Install instructions badly out of sync with 5.1
Dub Dublin
dub at infowave.com
Tue Jul 1 01:51:15 UTC 2003
Someone needs to do a MAJOR rework of the installation instructions for
5.1. It's quite obvious that a LOT has changed w.r.t. the install since
those instructions were written, especially since CD-ROM installs are
barely mentioned and I cannot find any information anywhere on the site
as to what exactly the miniinst ISO image is supposed to do - if it's
there, it's well-hidden. This compounds the fact that the installation
process itself is quite painful due to its seriously counterintuitive
nature in many places.
In addition, documentation on hardware support, perticularly for laptops
and PCMCIA cards appears to be completely lacking - I only hope that it
doesn't reflect an equivalent lack of real hardware support. (For
instance, my very common Netgear PCMCIA Ethernet card is apparently not
supported on anything on the CDs, leaving me stranded without net
access, which is completely unacceptable, especially for someone that
can't figure out how he's supposed to find and install new drivers on an
OS that's only half-installed.
To put this in perspective, let me say that I am NOT a newbie - I have
nearly 20 years of Unix expereince, and was once a Sun SE and Network
Ambassador. I have installed and worked with nearly every major Unix
out there starting with Version 7, as well as several Linux distros
including the dreaded Debian.
The really sad thing is that I have so far been absolutely unable to get
anything remotely approaching a fully functioning system installed in
three tries. If I can't do it, you guys are hosed. I really want to
use BSD, and I am staunchly opposed to the GPL, but really, the area of
installation needs some major work or you're never going to win anyone
over simply because they'll never see it run.
I'm not a coder, but I'm a pretty good architect and a darn good product
manager, so if you need someone to head up a new installer effort,
please let me know - I'd be happy to help.
Thanks,
Dub Dublin
dub at infowave.com
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