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Date:      Mon, 3 Apr 2000 23:53:05 +0400
From:      Grigoriy Strokin <grg@philol.msu.ru>
To:        Brennan W Stehling <brennan@offwhite.net>
Cc:        Doug Barton <Doug@gorean.org>, freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: make world failed
Message-ID:  <20000403235305.A84845@isabase.philol.msu.ru>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10004031356210.6280-100000@home.offwhite.net>; from brennan@offwhite.net on Mon, Apr 03, 2000 at 02:19:05PM -0500
References:  <Pine.BSF.4.21.0004031147560.2238-100000@dt051n0b.san.rr.com> <Pine.BSF.4.10.10004031356210.6280-100000@home.offwhite.net>

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Here is my opninion.  Although FreeBSD is a great system, its online
documentation is never up to date. Of course, it is the right
of FreeBSD developers to reply to any critic 
"we are not payed for it, and we try to do our best in our scarce
time"... That's OK. 

However, I think that it would be more useful and constructive
to add a line "please don't miss /usr/src/UPDATING" to
makeworld.html and say 
'thanks, Brennan, you've found a documentation bug 
and we've fixed it', instead of flaming Brennan,
and let the Hanbook reflect the situation
with FreeBSD 2.x rather than 4.x.


On Mon, Apr 03, 2000 at 02:19:05PM -0500, Brennan W Stehling wrote:
> Once again I get flamed.
> 
> I am not saying I did not screw up the install.  That is obvious, but the
> documentation did not give any warning that the 4.0 upgrade would not work
> as the ugprades from any of the 3.x upgrades did.  I realize 4.0 has many
> radical changes, that is why I looked so hard to find more documentation
> on the site.
> 
> I was subscribed to freebsd-announce and did not see anything on that list
> to offer warning.  I also looked over the site for any indication that the
> upgrade would be different than before.  Again I did not find anything.
> 
> So I followed the same path as I did in all my previously successful
> upgrades.  Does that seem like a bad idea to you?
> 
> Of course I could have read 8 README files for some word of warning or new
> instructions and joined the list 2 months in advance, but the fact
> remains, the documentation for "make world" did not help me.  And I did
> read the errata, release and announce files.  They told me a few things,
> but nothing about using a different upgrade routine.
> 
> The makeworld.html page has side notes for 2.2.5, but nothing for the
> current and stable versions.  It just makes sense to me that any important
> changes would be reflect on that page.  Afterall, it is the official
> FreeBSD handbook while the mailing list may not offer accurate help.
> 
> The page also does not have modification date displayed anywhere.  If it
> had shown it had not been updated for 6 months I would be encourged to
> join the list for more current information, but it did not.
> 
> It has also been my experience that mailing lists are usually very busy
> with information I do not need.  In fact, half of the responses have been
> insults and flames.
> 
> In the future I think I will stick to reading online documentation and
> avoid the mailing lists.
> 
> Brennan Stehling - web developer and sys admin
> projects: www.onmilwaukee.com | www.sncalumni.com
> 
> fortune:
> Insanity is hereditary.  You get it from your kids.
> 
> On Mon, 3 Apr 2000, Doug Barton wrote:
> 
> > On Mon, 3 Apr 2000, Brennan W Stehling wrote:
> > 
> > > 
> > > The problem was that the makeworld.html page did not warn that moving from
> > > 3.x to 4.0 needed to be done differently. 
> > 
> > 	The actual problem was that you stuck to that web page as your
> > only source of information. Right at the very top of that page, in bold
> > letters it says that you need to subscribe to and read the -stable and/or
> > -current mailing lists before trying to track -stable. If you had done
> > that, you would have seen ample discussion about the particular problems
> > related to that upgrade. 
> > 
> > 	I realize that you don't want to accept responsibility for your
> > actions, but please stop posting hear trying to convince us that there is
> > some way we could have unloaded the gun before you pointed it at your
> > foot. 
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > Doug
> > -- 
> >     "So, the cows were part of a dream that dreamed itself into
> > existence? Is that possible?" asked the student incredulously.
> >     The master simply replied, "Mu."
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
=== Grigoriy Strokin, Lomonosov University (MGU), Moscow ===
=== contact info: http://isabase.philol.msu.ru/~grg/     ===


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