Date: Fri, 6 Jan 1995 16:59:19 -0500 From: kelly@fsl.noaa.gov (Sean Kelly) To: cg@FIMP01.fim.uni-linz.ac.at Cc: jkh@time.cdrom.com, hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: guest account: Yggdrasil information Message-ID: <199501062159.AA039649559@yarmouth.fsl.noaa.gov> In-Reply-To: <199501061750.SAA00134@uhura> (cg@uhura)
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>>>>> "Christian" == DI Christian Gusenbauer <cg@uhura> writes:
Christian> Here at our institute, many people fell in love with
Christian> Micro$oft's NT (not me!), because it's so simple to
Christian> install and to administer.
I'm afraid I have to agree. I'm not terribly familiar with PC
hardware. The main reason I invested in it is so I could have UNIX
for my home business---oh, and so my wife could do research for her
Ph.D. FreeBSD looked like the best free UNIX for me.
Anyway, so when we needed Windows for a certain application, the last
thing I wanted to do was learn how to specify an IRQ in some .INI
file, what order I should put things in my CONFIG.SYS, or how to
configure my display card. Having so many things auto-detected and
pointed-and-clicked let me focus on the application, not the host
configuration. The same was true of OS/2.
Linux seems to be doing quite well mimicking this behavior---and
amassing quite a user base. Doesn't Red Hat Software offer a similar
CD to Yggdrasil's latest---with graphical administration tools?
Christian> 1. We have to make configuring as easy as possible for
Christian> those users, who never want to look 'behind the
Christian> scenes'. There should be a way to install and configure
Christian> FreeBSD for *non-experts*!
Right. But I don't think we should exclude the experts either.
Perhaps what's needed is two levels of installation. Or a Expert
Configuraton option that can drop the system-admin-savvy into a shell.
Christian> 2. [ Use a GUI installation ]
Agreed. Like I said above, with Windows and OS/2, GUI installations
mean I didn't have to learn all about the peculiarities of a certain
OS. Why couldn't we do just enough autodetection/asking the user
about the environment to start a bare-bones X server, running in
simple VGA mode, perhaps running from the CD-ROM, which would let
people point-and-click on packages they want, select IRQs for devices,
video modes supported, printers attached, monitors hooked up, etc.
Christian> 3. All configuration (administration) tools should look
Christian> and work the same way. I myself hate to have 10 tools
Christian> and 10 different ways to install these things
I've got mixed feelings about this point. I think one of UNIX's best
assets is that there *is* a uniform administration tool: the text
editor. Of course, that hasn't stopped various vendors from grafting
on their own vendor-specific versions: SMIT, sysadm, etc.
While I don't want to see yet-another-supposedly-easy-to-use-admin-
tool-that-prevents-me-from-changing-the-netmask-of-just-one-blasted-
interface, I have to admit that people who don't know vi, emacs, ed,
ex, etc., couldn't even begin to do the task.
Just make it so that it doesn't overwrite what I put in by hand.
Christian> 4. Plug'n Play:
I thought it was a ``sufficiently difficult'' problem to do
autoconfiguration on the ISA architecture. Isn't that why many
vendors ship systems with software already installed & working &
please don't alter the configuration or tech support won't answer your
questions?
Christian> As long as I have to recommend OS/2 or Windows NT to my
Christian> friends, FreeBSD or Linux is lost in space ;-).
We could take a few cues from OS/2 with their ``Onramp to the
Information Superhighway'' that comes with OS/2 Warp. This might
require some assistance from Walnut Creek: why not push the fact UNIX
networking has run most of the Internet for years and now you can have
that same power in your home/office/home-office. Include a PPP/SLIP
account setup hosted by Walnut Creek (or maybe other
locally-accessible) service providers. Include a WWW browser. It
just might fly.
--k
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