Make that "Everything" I've asked for...

[David Curry]

Several points have been made repeatedly under this thread.   It seems 
to me that people are talking past one another here just a bit with one 
or another side not listenting to the other.  This message is an effort 
to help identify possible avenues for mutually satisfactory resolution 
and begins with an interpretation of major points made in the discussion 
in the eyes of this enduser linux neophyte.

MAJOR POINTS MADE
1.  Use of the "everything" install option, installs everything included 
in a Fedora Core distribution.
2. "Everything" install includes support for over 100 lnaguages which 
very, very few people/installations will ever use.
3.  Alarge number of applications of interest to people but not included 
in predefined bundles are only installed with the "everything" option 
but that comes with an unnessicarily, and burdensome high cost.
4.  If one is looking to pare/reduce the core distribution, support for 
infrequently used languages appears a likely candidate.
5.  Moving the large, diverse language support package(s) to extras 
would increase already severe difficulties for people with limited 
English language reading comprehension. 
6.  Anaconda provides an option to exclude/include some packages when 
installing predefined package bundles or groups.
7.  I'm/We are not going to consider doing anything but moving a bunch 
of apps out of core into extras.


SOME OBSERVATIONS
1.  Candidates for reclassification as extras versus core package is 
only one of multiple issues that pervade the discussion.
2.  Precedent exists for shifting some "everything" packages into 
predefined bundle groups.  For example, FC3 included Xfce in Desktop 
bundle versus  "everything" install as in FC2.
3.  Support for anything more than three or four languages is likely 
only needed in server installations.
4.  Grouping full internationalization support in Server Installation 
bundle has some logic to it.
6.  Continuing reliance on the "Everything" option to install undefined 
miscellaneous or supplemental options undercuts returns to Red Hat.  
Debugging and QA testing of application packages WILL NOT OCCUR unless 
that are installed and the more difficult/costly it is to install apps 
the less likely it will happen.
7.  Creating an additional Installation Group or Bundle called 
Miscellaneous or Supplemental that gave some idea of the packages 
available would give developers and Red Hat more and better feedback 
information on what users would actually prefer than the current 
installation setup.
8.  It might be worthwhile to defer decisions on whether a package is 
Core or Extras until information biases imposed by past installation 
setups are corrected/reduced.
9.  Fixing the "Add/Remove Applications" gui utility may be a very 
difficult development task, but it would go a very long way to relieving 
some of the difficulties addressed under this discussion thread.  It 
would also go a long way toward elevating linux desktop systems to user 
friendliness on a par with Windows.
10.  Elevating the development priority for fixing the 
installation/Add-Remove Package program(s) is likely warranted.

FWIW, there are some thoughts.  :-)  (Donning fire retardent gear, he 
says "Feel free to flame away!)  :-)