Horrible installer (was: Re: FreeBSD 9)

[Jerry McAllister]

On Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 09:52:17AM -0600, Mark Felder wrote:

> On Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:40:42 -0600, <jerry at seibercom.net> wrote:
> 
> >On Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:27:32 -0600
> >Mark Felder articulated:
> >
> >>Just as you don't get to express your opinion about the government if
> >>you don't vote,
> >
> >Excuse me, but are you just trying to look naive?
> >
> 
> The wording wasn't exactly as clear as it should have been, and I don't  
> feel like seeing this thread degrade into politics and conspiracy  
> theories. I should have known better.
> 
> To clarify:
> 
> Don't complain about major changes in -RELEASE if you refused to  
> participate in the release process.  (and bsdinstaller was HIGHLY  
> publicized for a solid year before 9.0-RELEASE.)

I understand the theory, but in reality, not everyone has the 
resources to frequently try out CURRENT or even STABLE as  
sort of Beta tests.   It is good for those who can.

In spite of that, it is good - a part of the development process - 
that people do post their complaints and concerns.  Of course, the
sendpr process is the canonical method, but really, many of these
comments need some discussion before they are ready for prime time -
eg to be posted by sendpr.   Frankly, many of the comments are rather
half baked and many are really just personal preferences that are
not actually technical failings.

That does not make them unvaluable.  It ends up being sort of an 
Email BOF session like one might get into in a FreeBSD or USENIX
conference.  That hashing out is where many new ideas and features
start and get vetted and may eventually get worked on by people able 
to do it.

The one failing I frequently see in the complaint posts and the
responses by other complainers is too frequently a lack of civility
and respect for people who are doing the work of creating and 
maintaining this system and for those who are making complaints 
and stating personal preferences (true on other similar lists such 
as CentOS, etc too).   It is not necessary or helpful to ascribe all 
sorts of negative attributes and motives to those doing the work or 
to those making comments and complaints.   Just state your bit, then 
shut your digital mouth.

////jerry    
  
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-questions at freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"