Re: Installation of Debian by disk
On Wed, Jan 24, 2007 at 11:28:03PM -0500, Roberto C. Sanchez wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 24, 2007 at 11:14:21PM -0500, Kevin Mark wrote:
> > Hi Roberto,
> > I have seen various 3rd party bits of documentation about "You just
> > installed Debian. Here's what to do next and answers to questions like
> > 'where's my X?". And it seems people still miss this info on the Debian
> > site. Asking what they read prior to asking such questions would be one
> > way to figure out how Debian is not getting this info to new users. Thus
> > far, Debian and the WWW group are very hesitant to change any aspect of
> > the 'front page' until a very good reason is provided, which is expected
> > for any Debian effort. But it seems if this person and others went to
> > the 'front page' and just could not (for what ever reason) find this
> > info, then there should be something added to the 'front page' to have
> > somekind of big 'over here' sign for Debian new users to find these
> > common questions addressed. Hopefully one day I can get something
> > written up. But in the meanwhile, I think asking what the read prior to
> > comming here is one way to collect data to address this issue.
>
> Hmm. You did not mention which version, so I will assum you installed
> Etch. Now, if you got the etch installer, I will guess that you got it
> from here: http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
>
> Below the download links are links to the Installation Guide, the FAQ
> and the Debian-Installer Wiki. If you visit the installation guide, you
> will see this section:
>
> http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/en.i386/ch06s03.html#di-install-software
>
> Specifically, the relevant section, Installing Additional Software,
> reads in part:
>
> So, you have the ability to choose tasks first, and then add on more
> individual packages later. These tasks loosely represent a number of
> different jobs or things you want to do with your computer, such as
> Desktop environment, Web server, or Print server[14]. Section D.2,
> Disk Space Needed for Tasks lists the space requirements for the
> available tasks.
>
> Now, I understand that for a newbie, it can be daunting to be left at a
> command line prompt. However, it is right there in the documentation.
> So, perhaps you missed it?
>
> I am not trying to flame you. I am simply pointing out that the
> information is there and that it appears that you overlooked it.
>
> Regards,
>
> -Roberto
>
> --
> Roberto C. Sanchez
> http://people.connexer.com/~roberto
> http://www.connexer.com
Debian suffers from lack of exposure in the popular press. Most major
newspapers carry a frequent column of answers to questions about PCs,
which means exclusively Windows in the popular press. There is
a lot of overlap in the word set used in these articles and the word
set used on the Debian web site. But they are talking about different
computer systems. Many newbies have no idea how clueless they really
are. Certainly, I had no idea when I started.
I have some experience about learning new stuff, and teaching stuff
that is new to learners. I was for a while a professor of physics. It
is important for learners to understand that there is no one right way
to teach anything, and for learners who aren't getting it with one
way, it is OK to look for another way. There is a lot of evidence that
no one learns anything the first time they are taught. If it appears
that someone actually learns the first time, that's because they had
prior exposure to the topic and are primed to get it this time.
If the learner keeps at it, maybe he will eventually find a teaching
that works for him. But that teaching might not have worked for him
if it had been his first contact with the subject. It might be that
just the repeated rephrasings of the same ideas finally breaks through
a mental block.
--
Paul E Condon
pecondon@mesanetworks.net
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