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Date:      Mon, 11 Sep 2006 05:52:07 -0500
From:      Jonathan Horne <freebsd@dfwlp.com>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Newbie Experience
Message-ID:  <200609110552.08106.freebsd@dfwlp.com>
In-Reply-To: <8a0028260609110329y643d57eah25d5a312cf3fb04e@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <000001c6d520$292f6700$0c01a8c0@DELL8400> <20060911053240.30d8117d.wmoran@collaborativefusion.com> <8a0028260609110329y643d57eah25d5a312cf3fb04e@mail.gmail.com>

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On Monday 11 September 2006 05:29, Jeff Rollin wrote:
> On 11/09/06, Bill Moran <wmoran@collaborativefusion.com> wrote:
> > Bob Walker <rww@safllc.com> wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I have always wanted to better understand Unix, and so I finally made
> >
> > the
> >
> > > decision to switch some of my office PCs over to either a Unix or Linux
> > > system. With office suites like OpenOffice, I felt that I would be able
> >
> > to
> >
> > > transition away from Windows with minimal disruption to my business.
> > > So,
> >
> > I
> >
> > > downloaded the .iso images from FreeBSD, Suse, and Fedora. I initially
> > > favored FreeBSD, since it seemed to have the closest lineage to "pure"
> >
> > Unix,
> >
> > > and that was important to me, but after many, many attempts to install
> >
> > both
> >
> > > the OS and Gnome desktop environment, I threw up my hands.
> >
> > I'm confused.  What compelled you to torture yourself, _then_ complain
> > about it to a list that's sole purpose in existing is to help prevent
> > you from torturing yourself?
> >
> > If you had posted many questions and got no answers, I could understand
> > throwing up your hands.  As it stands, you might want to use those hands
> > to smack yourself for making your life more difficult than it needs to
> > be.
> >
> > If you have problems, ask on the list at the time the problem occurs.
> > Complaining after the fact (as you're doing) accomplishes nothing.
> >
> > While I can't speak for the project "officially", I would wager to say:
> > 1) We know our installation is not as pretty and easy as others, and
> > 2) We don't care.
> >
> > We are a community.  We're not Microsoft.  We're not interested in
> > driving users away by saying "here's everything you need, don't bother
> > us again."  Our limited resources are focused on developing the really
> > important parts of the system.  While few would complain if the
> > install process were made easier, nobody has the time to work on it.
> > Become part of the community and ask questions when you have trouble.
> > Find a local user's group.  But please, please don't complain about the
> > OS not working right when you use it wrong.  The FreeBSD community is
> > an integral part of the OS.  Not making use of the FreeBSD community
> > and then complaining that the OS is difficult to use would be like not
> > using a mouse then complaining that MS Windows is hard to use.
> >
> > --
> > Bill Moran
>
>  Well said, Sir.
>

truly.

indeed it is said, that the fastest way to get the highest quantity of help, 
is to make a post about how horrible an operating system is, that you spent 
hours and hours and got nothing done, and that you have already decided that 
you never want to see [insert OS here] again.

myself, as an admin of such a support forum (the unfortunatly now defunct 
linuxiso.org), i long ago learned to ignore the the ones that "we have 
already lost", and keep my eyes open for the many more that will (usually 
with minutes) replace them, who are actually there to learn.

cheers,
jonathan



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