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Ben de Groot <yngwin@g.o> posted 493355A7.90503@g.o, |
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excerpted below, on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:10:31 +0100: |
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> The info is there, but most users never read more than part 1 of the |
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> Handbook (that is, the installation part). We could, and should in my |
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> opinion, add a big fat warning towards the end of the installation part, |
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> that there is extremely useful information to be found in the other |
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> parts of the Handbook. Maybe we could especially mention some of the |
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> more useful topics, and the elog system would be one of them. |
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Well, at the end of the Handbook, Pt 1, Installation, in Chapter 12, |
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Where to go from here, it already mentions Pt 2, Working with Gentoo. It |
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really should mention Pts 3 & 4, Working with Portage and Gentoo Network |
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Configuration, as well, the chapter of interest here of course being in |
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Working with Portage. |
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So yes, we really could improve the end of the Handbook, pt 1, Where to |
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go from here, having it mention Pt 3 & 4 as well as Pt 2. That's |
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something we can and should do, absolutely. |
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Beyond that, however, Gentoo has never been about hand-holding. It |
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expects you to be big enough to cross the street on your own without |
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further hand-holding if it provides the stop light telling you when it's |
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safe to do so; to be able to find and read the documentation, which |
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Gentoo does have a generally excellent reputation in the community for |
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providing, on your own. There are plenty of other distributions out |
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there for those who prefer to let the distribution make the decisions and |
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take the responsibility. Gentoo has always been about giving the user |
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the ability to decide and configure that for himself, after reading the |
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documentation where necessary. If the user can't do that after we've |
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gone to all the work of providing both the means and the documentation on |
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configuring, right there in the official handbook even, with links and |
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references to the handbook quite well distributed already, well, maybe |
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that user really /should/ be looking at a different distribution. |
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-- |
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Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. |
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"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- |
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and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman |
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