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Luke-Jr wrote: |
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> I think the point is, the docs only explain how to do with fdisk what can also |
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> be done with cfdisk and cfdisk is easier to use. Might as well explain cfdisk |
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> and if someone wants to use fdisk, they should already know how anyway. |
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I'm noticing the start of a slippery slope, here. |
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Gentoo's installation is great because it is simple, elegant, and |
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powerful. It's not cluttered with every "user-friendly" (read: attempt |
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at idiot-proof) tool known to man. |
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Gentoo sets a bar at a certain height, and expects users to acheive that |
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height in order to get their system off the ground. How many times are |
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we going to lower the bar? As with every "user-friendly" system, |
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eventually along comes a better idiot. |
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fdisk is a simple, standard, powerful partition table editor. I've used |
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Linux's fdisk to repair botched tables more times than I can count. |
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Instructions for use can be very simple. |
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The last patch of the slope is the Vi(M) discussion. "Vi is hard" seems |
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like a bit of a cop-out to me. Vi can be summed-up in half a dozen lines; |
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vi <filename> - Load file for editing |
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/<keyword> - search |
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:w - Write file to disk |
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:q - Quit |
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Commands can be combined, eg; :wq - Write file to disk and Quit |
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Five lines and users have all the knowledge they need to create / edit |
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their base system files. A few more short lines and you can explain |
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(global) search/replace to give them more advanced functionality. |
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I've been seeing a lot of talk, even since the day I first wandered into |
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Gentoo's user support areas (IRC, forums, mailing lists) about |
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'graphical installation front-ends', install scripts, etc. |
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Gentoo has always been a great tool for getting users accustomed to |
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their system from the inside out. Do we want to remain that way, or do |
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we want to become "Just Another (Half-Assed) User-Friendly Linux |
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Distro"? The likes of RedHat, Mandrake, and SuSE have fully graphical |
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installation utilities that make the Windows install look complicated; |
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five clicks and an hour later you're staring at your gorgeous KDE |
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desktop. If we're going to aim towards user-friendlines on installation, |
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we're already several years behind right out of the starting gate. Can |
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we possibly compete with that? (Not to mention their respective |
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corporate funding) |
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I'm of the opinion that we have to set barriers; lines in the sand, if |
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you will. "This is how friendly we will become" and stick to those |
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boundaries. This would, of course, also help with the consistency issues |
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that are raised weekly on this list. ;> |
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-- |
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Stewart Honsberger |
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http://blackdeath.snerk.org/ |
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"Capitalists, by nature, organize to protect themselves. |
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-- Geeks, by nature, resist organizaion." |
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-- |
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gentoo-dev@g.o mailing list |
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