On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:11:36 +0200, "Neo [GC]" <n...@gothic-chat.de> wrote: > Just my two cents:
I may add two Eurocents. :-) > Why a graphical installer? Shure, it looks nice, easy, modern and more > accessable (examples: Mac OS X, Vista), but on the other hand, for me > FreeBSD never was intended to be fancy, but to be functional. I think the majority of FreeBSD users chose FreeBSD because of this simple consideration. If I wanted a bloated system that requires the most recent hardware, gets usable after 3 minutes and does the same as an operating system 5 years ago, well, I wouldn't use FreeBSD then. I won't say FreeBSD is for servers only. Because it is a multi-purpose OS, it can be run on servers, desktops and mixed forms. I'm using it on the desktop EXCLUSIVELY since 4.0, without problems. Because it doesn't require re-installs every few weeks (as famous "modern" OSes do), I don't need a GUI in the installer, because I have enough GUI when the system is up and running. > The text mode installer: > - works on every PC, every graphics card, every screen, with serial > console, with ssh, with screenreader Exactly. The GUI installer simply cannot run on a serial console. That's nothing bad per se, X can't run on a serial console either, but the principle of GUI dictates that I won't work on a serial console. > - is easy enough for people who are able to use it after the installation It's really easy if you can read and have a minimum knowledge about what you're doing. If you don't know anything, can't read and are stupid, you shouldn't try to install an operating system on a computer. :-) > - doesn't need a mouse to be usable That's why I mentioned the keyboard even in regards of a GUI installer. As long as it can be used without a mouse, only by the keyboard, it's okay. > FreeBSD isn't Linux/OSX/Windows, FreeBSD is not for users who want > eyecandy, FreeBSD is for professinals who want perfectly working > systems, who know how to edit .conf-files, which packages the need and > so on. (at least I think so) I'd agree with this. > IMHO, the biggest problem with graphical installers is that they just > don't work for everyone. That's right. Because modern X (and you can't use old X) requires a quite up-to-date system, older machines that can be used very well for FreeBSD cannot even be installed. X has problems on a running system, how can we expect it to be part of such a basic operational routine as an OS installer? > For example, my last attempts to install Ubuntu > Linux stopped when the installer didn't work with my graphics card or > just choosed a mode my TFT didn't support. This was such a bad > experience, I didn't wanted to try it anymore. And this experience could scare away potential users who have heared or read that FreeBSD is a versatile and powerful OS. And then, they are presented a child-play installer with beeps and whistles, with dancing elephants and funny bunny, and suddenly, the system hangs, reboots, and they won't know why. Can you imagine they'll try a second time? :-) -- Polytropon >From Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
