1 |
Paul J. Wilson wrote: |
2 |
> The way I see it, the problem is not about the gentoo installer, but a |
3 |
> problem of perceptions between the developers and the users. There is a |
4 |
> further division between the "power users" and the "noobs". |
5 |
> |
6 |
> It's easier said than done, but each side should step outside their own |
7 |
> experience. To a developer, "easy" meains opening VI and drawing on |
8 |
> their knowledge of hot keys and bash syntax. To the average user, "easy" |
9 |
> means selecting options from a menu , or not selecting anything at all |
10 |
> to have things turn out as intended. |
11 |
|
12 |
To me, "easy" means following the very clear directions layed out for you in the |
13 |
install guide and being able to use nano. I may be wrong, but I believe my cat |
14 |
can use nano. |
15 |
|
16 |
> Regular, everyday users tend not to have the time to spend on the finter |
17 |
> points of linux and gentoo in particular. If the aim of the gentoo |
18 |
> installer project is to make Gentoo more accessable to these types of |
19 |
> users, then it's not unreasonable to expect these users to reach out |
20 |
|
21 |
That's not the aim. The aim is to make installs *faster* and more |
22 |
automated...not easier. |
23 |
|
24 |
> It's also obvious from the responses that some users do NOT find the |
25 |
> handbook accessable. This can't be simply explained away by lack of |
26 |
> intelligence. Again, what is obvious to some is not obvious to others, |
27 |
> especially those who are not trained to think in technical terms. |
28 |
> Brushing off the questions of every-day users as the work of "noobs" is |
29 |
> a very easy and sloppy thing to do. |
30 |
|
31 |
People who can't follow the handbook are people that can't pay attention long |
32 |
enough to read a complete sentence. If someone can't install Gentoo because of |
33 |
ADD, that's not our problem. |
34 |
|
35 |
> There is a huge disconnect happening here. On the one hand, the Gentoo |
36 |
> front matter seems to state that Gentoo is "all about choices" and goes |
37 |
> on to strongly imply that the distribution can be all things to all |
38 |
> users. There are a sub-set of users who 1. don't find the detail and |
39 |
> fine-point instruction in the manual helpful 2. don't have the time to |
40 |
> manually configure everything or 3. are not computer literate. It's |
41 |
> obvious that there are large numbers of people who want to use gentoo |
42 |
> but whose needs are not being met. I have the impression that the |
43 |
> gentoo-installer project is an attempt to meet the needs of such users. |
44 |
|
45 |
Gentoo is not exactly targeted at *any* of those groups of users. As stated |
46 |
above, that is *not* the intention of the installer. |
47 |
|
48 |
-- |
49 |
Andrew Gaffney http://dev.gentoo.org/~agaffney/ |
50 |
Gentoo Linux Developer Installer Project |
51 |
-- |
52 |
gentoo-installer@g.o mailing list |