Back to original topic [Was: [Poll: debian-newcomer list [Was: Re: newbies needing help for graphic login]]
On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 12:33:11 +0200
Andrei Popescu <andreimp@rdslink.ro> wrote:
> On Sun, 08 Jan 2006 02:30:04 -0600
> Kent West <westk@acu.edu> wrote:
>
> > Andrei Popescu wrote:
> >
> > >It has been suggested by several people in this thread to have a 'debian-newcomer' list.
> > >
> > >Question: Is there real interest in having this and how many users will subscribe in order to help the newcomers (from "doze" or Mac or other distros)? A name or nick as an answer i think will do. I'll start with myself though i'm quite a modest guy (really) :)
> > >
> > >1. Andrei
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > This gets asked on this list every six months or so; see the archives.
> >
> > In short, the general consensus is that having a newcomer list is a bad
> > idea (for several reasons, which can be found in the archives).
> >
> >
> > --
> > Kent
>
> I guess i'm a pretty stubborn guy and i want to find this out the hard way :)
>
> Andrei
>
>
> --
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org
>
It seems pretty clear that subscribers of this list don't want/need/... a debian-newcomer list.
Ok, then let's get back to the original topic of this thread: the "help help" messages won't stop (and we don't want them to stop) so what can we do? I'll try to summarize the suggestions we have already:
1. Rewriting the welcome message coupled with some scripts to quickly install a GUI (for the ones who missed the option) or get rid of the newbie welcome
2. Officially label Debian "For advanced users only" (maybe also point at alternatives?)
3. Have the 'Desktop' task selected by default (and maybe add some warnings to unselecting it). A reboot or "start gdm" (at least as a default option which can be changed) at that point might also be a good idea as base-config exits to a shell.
4. incorporate the hardware detection of derivative distros (like Knoppix). This would probably be possible only for the i386 branch (maybe also ia64/amd64?), but this branch is also the one that will receive the most newbies.
I hope i didn't miss something
Andrei
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