Installing Debian (was: Re: larry)

[David Schmitt <david@schmitt.edv-bus.at>]

On Wednesday 02 March 2005 09:38, Jörg Harmuth wrote:
> this is an interesting mail. It remembers me that I needed about 6
> installs to get a working potato. That was because I didn't read the
> manual that came with my CDs. And this was because I was a "great SuSE
> professional" at that time :) Really funny, seen from today.

Please! Boot-floppies are dead. Have you tried the new D-I? It detects most 
hardware automatically (try that with any other generic (i.e. no OEM rescue 
disc) i386 (hardware on a Mac is no challenge) non-Linux (they all use the 
same DB) OS), configures the network (including the hostname) via DHCP and 
DNS and doesn't force the user to partition.

> For me, this raises the question how far to go towards a "Desktop
> System". If you are a - let's say - "normal Billy Boy" user, you most
> probably will fail to install Debian (but you probably will succeed in
> installing SuSE).

Please detail where D-I falls short in contrast to the SuSE installer. Perhaps 
CC it to debian-boot.

[hardships of the first system install]
> For people insterested in technology and the underlying concepts - like
> me - this is a challenge and fun. But what about all the people (the
> majority, IMHO more than 80% of all users) who only want to *use* the
> system and don't want to deal with technical details ?

How many people really reinstall their Windows? Only the people interested in 
technology and the underlying concepts. Everyone else pops in the rescue OEM 
disk (which more often than not will eat your data without asking) or asks a 
"friend" to do it.

If you really want 100% user satisfaction with the installer, sell 
preinstalled PCs.

> Don't take it as my opinion - it's only the mainstream opinion as far as
> I know people, including "professionals". Everyone knows that Debian is
> great for servers. Everyone knows, that Debian is very hard. Everyone
> knows, that Debian is nothing for daily use on the desktop. Nobody wants
> to have a system, that he/she can't configure.

What? I've teached my 87 year old grandmother how to use firefox and 
kpatience. And guess what, she is happy with it. Users neither want nor 
should they need to configure their desktop. This is also the reason why such 
a huge number of machines currently is 0wned by spammers.

In some ways a desktop system is like a car: you need approximatly 60 hours 
training for acceptable performance and if something breaks, you call in the 
mechanics. How many people tune their car and how many just drive it the way 
the maker felt acceptable?



Regards, David
-- 
- hallo... wie gehts heute?
- *hust* gut *rotz* *keuch*
- gott sei dank kommunizieren wir über ein septisches medium ;)
 -- Matthias Leeb, Uni f. angewandte Kunst, 2005-02-15