Re: Installation
On 09/17/2012 12:05 PM, Christofer C. Bell wrote:
On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 10:21 AM, The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> wrote:
I'm probably going to regret this...
On 09/17/2012 09:31 AM, Camaleón wrote:
Then you better stop here and solve this step before going any further
How?
In order to go from "no working computer" to "a working computer", at the
very least, someone has to install an operating system. If you're the only
one available, and the OS whose install media is available is Debian, then
the only way you're going to get a working computer is for you to install
Debian.
The installation media you are using was created on a working computer. Use
that one to read documentation or print manuals. If you got the disc from a
magazine, then read the article in the magazine the CD came with. If it was
handed to you by a friend, then that friend is your resource. If you found
the disc in the trash and have absolutely *no idea* what you're doing, then I
guess installing an operating system isn't for you. The "bare metal computer
on a desert island with nothing but a CD" situation you're imagining simply
doesn't happen. Camaleón is exactly right.
While that exact scenario probably doesn't happen, no, that doesn't mean the
underlying concept is entirely invalid.
One example: what if you burned the install CD from your only computer (possibly
a long time ago), and then something trashed the OS install on that computer, so
it won't boot anymore? Suddenly you have no working computer, but you do have
the install CD, and functional hardware to install it on.
At its root, my objection in this subthread isn't necessarily to the information
and functionality available in the current installer, but to the implied
statement that "you shouldn't install if you don't have a second,
already-working computer" - or at least that, if you try to install without
having one, you're doing it wrong.
I'm not saying that it's remotely common for people to want to install when they
don't have access to another, already-working computer. I'm saying that "having
access to another, already-working computer" is, or should be, a false
prerequisite; there should be no reason why that should be necessary, and
insofar as practical, we should try to keep it from being necessary.
It may be that we already do everything practical towards this end, and any
further efforts would go beyond the bounds of practicality. But stating the need
for an already-working alternate computer as a hard requirement just rings
completely false to me.
--
The Wanderer
Warning: Simply because I argue an issue does not mean I agree with any
side of it.
Every time you let somebody set a limit they start moving it.
- LiveJournal user antonia_tiger
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