What is the fascination with 'spins'

[Jim Cornette]

monty19@ hotmail.com wrote:
> OK, here goes.  I'll probably have to duck and run for my life after 
> this, although it's not my intention to upset anyone by any means.
> 
> Personally, I think having separate ISO images for Desktop, Developer, 
> Server, KDE, and whatever else is a pretty silly idea. 

Agreed, especially if one uses programs from all categories.

> 
> I look at it this way; if you're going to download two ISO images, then 
> why not download two that have all the packages you want.  Why download 
> a server disc, and a desktop disc, which may both be lacking packages 
> you want to install, and then are forced to download anyway...

The separate versions confuses me a bit also. I don't know if one can 
install a server and then go onto installing a desktop and then a KDE 
version of a desktop.

> 
> I'm not saying that the ability to create your own disc with just the 
> software you want is necessarily a bad thing either; it's just that 
> with the current route there are going to be a lot more people making 
> their own discs, than downloading the ones created by the Fedora team, 
> and then what's the point of releasing any at all?

if there are those that just prefer one model or another, it will be a 
good concept. I cannot say either way if they exist or are supposed to 
exist for these specialized groups.

> 
> I just can't help but feel like this is a less than ideal turn of 
> direction for Fedora, not just for the reasons above, but also because 
> it is going to confuse new users.  Which of the discs do I want?  What 
> if I need something else?  Do I have to create my own spin?  Can I 
> download it afterward?  Simple questions for everyone here, but it's 
> going to confuse the daylights out of people looking at Linux as an 
> alternative to whatever they are running now...
> 
> Just my two cents, for whatever they're worth...

I couldn't answer as to other users possibly being confused by all of 
the different models or if it will make things simpler for them. I do 
talk with some people who are overwhelmed about how to start with Linux 
and fear taking the plunge into the OS. Maybe Linux with very little 
power is what these sort of users need. No server applications, 
development tools or CLI powertools. I don't like the idea of a 
downscaled Linux environment myself though.

As of now, I do not know how to make a spin of the binaries yet. It 
appears that one will need to start learning how to in order to get an 
install media that is usable for many installations.

Jim

> 
> 


-- 
It's union rules. There's nothing we can do about it. Sorry.