Re: Why is Desktop NetBSD a threat to NetBSD?

[Andy Ruhl <acruhl%gmail.com@localhost>]

On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 4:19 PM, Greg A. Woods; Planix, Inc.
<woods%planix.ca@localhost> wrote:
> Well, OK, then I think that gets us all the way back to why the heck this is
> even a question in the first place since the installation procedure for a
> proper "desktop" OS _must_ work without having to edit any text files
> whatsoever.

I still don't think this is what the original post was getting at
though. Or maybe I'm missing the point, one of the two.

I think if you start with sort of humble goals, and certainly just
doing pkg_add for some X desktop stuff enough to get it running on the
first boot is a humble goal, you've accomplished something. Then you
can build off it from there.

The point I was trying to make is, if you're a newish user, why sit
there and stare at a blank screen when almost all the others offer
some way to get at least a minimally functioning destkop at the first
boot?

If I'm a newbie and I want to learn the system, doesn't it make more
sense to start with something I can run a browser on to read
documentation, and maybe mount a network share to listen to some music
while I'm at it? Isn't that a better thing than looking at a blank
terminal and having to use another computer to figure out how pkg_add
and pkgsrc works?

And at that point, if we are adding users instead of losing them
simply because we've lowered the barrier to entry, that's a win.

The only argument against that I really don't know about is if doing
this will worsen the reputation of the OS rather than enhance it. Time
will tell, and nobody is forcing anybody to use Desktop NetBSD anyway.

Maybe I'm too simple minded. Maybe I remember the days of a black
screen with white letters and struggling to get X working too well.

Andy