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Re: Installation Party



Ira Abramov wrote:

> You feed them with a teaspoon, and they want stop crying until you
> continue feeding them with a spoon. Nobody said Linux was easy to install,
> but it's a one time job and everyone has to do his own installation if he
> wants to understand how his system came to be and how to take care of it
> from now on. This is not wimp territory, and that's why I hate the fact
> that we need to arrange installation parties at all.

Not necessarily correct. It's mainly a question of how you view Linux.
The Linux community is currently composed of what mundane people would
call 'power users' (better known as gurus or would-be gurus...).
However, a man can certainly _use_ linux without _maintaining_ it, and
do as well as with every other system.
The average user can make quite a mess of his computer even under dos or
windows - spreading junk all over his/her HD, having all sorts of
software and/or hardware conflicts etc. With linux, at least all the
junk accumulates in pre-defined places, and once the system is properly
installed, a user can't do much harm if he logs in as an unprivileged
user. The only problem is installing new software - under Linux, you'll
have to know the insides of your system to do this. However, quite a few
potential users have a need for Linux for well defined purposes, and can
specify in advance what their needed applications are. 
I've helped several people with advanced needs in the initial
installation of linux. All of them eventually learned more or less by
themselves what they needed to know about their system. I have also
installed linux for several friends in the university, who haven't the
slightest idea what ATI is (or for that matter IRQ/IDE/VLB/H-SYNC or
whatever) and furthermore never glanced at a Linux installation screen
in their life! Those people all had well defined needs for a stable
system with a certain set of applications. Once I installed this for
them, they use it as unprivileged users and are perfectly happy with
that. In fact, all of them told me it's better than anything they had
experienced before under M$ (Maloperating Systems). Sure - they don't
even see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the power of the system
they have, but who cares?! Perhaps some day they will be really really
bored and read some of the strange files they have under /usr/doc/faq (I
always install all the FAQs and HOWTOs) and that will be the beginning
of a wonderfful friendship...  
The idea of making the installation as simple and friendly as possible
has it's merits. It's not needed for the power users, but they will
surely enjoy it. On the other hand, it opens the door for a totally
different group of potential users who can really _use_ and enjoy Linux
without knowing much about it.

Tuvik

-- 
______________________________

          Tuvik Beker

E-mail: becket@shum.huji.ac.il 

Tel   : 972-3-5711685
Fax   : 972-3-7322106
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