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Ted Kosan wrote: |
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> Josh Saddler wrote: |
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> |
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>> Changing it will not help the most central problem |
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>> we're up against: that users simply *do not read* documents, period. |
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>> It's not in their nature. No amount of restructuring or other |
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>> handholding will change that for them; they have to take the plunge into |
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>> the technical world of Gentoo on their own. |
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> |
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> In the college freshman course I taught with the Handbook over the past few |
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> years, everyone read the Handbook ( I know because I was in the computer lab |
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> looking over their shoulders while they were reading it ) but only around 2 in |
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> each class of 25 were able to successfully install Gentoo without significant |
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> assistance. |
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> |
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> My observation of students that attempt to install Gentoo on their own ( |
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> outside of this class and without assistance ) is that very few of them are |
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> successful. |
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> |
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> I agree that most people do not read the documentation and this is why they |
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> fail. My experience indicates, however, that a significant percentage of |
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> people are reading the Handbook but are still failing because the materials in |
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> the Handbook are not meeting their needs. |
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One wonders if the handbook should meet those needs. It may be the commission |
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of the handbook to teach the uninitiated how to install Gentoo, but need it be |
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a requirement that they be able to install Gentoo without help? |
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|
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You can get help from IRC, the Forums, the mailing lists, not to mention the |
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cadre of distro-generic support groups who can answer questions about the |
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handbook and its instructions. This collection of help far surpasses the |
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handbook in its flexibility and range of knowledge. It's not feasible to try to |
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write a single document to try to compete with that. Rather, we should (and do) |
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encourage Linux and Gentoo users to seek out these resources, because these |
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real time exchanges improve the distro in ways that a static document can't. |
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Static or not, the handbook is a fine set of instructions. It's much harder to |
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help people when they haven't read it, but I wouldn't expect a new Linux user |
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to be able to install Gentoo with nothing but a LiveCD and the handbook, and I |
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couldn't begin to propose changes to the handbook that would cause that effect. |
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|
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Peace, |
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Mike Smith (a.k.a. kojiro) |
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