Re: Supported models
Hi
[big snip]
>> Because, if some newbie enters debian.org, interested in debian for
>> powerpc, he will first get trough to the ports pages (if he knows what
>> ports mean), then
>
> exactly what happened to me
>
>> to powerpc, and finally to install, where he will be presented a list which
>> is (more or less) completely outdated. Searching for my TiBook I will end
>> up with, oh, does not seem to be supported. Hmm, ok, which distro is next
>> on my evaluation list, uhhm, ok, lets go to www.redhat.com...
>
> yup
also looking at:
>> I assumed that he also has been looking at the debian port pages, where he
>> saw an outdated model list, and so got to think that the port is no longer
>> maintained. That's all.
>
>
> That was part of it, yes. But most of it had to do with the fact that
> using the NIC in my PPC machine freezes the system (as well as using the
> CD/Floppy/SCSI CD-ROM, something I want to look into in the coming months),
> so my ill-advised dist-upgrade to woody left my system all screwed up, even
> though the upgrade appeared to work okay. (Well, I did have to reboot >10
> times before apt decided it was done downloading packages.) When I went to
> find the missing packages, they weren't in dists/ either -- I guess they've
> been moved to pool/, something I hadn't paid much attention to -- I haven't
> needed to.
>
> Anyway, I do think Debian's PPC docs could use some care, but I'm not
> much of a case study. My PM5400 is an pretty psychotic case....
by Joseph Fannin we have at least two individuals who encountered these
problems.
>> So, thats fine, but there should be at least an up-to-date list available
>> (listing only debian releases) on the debian website, where one not has to
>> first search for the testing install-manual (which is not obvious) to get a
>> breakdown of the current models.
>>
>> Well, if something like this would be useful and is desired I would maybe
>> volunteer to maintain such a page.
>>
>
> I certainly think it'd be valuable.
I will soon repost a summary on debian-www but I am not having the time for it
today anymore.
>> BTW: I could also be thinking of something like a form-to-mail survey page
>> with buttons for all powerpc models, release, boot-floppies and a button
>> with the option running/not running, where newbies could report the status
>> of their systems, so, if its running on their specific piece of hardware or
>> not. With the help of this form, we could provide status info about
>> machines who are not yet tested with the various debian releases.
>
> I had this idea too, but don't know how hard it would be to implement.
Hmm, form-to-mail shouldn't be that hard to implement. The only thing which is
lacking is direct response to the user.
> it seems like even if it just collects the information and dumps it in a text
> file somewhere, then someday someone could come along and make sense of it.
Well, automatic text file parsing shouldn't be a problem. The only thing is,
as already mentioned above, this parsing would be done e.g. once per day, with
a following page update. So it is not that interactive.
> Or, make it like a guestbook / poll type thing, where people can feel like
> they're contributing just by weighing in; a place for comments and a way to
> see the last 20 or so. As in, mivox.com/cgi-bin/tekbook.cgi .
Why not. But this needs a cgi sitting on the server. And if we have a cgi we
could also do some cool polling stuff with immediate response. But that's
harder to code, though I do not have any experience with cgi's at the moment.
Hello to all cgi coders outthere?!!
But I think these kind of discussions we should really move over to debian-www.
--
Best regards,
Andi
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