I have a few concerns about the new install-guide. The documentation within it is quite complete, and is able to guide a user from the beginning to the end of an install of Gentoo, but it's getting out of hand.
When I began using Gentoo there was a 12 page long text file which detailed the steps to take and a few alternatives. Compressed, and without verbiate description, the entire guide was able to be shrunk down to about a page and a half (on x86 CD's, for 1.2).
The original guides, the text files, gave someone a feel for the install itself, as in the basic steps. Network config, partition, format, unzip a stage, copy resolv.conf, chroot, sync, bootstrap, system, kernel/syslogd/cron, lilo.conf, fstab, done.
I'm concerned that the new guide, which covers not only x86 but all architectures in a massive document is not going to be helpful for a relatively new user who just wants to get it installed on their PowerMac or their new Pentium 4. Commentary is a good thing, and inclusion of instructions for all architectures is slick, but I think it needs to be moderated slightly.
For example, clever use of XML can allow us to write an entire installation guide for all architectures in one common base of documents, and then can allow us to selectively generate a guide for x86 or SPARC on the fly. This would keep maintenance hassle to the same minimum it's at now, and would make installation instructions much clearer for the new reader (instead of reading and skipping, reading and skipping, and hoping he/she hasn't gone too far).
More than anything else, one has to figure out for ones self what the basic steps (outlined above) for installing Gentoo are; while this seems a minor thing, it's one of the aspects of the original Gentoo installation guide which struck me the most. After my first install I knew all the steps, and hardly had to refer back to the installation guide for coaching. I doubt that if I started out now, I'd get such a clear idea of what's required after my first read-through of the guide.
Finally, I think the multi-page version is a good document to keep around. It's great on the website as it expands upon the installation process and how it works, and what's good/bad about various options, which keeps people informed. But at the very least, is it possible to consider placing a condensed set of installation instructions similar to those present back in the day of 1.2 on the CD's themselves?
Brad
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