Linked by Paul Hankes Drielsma on Tue 15th Apr 2003 06:40 UTC
I can't take anymore comments like "Debian/Gentoo/OpenBSD/etc. are not good/user-friendly because they lack a graphical installer." Searching the web, I couldn't find a comprehensive site describing the good and the bad about graphical installers for various OSes throughout the years, so in this article I hope to debunk a few of the myths on the basis of my own personal and professional experience.
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This was a very good article, and there have been some really good comments as well. There really isn't much to add, but I would like to say something about a couple of installers.
OpenBSD: If the point of an installer is to get the OS from the install media to the hard drive, then OpenBSD's installer has to be one of the best. You can have a fully functional system up in a matter of minutes with the OpenBSD text-based installer and it is very easy to do.
Gentoo: I like the way Gentoo is installed because it gives people new to Linux and even those familiar with Linux a glimpse into what is going on behind the scenes. I like that it forces you to compile your own kernel during the install too. It is an educational experience and learning is ALWAYS a good thing.
The Gentoo install document is almost 30 pages of good information written in a clear format. Anyone who can read and follow directions should be able to set up Gentoo. The only complaints I would voice against Gentoo are regarding the order of certain tasks in the install documentation (such as setting up your network card prior to partitioning your hard drive. They have it backwards in my opinion.)
Anyway, this was a very good article. Thanks.