On Thu, Jun 06, 2013 at 08:34:35AM +0200, Bjoern Meier wrote:
> 0hi,
>
> 2013/6/6 Chow Loong Jin <hyper...@debian.org>:
> > On 06/06/2013 06:54, Jeremy Stanley wrote:
> >> On 2013-06-05 15:02:35 -0700 (-0700), Russ Allbery wrote:
> >> [...]
> >>> Did I miss anything?
> >>
> >> I don't understand at all how you could have missed such a prime
> >> opportunity to rile up the vi vs. emacs debate while you were at
> >> it... or am I showing my age?
> >
> > Oh, good idea. /me files a package removal request on vim. Better
> > alternatives
> > (emacs) exist, and we don't need more than one text editor around. Linux
> > isn't
> > about choice!
>
> That's the point: setting any default software is making a choice for
> others. Is Linux about that?
Linux isn't 'about' anything. And you just took away my choice of
kernel. :-)
> Someone will install a desktop? Fine. Ask him which one, not setting a
> default one. THAT is a choice.
Choose at the download page.
If you present all important alternate packages at installation time,
then we have:
- init system
- desktop environment
- mail server
- text editor
- /bin/sh
- high-level package manager, apt vs cupt vs dselect
- wait, what if I wanted to install RPMs?
- and how rebuilding packages with my chosen optimisations?
... where do we stop?
> Think about it: setting a default (of any software with alternatives)
> is to hide a choice. If someone uses only Debian, he's getting Gnome
> all over the time, maybe he would never know that he could have a
> choice.
Remember when we used to dump the user into dselect at installation
time? That gave the user a lot of choice, but it was totally
unmanageable.
> How many window-user know that they could replace explorer.exe,
> Gina.dll? If you are really into "having a choice", then you must give
> the choice and not make it.
It is absolutely the responsibility of a distribution to choose good
defaults. Asking questions that users are not equipped to make is one
of the major sources of annoyance for users.
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
We get into the habit of living before acquiring the habit of thinking.
- Albert Camus
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