Re: Latest Mandrake
Manoj Srivastava wrote:
>
> >>"Eray" == Eray Ozkural (exa) <erayo@cs.bilkent.edu.tr> writes:
>
> Eray> They use that drakconfig thing (which looks like a linuxconfig
> Eray> frontend.. correct me if I'm wrong) that works surprisingly
> Eray> well.
>
> Can you use command line editors to modify configurations and
> still use the slicing, dicing front end? the ability to use ae in
> rescue mode has come in handy at times.
>
Looks like that, the UIs write output to config files which you can edit,
but it was easier to use the front ends.
> Eray> Internationalization stuff works all right everywhere, in
> Eray> gnome or on console flawlessly. I was going to say "Why don't
> Eray> you use Debian?" but for a long moment I thought "All right, we
> Eray> suck". What do you think?
>
> What do I think? I think there is very little substance in
> this critique. I think that the last time I installed mandrake, it
> installed a web server and an ftp server without asking me any config
> questions, and I had no id4ea what the security of the system was --
> and that was the scriest isntall I have ever done. (How _does_ one
> harden a mandrake system?)
Security is what we're better at, and what some *BSD out there is really
good at... What we're not good at is being user-friendly. I myself
used to rant about how great the debian install is and how rock-solid
the system is, etc. But when I saw that thing my ideas changed. It was
something like the control panel in windows, but things that weren't
broken like in 'doze.
> I do think we4 need to look at the laterst install methods of
> the distributions out there, and see if we can pick their brains. And
> all the people who cavil should probably be helping with the
> micro-debs ;-)
>
I've joined the boot floppies team, and I'll be pleased to contribute
to the installation software.
My point was not about just installation though.
For instance, hardware auto-detection. Hardware configuration/detection
is an issue that extends beyond installation. Why? Because hardware changes
even faster than software. What I'd like in debian is the equivalent of
what Windows does to an extent. You installed new hardware? Great. The
system automatically configures itself to run that device. You don't
just do it at install time. Don't tell me that windows can't do it perfect.
We can do it better. ;)
Forget hardware now, think about a common software setup. For instance
the same guy asked me the following:
"I'd like to collect everybody's mail on this linux machine, and then have
other people access from that machine. How can I do it?"
I told him to use fetchmail, but I now imagine that if a setup like this
is common enough then it would be a great feature in a configuration
interface.
Anyway, my point wasn't about a particular case. I think we should have
a volunteer group that tracks down other OSs with respect to usability.
Some kind of a co-ordination page, articles, software, etc. Getting
feedback/requests from users. Perhaps some of the new Debian related
websites could help. I dunno.
My idea was that we could work to increase our awareness of what's
happening in the "outside" world. I'd thought about establishing groups like
GNU Watch
Red Hat Watch
BSD Watch
Windows Watch
Freshmeat Watch
.....
Anyhow, my idea is obvious. To construct something like a media agency
that gathers and inspects information for a purpose. So that we don't
stay behind.
Thanks,
--
Eray (exa) Ozkural
Comp. Sci. Dept., Bilkent University, Ankara
e-mail: erayo@cs.bilkent.edu.tr
www: http://www.cs.bilkent.edu.tr/~erayo
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