Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Gentoo's advantage: 'optimized for your system' -- huh?

[Neil Bothwick]

On Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:25:11 +0200, Nikos Chantziaras wrote:

> Most people don't want to be some part of some weird community.  They
> just want to use a computer.  If they were looking for friends, they
> might try the local sports club.

Who are these people on whose behalf you speak? Why should Gentoo try to
cater for them when there are already a zillion distros doing that?
Gentoo is not a distro for "most people".

> Linux has reached a point where it tries to appeal to users.  You don't
> ask them anymore to go fix the problems.  You have to fix them
> yourself. I believe any distro that doesn't adopt a development model
> where user support and QA are important, is going to die at some
> point.  Linux doesn't seem to have gathered new users since ages; 2003
> maybe?  Or 2004?  No visible growth since then.  With no new users, and
> most users converting to Ubuntu and openSUSE, there's simply not enough
> users left to keep other distros alive.

On what do you base these claims? Stating that Linux has no new users
does not make it true, but reading emails from people stating "I am new to
Linux", as I do most days, would indicate that the opposite is true.

QA is important to the Gentoo devs. As for user support, I thing we get
tremendous value for money from the devs, worth every penny we pay them.

Gentoo arose out of a dissatisfaction wit the way other distros did
things, so using them as a yardstick now renders the whole project
pointless. If you don't like the way Gentoo does things, you can either
work to improve it or use something else more suited to your needs. If
all you want is a GUI for the installer, take a look at Quickstart and
see if there is a way to add a configuration GUI to it.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

... "Yummy," said Pooh, as he hilted his paw into the "honeypot".