Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 19:15:36 +0930 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Darren Pilgrim <dpilgrim@uswest.net> Cc: Donald Wilde <dwilde1@thuntek.net>, freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: The FreeBSD Installation Guide Project [Was: Re: FreeBSD Adovcacy] Message-ID: <19990403191536.G2142@lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <3705E0A9.49257DF5@uswest.net>; from Darren Pilgrim on Sat, Apr 03, 1999 at 01:34:33AM -0800 References: <Pine.SV4.3.96.990402153139.28286A-100000@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu> <37052E56.D243D4F6@thuntek.net> <37053C70.A99BEB29@uswest.net> <370540BF.C67A5442@thuntek.net> <37054D71.A05B12B4@uswest.net> <19990403115350.S413@lemis.com> <370584E6.796DD2A5@uswest.net> <19990403125339.V413@lemis.com> <3705E0A9.49257DF5@uswest.net>
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On Saturday, 3 April 1999 at 1:34:33 -0800, Darren Pilgrim wrote: > Greg Lehey wrote: >>>> OK, I can agree that the handbook could be clearer on a lot of >>>> issues. But why use that as a reason for starting a different effort? >>>> It seems to me that you could gain a whole lot by fixing the >>>> description in the handbook. And yes, you'll be welcome there :-) >>> >>> I think Don Wilde said it best when he said the "handbook tries to go >>> too many places." >> >> What does that mean? What does that say about including an >> installation guide in it? There is one there already. The best thing >> we can do for the FreeBSD community is to ensure that it's good, not >> to cry "NIH" and do (y)our own thing. > > I was commended for my idea by more than a couple of well-knowns in > the community. Now people doubt that it would be a good idea at all, > that it would reinvent the wheel or undermine existing resources. > Between that and the indecisive nature of charters and unorganized > structures of services and resources it's enough to make me just > throw my hands up and walk away from it, just forget about any active > contribution. Hmm. I've just finished sending you a message on the discussion in -newbies. I could almost use the same text again. The ideas are good, but they don't fit into the existing framework. Nobody's complaining about your willingness to help, but the best way to help is to join in in the ongoing efforts, not reinventing the wheel. > So you tell me, what should I do? Disregard everyone's comments and > do what I want how I want and hope that maybe, just maybe, someone > else might also benefit from something that made my life easier, or > should I sit here, defending my principals and debating my ideas, > trying to get the support of people that I should be able to rely on > for help and end up doing little more than grinding my motivations for > doing anything productive into the mud? > > I want to go forward with my idea and I hope that folks like Don Wilde > and Dan Langille can and will help me achieve my objectives. I also > want to be able to share my projects, but my ambitions aren't going to > fair well if I have to defend myself each time. Nobody's asking you to defend yourself. But it's worth discussing the points. > Maybe this is a rant and maybe it's the result of not knowing all > that I should. But this *is* what I see and this *is* what I > believe. You're relatively new in the FreeBSD fold. That doesn't mean that you're not welcome, or that your ideas are not. But remember that we have a number of structures in place. They're not all good, and with good reason we will change them. But we need a good reason. What I said was that I don't see a good reason. And don't overestimate my importance, either. People can (and often do) shoot me down as well. My statement was intended to be understood as "why not do it this way?". Consider what happens if you do it your own way, rather than putting it in the handbook: we'll end up with two different installation guides (well, three if you include mine, but that one costs money :-), one undoubtedly better than the other, with contradictions in them which will just confuse people. If instead you take it upon yourself (with help, possibly) to rewrite (or replace) the installation guide in the handbook, you'll be doing everybody a service. The difference between the two approaches is in small details: do you write it as a standalone document, or as one which will fit in the handbook? Of course, if you write it so it will work either way, so much the better. Greg -- See complete headers for address, home page and phone numbers finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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