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Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 21:56:03 -0700 (MST)
 UIt,]~r&<PFytXGqt!"BZS*K>oTE.+WSP=O#EbQu,x$S+"p[_~
From: Eric Fox <eric@fox.phoenix.az.us>
To: netbsd-advocacy@NetBSD.org
Subject: Re: a non-original idea.


On 16-Sep-98 Tim Rightnour wrote:
> 
> On 16-Sep-98 Curt Sampson spoke unto us all:
>#  What would be really good for me in this situation would be a
>#  `Linux-killer' CD-ROM. This would have the i386 distribution, source
>#  code, pkgsrc, and a whole whack of precompiled packages on it.
>#  Anything else that fits, that's fine, but it's more important to
>#  have all the precompiled packages there than to have things like
>#  the pmax port available.
> 
> Which is perfectly reasonable for yourself.. but We dont want to get the
> linux
> image that "yes we support the other arches, but we are mostly i386-centric" 
> I
> like the current method of doing the CDs..  I think the big thing that
> freebsd
> and linux have over us, are "Books"  Everyone loves books..  Unfortunately,
> not
> everyone can write them..
> 

Just a couple of thoughts:

The first Linux book I bought was nothing more than a printed version of
the Linux FAQ, a few screen prints for illustrations, and a Slackware CD in the
back cover.  The second edition was a bit cleaner and gave you a choice of
Slackware or Red Hat.  Both cost about $50-$60.  The only thing either of these
books were any real use for was installing Linux.  And although they did
contain a very abbreviated version of the man pages for some of the most
commonly used commands, you were pretty much on your own after the initial
install.

Perhaps the better way to go would be a CD (or CD's) with a concise installation
manual, for as many platforms as possible, which covers the majority of the
pitfalls new installations of NetBSD might encounter.  All the documentation
currently on the web server could be included on disk as well.

For that matter, the entire package system (at time of CD manufacture) could be
included along with all the package sources.

  /\---/\  Eric J Fox
 /  o o  \ mailto:eric@fox.phoenix.az.us
 \.\   /./ -----------------------------
    \@/    NetBSD: A daemon in every box!