Debian Bug report logs - #5583
Shortcomings of install.txt and debian-manual.txt

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Message #5 received at submit@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Axel Boldt <boldt@cardinal.math.ucsb.edu>

To: debian-bugs@pixar.com

Subject: Shortcomings of install.txt and debian-manual.txt

Date: Sat, 23 Nov 96 16:00:47 PST

Package: manual

The docs that come with debian are not particularly good, especially
for people completely new to Linux. install.txt, the only doc that's
accessible on the ftp server before installation, explains the basic
procedure not as thoroughly as the install docs of the competing
distributions IMHO:

* It does not sufficiently cover the topic of partitioning. Many
  DOS/Windows users might never have heard about logical partitions
  for example, but cfdisk requires knowledge of that concept. Also,
  newbies have no idea as to how much swap they should use or how big
  the native Linux partition should be for a reasonable
  system. Deciding about the right partition size is rather important
  though.

* install.txt throws the new user into dselect without explaining
  anything. What are packages? How can I "transport them to my
  system"? Which ones should I download? What exactly do I have to
  have on floppies if I don't have a net connection?

* I think it's fatal that the lilo docs are not provided with the base
  system. How to boot back into DOS?

* install.txt does not mention how to properly shutdown the system.

The much superior document debian-manual.txt is unfortunately only
accessible after successful installation in /usr/doc, at which point
it's of no use anymore. Some points regarding this file:

* It does not sufficiently explain the process of installing from
  floppies. How do I know which packages to put on floppies? In which
  format? How to deal with packages that are bigger than 1.4M? I think
  many people have some net connection at work or at school, but their
  home computer is not on the net, so they have to download packages
  and carry them home on floppies. This has to happen *before* dselect
  is run.

* When in dselect for the first time, which packages are really
  important? (doc for example).

* Mention the tip "Shift PgUp" in order to look at the boot messages
  if something goes wrong.

* Booting, especially in a dual-boot setup, needs to be covered.

* Is installing on an existing DOS partition using UMSDOS possible?
  How? This might be an interesting option for people who want to
  quickly try out Linux without repartitioning.

* I personally feel that listing three long licenses at the end of the
  document is overkill. Why not quickly summarize them in one
  paragraph and provide a pointer to where they can be found?


Axel

-- 
 Axel Boldt  **  boldt@math.ucsb.edu  **  http://www.math.ucsb.edu/%7Eboldt/

Message #12 received at 5583-maintonly@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: remco@blaakmeer.student.utwente.nl (Remco Blaakmeer)

To: 5583-maintonly@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Old bugs need to be looked at

Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 12:25:10 +0100 (CET)

This is an automated message sent to all bugs older than one year.

This bug is very old. Please take a look at it and see if you can fix it.
If it has already been fixed, please close it.

If you have problems fixing it or if you don't have the time to fix it,
please ask the people on debian-devel@lists.debian.org for help, so that
at least the oldest bugs can be solved before Debian 2.0 is released.

Remco Blaakmeer

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