Re: debian

[cr <cr@orcon.net.nz>]

On Saturday 21 June 2003 10:52, Jamin W. Collins wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 20, 2003 at 03:36:19PM -0400, Bijan Soleymani wrote:
> > On Fri, 2003-06-20 at 13:56, Vineet Kumar wrote:
> > > Most reviewers seem to believe that users want a system that installs
> > > easily.  They run the installer, review it, and call it a review of the
> > > distribution.
> >
> > If a user can't install then there's no point reviewing the rest of the
> > system.
>
> So, review the install.  However, to stop there is silly.  User's don't
> normally install a system and then fdisk it only to start over.  There
> is more to an OS than it's installation.

Well, popular reviews are usually aimed at 'new users', or intelligent 
amateurs, and from their point of view the install is a major consideration. 
(Professionals probably won't be reading that sort of reviews and the 
'just-buying-it-to-play-games-on' crowd won't be reading any reviews anyway).
I honestly wouldn't recommend Deb to a new-to-Linux user.   Knoppix maybe 
(not that I've used it), or Red Hat, and maybe graduate to Deb when they have 
a handle on what Linux is like.

If I didn't have the familiarity with what was going on, gained from maybe 
half-a-dozen Red Hat installs / setup sessions, I think Woody's installer 
would have baffled me.   Knowing roughly what to expect is 99% of the battle. 
As it was it took three install attempts before I got one (with X and PPP 
working) that was good enough to switch to.

cr