install/48326: 6.1.2 install process ambiguous.

[cherry%NetBSD.org@localhost]

>Number:         48326
>Category:       install
>Synopsis:       NetBSD install process is confusing for a new user.
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       serious
>Priority:       high
>Responsible:    install-manager
>State:          open
>Class:          sw-bug
>Submitter-Id:   net
>Arrival-Date:   Sun Oct 20 09:20:00 +0000 2013
>Originator:     cherry%NetBSD.org@localhost
>Release:        NetBSD 6.1.2
>Organization:
None/Self
>Description:
        While helping a potential new user , I followed the install procedure
        by following instructions starting from http://www.NetBSD.org/
        The "Download NetBSD 6.1.2" under the "Get NetBSD" heading takes one
        to http://www.netbsd.org/releases/index.html#formal
        At this point under the heading: "Downloading NetBSD 6.1.2", there are
        two options.
        I chose the second option "Download NetBSD 6.1.2 via FTP or HTTP", since
        I didn't want to commit to an iso at this point.
        This brought me to:
        ftp://ftp2.jp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-6.1.2/amd64/installation/
        as a url of interest.
        The contents of this page are:

        cdrom/          28/09/2013 09:24:00
        floppy/         28/09/2013 09:24:00
        miniroot/               28/09/2013 09:24:00
        misc/           28/09/2013 09:24:00

        At this point I decided to install via 'cdrom', so I clicked on cdrom.
        This brought me to a directory with the following contents.

        MD5     104 B   28/09/2013 09:24:00
        SHA512  302 B   28/09/2013 09:24:00
        boot-com.iso    46.8 MB 28/09/2013 09:24:00
        boot.iso        46.8 MB 28/09/2013 09:24:00

        Since there is no documentation, I made an educated guess that
        boot-com.iso is a bootable cd image with a serial console, and
        boot.iso one with a regular BIOS console.

        So I chose the latter. Booting from this image led me to an install boot
        which could not install from CD, since '/' was mounted from /dev/cd0a

        This is confusing and broken, not just for a new user, and not least 
after
        committing to download hundreds of megabytes of data, which is not 
without
        cost in some parts of the world.
>How-To-Repeat:
        
>Fix:
        Please make the documentation on the website more friendly and less 
ambiguous
        to new users. Clear step-by-step instructions to new users on how to 
obtain and
        try out the latest stable version of the OS is essential to getting new 
        people to sample NetBSD. The current documentation flow assumes people 
already
        know where to get NetBSD and how to install it.

>Unformatted:
 Architecture: amd64
 Machine: amd64