I never really say anything here, but I feel like I should here. I do agree with Mike here. When I install a DOS, I just want it to be DOS, so I always install just the base option with FreeDOS. Having less packages also means you have more control over the software and the project.
Yes, you have the choice between installing base, full, etc. However, if you install full, you will get a lot of stuff that you will probably never use. So the packaging people here are taking a lot of effort to make extra sure more people will use less of their packaging work. There is some chart, I believe it's a bit of a joke, but it shows that people only use like 10% of any software on a regular basis. That is a low amount. And if that's already the case with base (which for me it is), then how about full? Like Mike said, isn't it easier to just offer base and then provide a repository with open source packages that people can choose from? It also offers control over the project. And then there's the added benefit that people who install the software from that repository, always get the newest release of that software. Also, if someone has some proprietary text editor they really like, and want to use it, it won't be in full. Those people will never install full, because they will get six other editors installed on their system too. Or they will, and they'll get those six other editors which they will never use and are now using up precious disk space. When I use FreeDOS, I feel like a lot of choices are made FOR me. That's not how I think software should be. Certainly not DOS. Six editors installed with full? Why? Who is going to use all six editors? What is the chance that someone will choose not to use those editors? Why does FreeDOS choose my editors for me? I know I can choose not to use them, but they are installed now, so what do I do? Delete them? You're introducing a lot of extra work and thinking steps for the user this way. Even Windows 10, which installs games and software on first start-up, that no one has asked for, at least is nice enough to install only one from each category. If you want one package from full, you have to install the entire category and uninstall the rest, or uncheck them from a screen. I don't want to. There are a lot of people that use FreeDOS just because it's a DOS, and not because it's libre or free. Libre also means freedom. To me that also refers to having the libre to choose your own packages. Less is more. - Maarten PS: I used editors in my examples but pick any category you like.
_______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
