[H]omer <spam@xxxxxxx> espoused:
> Verily I say unto thee, that BearItAll spake thusly:
>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>
>>> All roads lead to Debian
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | If most of the Linux distributions derive from either Slackware or
>>> | Debian, why not just go to the source? Slackware looks way too hard to
>>> | figure out, but Debian, which just released version 4.0, offers a
>>> | net-install ISO -- and I've always wanted to install a distro over
>>> | the Internet -- so I burned the CD this morning and am currently
>>> | installing a Debian system over the Internet.
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://www.insidesocal.com/click/2007/04/all_roads_lead_to_debian.html
>>
>> I too can recomend Debian via the web. But unlike the writer I would
>> recomend not getting greedy with packages at install time.
>
> Yes I'd also recommend *starting* with a minimal install. *Adding*
> packages later, *if* and when you need them, is a much better policy.
> Adding what appears to be just one package, can often pull in a lot of
> dependencies, which is fine *if* you really need it, but if you don't
> you just end up with too much bloat, which may lead to unnecessary
> security and stability issues (however minimal), in addition to being a
> waste of disk space, and additional work (and bandwidth) maintaining the
> software and updates.
>
I think there's a little bit of Windows philosophy to consider here,
though. For people coming over from the dark side, they will be used
to software being either very expensive to purchase, or very hard to
obtain. Perhaps there are still some magazines which provide CDs with
working copies of software to seed the market, as some enthusiasts used
to get their binaries this way back in the amiga/atari days (okay, on
floppies then!), but for most people, they will have been stuck with a
few pickings which were ported from the GPL world we inhabit, and
whatever they might get bundled with a magazine or peripheral card.
Those poor folk are suddenly faced with a world where they have
something in excess of 7,500 packages to choose from - suddenly, the
software is no longer in short supply, indeed, the market is flooded,
however, this particular customer, having been used to a market based on
scarcity for years, is likely to react like a child in a sweet-shop (or
a candy-shop as my grandparents would have said...).
Therefore, they are likely to grab whatever they can, with the
expectation that it might all disappear tomorrow.
Over time, they will become used to the idea that Debian is here to
stay, but it will take time.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
