* Marcus Wilson <[email protected]> [2020-01-27 21:07]: > Is this too advanced for the new user? > > [1]https://www.wikihow.com/Install-Debian
WikiHow has spying scripts with information being shared to Amazon, DoubleClick, Google, etc. I would not recommend to a new user of free software a website that spies on them. And I would tell why, and explain it why, which I do all the time. Often people ask me if I have Whatsapp - I give them reasons why I don't have, first it is proprietary software, I don't know and cannot know what it is doing with my information, second Whatsapp has thousands of staff members, and I don't know even one of them, why should I entrust them with my data? I don't trust somebody on street to give them my data, I cannot trust to Whatsapp. The first website to present to users is GNU: https://www.gnu.org/ and then what is Free Software: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html The GNU website does not spy on people, and does not use non-free Javascript software. Installing any operating system is not an easy task. Yet the FSF endorsed free operating system distributions do have their installation instructions. PureOS: https://tracker.pureos.net/w/installation_guide/ Trisquel: https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/setup Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre: https://wiki.hyperbola.info/doku.php?id=en:guide:installation&redirect=1 Parabola: https://wiki.parabola.nu/Main_Page I would recommend exlusively FSF endorsed GNU operating system distributions, such as those above, or listed here: https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html Debian is distributing non-free software from their servers, so when helping somebody to get free software, it would be good to tell them about the truly free operating system distributions, and why they are endorsed, and why some of them are not endorsed. See: https://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.html Teaching people about free software is part of my personal duty. Thus without teaching them the differences, I am not installing anything on their computers. Person shall know why is using free software, and should not just target that "new software" as "gratis" software for reasons that it need not pay for it, or for reasons that there is plethora of software that one cannot otherwise get on Windows. Those are common problems. The first and main reason to install that new software shall be reason that it is free software, that user can study and upgrade it easily, get support from other people, that user can become eventually programmer, and can contribute to development of such free software, and other reasons explained on https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html And if we speak of free software, then they shall be told what is GNU and how GNU started. Thus reference to main GNU website is of highest importance. > Sometimes people might find the task of making a bootable USB drive or > CD or DVD a bit too dificult. In that case you could also point them at > vendors of installation media. In general, operating system installation is not easy task. Jean _______________________________________________ libreplanet-discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
