Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 08:20:19 +1000 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Tim Vanderhoek <ac199@hwcn.org> Cc: Chuck Robey <chuckr@Glue.umd.edu>, freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: questions about packages Message-ID: <19980719082019.63071@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <19980718134825.C11959@zappo>; from Tim Vanderhoek on Sat, Jul 18, 1998 at 01:48:25PM -0400 References: <19980718171423.58388@welearn.com.au> <Pine.BSF.3.96.980718050959.18866M-100000@localhost> <19980719001610.45098@welearn.com.au> <19980718134825.C11959@zappo>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Sat, Jul 18, 1998 at 01:48:25PM -0400, Tim Vanderhoek wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 19, 1998 at 12:16:10AM +1000, Sue Blake wrote:
> >
> > If my package does not need to be on the cdrom to work, ie, if it is
> > extremely simple for a windoze-oriented unix-ignorant person to
> > download it and have it find the packages on the cdrom, then I can use
>
> Ooh.
>
> Well, I don't think it can be done cleanly. You probably don't much
> care about that, though... I don't think there's any reason you
> couldn't use an iscript INSTALL script in the package to call pkg_add
> again manually...
You've lost me... the script idea is OK but remind me why I would want
to call pkg_add again?
> I'm not sure how you want this windoze-orientated unix-ignorant
> persont to download their package. If PPP is up, that's simple.
The people who need this most haven't got ppp and are unlikely to have
it going for quite some time yet. If that were not the case I could
just let them download a script and forget the whole package idea.
I'm trying, eventually, to come up with a package that can be installed
before they see their first unix prompt, so that when they do it's a
little less terrifying and the documents they need are easier to find.
If it's downloaded it'll probably be downloaded with windoze, making
the whole process a series of complicated steps. I need to work out how
many steps that can be reduced to, whether after all that a package
would be too hard to install, and whether or not there's any point
having such a package if it's not on the installation CD. This will
determine both the time I have to finish it and the level of its
content, ie, its target group.
> You'll also need to make sure the cdrom is mounted.
>
> Hmmm... Actually, for your purposes, maybe an INSTALL script is
> right, anyways. But that's not what you asked.
I'm starting to think it would have taken one tenth of the time and
effort to do it with an install script instead of a package :-) I've
never written scripts before but I can read how to make them work. My
target group, though, would have to be quite different in that case.
> > Well, I'm creating, not installing, and the people who will be
> > installing won't be investigating those things. They'll be taking ten
> > minutes to find the right keys to type in 'pkg_add filename' correctly,
> > and have neither the knowledge nor enthusiasm to investigate further.
>
> I do hope you're exagerating just a tad! ;-)
Not much! I'm aiming as low as possible, because nobody else does. The
people who haven't got good skills and facilities are those we help
least. These days people are installing FreeBSD after only ever pushing
a mouse around a word processor. Once it's installed they're lost, even
if prepared for a lot of hard slog. We just make it harder for them by
downplaying the amount of work involved and demanding superhuman feats
over a period of hours because of ten minutes shirked in preparation.
Instead of just complaining I'm trying to do something about it, and I
won't raise a new user's difficulty to suit my own convenience. Yes,
these people really do exist, and even when our eyes are firmly shut
they don't go away.
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-ports" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?19980719082019.63071>