Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 02:21:54 +1000 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Sean Kelly <kelly@plutotech.com> Cc: Andreas Klemm <aklemm@hightek.com>, Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>, "Jason C. Wells" <jcwells@u.washington.edu>, FreeBSD-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Hacking Furiously for the Desktop Contest Message-ID: <19980722022154.29029@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <35B4B1A3.41642923@plutotech.com>; from Sean Kelly on Tue, Jul 21, 1998 at 09:20:03AM -0600 References: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980719204331.12286A-100000@s8-37-26.student.washington.edu> <35B2CC1B.5D2ECFBE@softweyr.com> <19980721143753.18289@hightek.com> <35B4B1A3.41642923@plutotech.com>
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On Tue, Jul 21, 1998 at 09:20:03AM -0600, Sean Kelly wrote:
> > I could send my KDE Desktp in 'as is'.
> > For more work I don't have time.
>
> Agreed. Even straight KDE out of the box looks and works quite nicely.
I'd like to see a good KDE desktop win... err, I mean come second (that
disk is mine! all mine!).
But I am troubled by the need to rebuild the kernel before KDE will
work, and wonder how that can be handled in order to have what the FAQ
describes as an
"out-of-the-box desktop configuration more helpful to new users"
"a comprehensive default user profile for root"
"giving him/her the options he/she needs to manage their system"
To me this implies a quick and easy setup that allows administration
tasks to be performed in a comfortable GUI right from the beginning.
You know, things like rebuilding the kernel with the FAQ and Handbook
in full view.
There is nothing on the xcontest pages that indicates that the kernel
rebuilding is the responsibility of the contest entry, and I don't
believe it should be. Nor can we say "Your first impression of FreeBSD
will be wonderful for a new user, believe us, just learn how to rebuild
your kernel to suit KDE before running X!" The stipulation of "a stock
FreeBSD 2.2.6 system" seems to refer specifically to pkg_add, which,
for 2.2.6, did not behave as intended. By default it actually completed
the installation for a package if some of its dependencies (or their
dependencies) were not found.
If the winning entry uses KDE then someone will have to work out how to
deal with the kernel before plugging it in as the default new user
configuration. Maybe the GENERIC kernel needs to be modified to
accommodate KDE. I don't know if that's a possibility or not.
So far nobody else seems to be the slightest bit concerned that the
winning entry might not work after all unless something is done.
Maybe I haven't shouted in the right ears yet (which ears are they??)
Consider this fair warning that I'll be sitting back ready to cackle
"I told you so" if such boring practicalities are forgotten about when
the time comes :-)
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
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