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On Friday 18 April 2003 05:35 am, Mark Bainter wrote: |
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> A GUI installer lowers the bar for entry on gentoo. Right now |
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> many people who might want to use Gentoo, but are yet ready for |
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> it do not attempt to use it because the install holds the bar |
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> too high. That's a good thing. If we lower the bar so anyone's |
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> grandma can install Gentoo, anyone's grandma will be flooding |
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> the gentoo lists and forums with worthless questions that should |
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> not need to be asked by someone using Gentoo. |
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1) Have you read gentoo-user recently? Everybody's grandmother already runs |
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Gentoo, and already floots the list with worthless questions that "should not |
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need to be asked by someone using Gentoo". Nobody cares, it's not a problem. |
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2) Improved convienience is something (nearly) every "power user" wants. The |
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fact that a newbie can mistake convienience with simplicity is not my |
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problem. I still want convienience. "emerge" itself is a perfect example of |
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this--it looks simple. That doesn't mean it is. |
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2a) A GUI can improve the convienience of an install for "power users" who |
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would be comfortable with the manual install, but don't want to be bothered. |
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I /can/ perform the installation process manually, and I would fight to the |
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death any attempt to remove that capability. But just because I /can/, |
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doesn't mean I /want to/. If I want to install in a manner straightforward |
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enough that it can be automated, it should be automated. That's why I have a |
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computer. |
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2b) The fact that some newbie might look at this and think things are simple |
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or idiot proof is not the "power user's" problem, and doesn't mean we "power |
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users" should sacrifice the advantages it might offer us. |
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3) The install is probably the only thing in Gentoo someone slightly more |
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skilled than necessary to admin a Red Hat install wouldn't be capable of. If |
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that's true, why shouldn't we remove that barrier to entry? The point of |
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Gentoo is not the elite nature of its current user base. It's the technology |
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behind it. If we can give more classes of user access to our technology, why |
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shouldn't we? |
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Okay, I'm done biting on the flaimbait. |
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Evan |
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-- |
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