Ok, so this is coffee induced, but my one wish is that all HOWTOs include a last modified date so I don't spend hours learning and installing the old way, and that all HOWTOs explain *why* each step is done instead of just the steps. (Is that two wishes?)
The main reason I pick Debian is that I want to install just what I need and use, and understand *why* it's installed and *how* the parts fit together. I've often been tempted by Linux from Scratch for this reason, but I love apt-get too much. And if I can ask for anything, I'd ask for Debian specific HOWTO wikis. I think most all debian setup and config options are discussed on this list - often over and over. I'd love to see individual topic HOWTOs specific to debian that can be annotated/updated as questions and answers come up on the list. And then perhaps a CGI interface where a new user can be asked a series of questions about what kind of system they want and get a list of steps that are pointers to the individual HOWTO wikis. Kind of like tasksel, but in documentation. It would also have to be a rather smart system to detect that addition of, say ide-scsi, might need a kernel recompile and include those docs. Ok, it would never work as TIMTOWTDI when setting up a machine. But for newcomers some time there's too many ways, and one good way would be a nice start. The other reason to reject such an idea is that there already is a ton of really good docs available. Still, I like the wiki idea to update docs as things come up on this list. I say all this because I have been trying to keep good notes when I set up a new machine. I install a base system and then try and apt-get only what I need. My notes try and explain why I need to install something, some basics of how it works (e.g. "/etc/init.d/foo runs, reads /etc/default/foo.conf, and foo updates something else" kind of thing). Rarely perfect but takes some of the mystery out of it. And I cut-n-paste the actual commands I type into my notes which make re-using them really easy (as I can then cut-n-paste from the notes). I reinstalled a machine a few days ago and I picked sections of what I wanted to install from the notes of three other installs and it was so easy to set up that new machine for me. That's what made me think about a way to select the things I want setup and have the notes compiled together for me. Ok, enough of that. Time for another cup of coffee. -- Bill Moseley [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
