shutdown the system.
The much superior document debian-manual.txt is unfortunately only
accessible after successful installation in /usr/doc, at which point
it's of no use anymore. Some points regarding this file:
* It does not sufficiently explain the process of installing from
floppies. How do I know which packages to put on floppies? In which
format? How to deal with packages that are bigger than 1.4M? I think
many people have some net connection at work or at school, but their
home computer is not on the net, so they have to download packages
and carry them home on floppies. This has to happen *before* dselect
is run.
* When in dselect for the first time, which packages are really
important? (doc for example).
* Mention the tip "Shift PgUp" in order to look at the boot messages
if something goes wrong.
* Booting, especially in a dual-boot setup, needs to be covered.
* Is installing on an existing DOS partition using UMSDOS possible?
How? This might be an interesting option for people who want to
quickly try out Linux without repartitioning.
* I personally feel that listing three long licenses at the end of the
document is overkill. Why not quickly summarize them in one
paragraph and provide a pointer to where they can be found?
Axel
--
Axel Boldt ** boldt@math.ucsb.edu ** http://www.math.ucsb.edu/%7Eboldt/
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