On Jan 27, 2006, at 6:16 PM, Jozef Baum wrote:
This posting doesn't contain a technical question about FreeBSD,
rather a
strategic one.
Some time ago, I wanted to migrate to a Unix environment, because I
wanted
to have a secure, stable, convenient and efficient environment for
developing and running programs, no longer having to buy a new PC
with a new
OS and applications software every 3 years to support Bill Gates'
only goal
(becoming and remaining the richest man of the USA). At the end of
the 20th
century, it took us only a few years to have to upgrade from Win 95
to Win
95SE, to Win 98, to Win 98SE, and to Win ME, only to remain with a
poor OS.
Now, when reinstalling my version of Windows XP, it takes me more
time to
download and install the SP2 than to install Windows XP. I wonder
how people
with a low-bandwidth Internet connection do to download the SP2 for
Windows
XP.
I downloaded Solaris 10 and a lot of documentation about it, then
installed
Solaris 10. As opposed to Linux and free BSD implementations of UNIX,
Solaris looks like a professionally developed operating system. It
seems to
be1 a very advanced operating system. However, I soon realized
that, when
one wants a yacht, it is not a good idea to acquire the Queen Mary
II, just
as it costs too much time to acquire a hotel to have a cup of coffee.
Then I downloaded what I thought being one of the best Linux
distributions,
Suse Linux. I tried to install it, but the system got locked up by
something
so stupid as my nVidia modem. Together with the heterogeneous
quality of
Linux components, and not at all liking Linus Torvald's arrogance,
I decided
to abandon Linux.
I came to FreeBSD, with the idea that it had a more homogeneous
quality
development model, downloaded the FreeBSD 6.0 boot CD and CD 1 and
2, and
installed it on my PC, following the handbook.
I knew UNIX is a toolkit intended to IT knowledge people, so it
will never
perform a breakthrough to the average desktop user. But my
disappointment
with FreeBSD was great.
In fact, to install FreeBSD, one needs already a lot of knowledge
about the
system. To acquire that knowledge, one needs experience on an
installed
system. But to have an installed system, one needs already a lot of
knowledge about the system. That's the problem.
The handbook doesn't tell you that, at the "last chance" message,
you have
to take out the boot CD and to insert CD 1. But if you don't do so,
nothing
gets installed.
I configured a German ISO keyboard, but many keys don't work
correctly. One
has to look with Google to find additional information about
configuring a
German keyboard.
I have a cable Internet connection and my network card was
recognized, but
getting an IP-address with the DHCP service of my provider was
impossible.
Again, I had to look up with Google how to allow the firewall to
get an
IP-addres with my provider's DHCP.
The locate command did not work, as the locate database seemed to be
corrupted. I had to figure out how to rebuild this database.
The root user had a csh, while ordinary users had a sh shell. I had to
figure out how to provide the same shell to the root user and the
other
users, as all those virtual users are all one and the same person, me.
I tried to setup an X Window environment (nVidia Geforce video
adapter), but
the horizontal and vertical refresh rates of the manufacturer
didn't work, I
had to experiment to find out the one X likes. Then I could startup
X, only
to not having configured at all my German keyboard.
I tried to install emacs during installation, but it didn't succeed.
Returning to the post-installation tasks after having installed the
system
resulted in a successfull installation of emacs (working only after
a system
reboot).
I could go on for hours with this kind of troubles. But now comes the
strategic question.
Why is it that FreeBSD people, who seem to be perfectly able to
formulate
correct algorithms for implementing UNIX concepts, and translating
them into
code, don't care at all about a novice user, providing him with an
installation program that doesn't work as it should, even without a
GUI?
I know UNIX is all about solving problems, but is it really
interesting to
make it apparently deliberatly so difficult for a newcomer? Is it
really the
policy of those guys to make the entry level to UNIX difficult,
only to
avoid a breakthrough of UNIX (FreeBSD) to the desktop users?
I knew the installation, configuration and optimization of a Unix
system
would take me a lot of time and patience. But after some weeks, the
only
result, as probably for many others, is an immense frustration. I
cannot
imagine that people capable of developing such a complex operating
system as
Unix are unable to offer newcomers a correct and easy install
procedure. But
probably, that's not their concern.
Please, guys, if you want FreeBSD to survive and to become not only
a server
OS, but also a desktop OS, realize that you are going the wrong way by
annoying newcomers with a puzzle. I want to learn Unix, the real Unix.
Searching a text file for a string with grep, not launching a
tremendous
memory hungry application under X Window to do so. I want to learn
how to
pipe Unix commands to get usefull work done. I want to learn the
ed line
editor as a starting point for using sed. But please, don't
frustrate me
from the beginning by making the installation of FreeBSD so
difficult. Drop
some whistles and bells on which you are working, and encounter the
newbie.
Many thanks in advance for your comments.
A frustrated FreeBSD newbie
Rambling on in such a frustrated manner only makes your comments all
the less plausible and makes your efforts futilely wasted.
If you still haven't learned anything about Unix since you've been
running SuSe, and you think FreeBSD is bad, try another Unix OS like
OpenBSD or NetBSD and you may know the difficulty of installing
things (which I know is relative, but oh well). Having all those
lovely bells and whistles for the newbies (Anaconda, installing Xorg
by default, etc, which inspires me of Ubuntu, Redhat and the like) is
what dumbs down Unix for everyone, and in all cases no matter what
you learn you need to a) consult documentation, b) read forums, c)
use google for cripes sake. There is no excuse for not being able to
use something unless the documentation is so incredibly difficult to
find (which is not the case here), and you have a lot of people here
who are willing to help you _if_ you ask the question nicely.
That is my advice to you.
-Garrett
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