Basil Chupin wrote:
Stephan Kulow wrote:
Hi,
This week we had base system freeze and heading towards Beta1 next week.
For this we mastered DVDs named Alpha3plus that we use for internal testing of the installation workflow and some media layout - to avoid bad suprises with beta1.
So far it looks really, really good - I found only one critical (already fixed) and two minor problems.
The DVDs are now based on images - meaning they install in record time, but this creates currently some problems for factory users. I plan to create a more detailed blog about this feature tomorrow.
Also the autoconfiguration feature is tested for the first time and the live installer saw some fixes, so we hope to finalize the "only DVDs and live CDs" strategy with beta1.
KDE4 is under hot discussion, not sure yet what to do.
I'm sure I forgot tons of things, right now we see really a lot of changes.
Greetings, Stephan
Greetings Stephan,
Today (my time) is Friday, 11 April, so I have all the msgs so far in response to your original msg (above).
Let me make a small contribution to this discussion.
I am helping a friend, who has known nothing but Windows all his life, to use openSUSE. This help is being done over a large distance using nothing but e-mails. A long and dragged-out process.
His constant complaint is that openSUSE is far harder to install - and upgrade/update - than Windows. In Windows, as he expressed, you simply double-click on an .exe file -- and it is installed.
Similar comment was made about the actual installation process: boot the CD, answer a few questions and the whole sheebang gets installed (without going thru the boring questions of which desktop you want, do you accept the suggested partitioning configuration, and so on).
Forget about the by-now biased and narrow-minded thinking of the openSUSE "brigade" in this mail-list and go for the way the Windows' users are used to after all the years.
Who is openSUSE aimed at?
Is it aimed at the current openSUSE users, in which case this many worded and bloated discussion about what to display and where is a TOTAL waste of space and time because 'you' are talking to those who already know openSUSE and don't need directions, or is it aimed at the "newbie", the Windows et alia, user who is likely to switch over to openSUSE (Linux generally)?
If the latter then make the installation similar to what they are all used to- the way Windows does it.
There is no shame in this.
(To be honest, one of the things that makes me shudder everytime is the EGA-type graphics-approach to the menus displayed when one installs openSUSE, and then to see those oversized icons on the desktop when the system is finally installed and you 'boot' into it. It all looks SO amateurish, so "kids' stuff".
Why are the icons on the desktop by default 48 pixels big? 22 pixels is the right size - and if too small for the user then the user can adjust the size upwards.)
One other thing - and this is NOT meant to be offensive to anyone.
There have been some comments made here about the wording of the error messages.
These error messages can *VERY loosely* be compared to the instructions one often gets with products made in China, and previously in Japan.
The problem here is that there is a language translation problem.
Perhaps the error messages, and whatever, should be looked at by someone who is a competent translator for the language being used in a language-specific version of openSUSE?
(No offense was meant to anyone in the above, but there needs to be some attention paid to the complaints of those who are trying to use openSUSE for the first time.)
Ciao.
As it's "open"SUSE anyone can make contributions if it is felt that it falls short. The Linux way is to offer choice. I know if some people have 6 shirts, choosing one can be lead to confusion. Once the distro is set up, either by one's own efforts or help of others, it's solid and simply calling it "amateurish" and "kids' stuff" is blowing hot air. People who have for decades cheerily put up with Windows viruses, malware, spyware, crashes, lost work and other ills, still proudly sing it's virtues of ease, professionally done, etc. Lack of choice is also seen as a virtue. Linux is easy to install and use, lots have done it, are still doing it and are quite happy with what it offers. I have newbies using Linux that I've installed for them and I hardly get any queries, sometimes they discover things I am not aware of. Last week one user had a problem with sound which at first I thought may have been caused when he did an automatic update to 10.3, however, it turned out to be a faulty on-board sound chip, he ordered a new sound card, I disabled the on-board sound, popped the new card in, sorted the mixer volumes and he was on his way - the only problem he has had since openSUSE 10.0 was installed. The calls I get are mostly Windows and the users are clueless. Change a motherboard, sound card, networking and most of them run into problems. Error messages in any OS are cryptic, even to seasoned Windows users and often the cure to all problems is to wipe the Windows hard drive and reinstall. Right now my brother has a problem where everything was working normally after a couple of visits from Packard Bell to reinstall XP, now suddenly using his webcam in skype brings the whole box crashing down. Imagine the rukus that would cause from a user of openSUSE, but such things are an acceptable happening in Windows. To hold Windows up as a beacon is laughable. Linux is not Windows, it's different to Windows and the openSUSE team does a great job at providing us with a very stable and usable platform that is free of pollutants, the minor effort is getting to know it. If that's too much for a newbie, then they are free to get something else that does all the thinking for them and possesses the same tawdry look wherever you see it. Now I have to return a call left on my answering machine earlier - yet another Windows problem. Regards Sid. -- Sid Boyce ... Hamradio License G3VBV, Licensed Private Pilot Emeritus IBM/Amdahl Mainframes and Sun/Fujitsu Servers Tech Support Specialist, Cricket Coach Microsoft Windows Free Zone - Linux used for all Computing Tasks --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-factory+help@opensuse.org