Disk Druid - Fedora flame #1

[Jeff Vian]

On Mon, 2005-01-24 at 15:01 -0600, Les Mikesell wrote:
> On Mon, 2005-01-24 at 14:40, Jeff Vian wrote:
> > > 
> > > Fdisk has never been removed. It has always been availible
> > > for people who want more control over their partitioning
> > > than Disk Druid provides.
> > > 
> > As I have stated before.  *It has been removed*.
> > By that, I mean it has been removed from the install options selectable
> > during install.
> > 
> > Never mind that it is available by getting to a shell with ctl-alt-F2,
> > That choice was totally hidden from me for over a year after its removal
> > until someone on this list made the keystrokes known to me.
> 
> It is only hidden from people who don't read the manuals.
> Unfortunately the RH9 manual is the closest thing to a fedora
> manual, but this works for me:

Of course, but you have to know where to find those manuals.  Those of
us who have used Linux for a long time have them as ready reference.
New users don't have a clue.

If I install MS Winblows, do I also have an online reference manual? Not
that I know of, and thus a lot of new Linux users are not familiar with
finding answers there. They don't even have a hint about the massive
amounts of help that are actually available.


> http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/ch-guimode.html
> (scroll down to section 3.1.1)
> 
> > Removal from install menus effectively removes it completely for over
> > 99% of users doing an install. (my estimate of values)
> 
> OK, but if 99% of the users succeed without reading the
> instructions things can't be that bad...
> 
When problems occur and users that otherwise would stay with linux (new
users again) choose to go elsewhere rather than fight with something
that is easy for experienced users but impossible for a new user we all
lose.

We need power, security, choice, and ease of use to be available for
everyone. 

> > The fact that it is available with an arcane keystroke sequence does not
> > make it available to the majority of users. 
> 
> They aren't arcane at all - they are the stock virtual console
> selections that are always available.
> 

For a new user they are worse than arcane.  If I was installing Linux
for the first time I probably would expect it to be as easy as Winblows.
It is not, and never has been.

This whole thread really has been based on the personal experiences of a
few, but the topic and discussion has been focused on things the
experienced users know and newbies have no clue about.

> -- 
>   Les Mikesell
>    les at futuresource.com
>