New feature idea: Linux distro chooser wizard!

sewer_monkey · 06-25-2002, 06:55 PM

erm... I was thinking more along the lines of Perl or PHP... Ever tried to write any CGI app in C++?!? Why bother when there's perl and PHP?!?

bigjohn · 06-26-2002, 06:36 AM

As a very recent newcomer to linux (had it dual booting for about a month now) and a very recent reader here at LQ, I notice that some of the contributors to the thread are some of the bigger names in posting at LQ who are obviously, exceptionally knowledgable.

I notice that the commercial aspect of such a facility seems to have been mainly overlooked in the current posts in favour of various posters' personal preferences and experiences.

Surely, while it's fair to say "I like xxx distro because of ..." it should not be presumed that that would necessarily (but probably) lead to the use of a specific distro being used for a given level of user.

In my case I can say that i would have needed more help in getting mandrake up and running than I did to get the suse that i am currently trying to understand on the go, this is purely because when I installed the mandrake, yes it did have a nice friendly feel and it also at least acknowledged the existance of the usb modem that I already had for my dsl service under windows, but it stomped all over the windows boot loader and would not let me in, leaving me with no net access at all (and I was very pissed off with the 2 hour windows re - install brought on by my lack of knowledge)

The suse does seem to have a colder more distant approach (and yes I am well aware that some would level that comment as a german national trait!) but in its defense, it installed with the minimal of fuss, seamlessly allowing me to dual boot with windows which meant I still had outside contact to try and find help/information when I get stuck

I should like to also point out that the vast majority of newbies (judging from reading some of the posts at LQ) will have little or no knowledge of either linux or most of the available applications that come with any given distro.

Someone suggested a possible sample question of "do you want a GUI (kde/gnome)?"

With a lot of potential newbies you would have to explain what a GUI is, and this inturn questions the reasoning for wanting to try a linux distro in the first place.

I will be honest, whilst I have a brother who is not only an IT professional and linux (red hat) obsessive, the older I get, the more left wing I become as a person (life experience/observing various iniquities in the world etc etc). Consequently, these are the main, though not the only reasons to want desperately to try something different and move away from microsoft dependancy. This is as opposed to a pure enjoyment of things IT. i.e. it's less of a toy and more of a tool (and I can still stand here and call "Uncle Bill" a bastard).

Oh and the logical conclusion for a distro chooser, would be a completely different web site that could be in a position to attract a fair slice of financial support - but would the site organiser have the "balls" to stay impartial and not fall into the trap of the deepest pockets!!

Well done all of you but I still want a large fries with the next portion of thought!!!

(which then opens the debate for ketchup v mayonaise on the fries - sorry I'll have to go for the european flavour and opt for the mayo)

RefriedBean · 06-26-2002, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rverlander
Heres what I would like in it:

Do you want a GUI (KDE/Gnome)?

Just remember that ANY distro can have a GUI, as long as it runs X/DirectFB/Something. I mean, I have seen quite a few LFS boxes that run KDE

RefriedBean

Mara · 06-26-2002, 12:14 PM

99.999% of newcommers want GUI. So the default answer is: yes.

Eits0 · 06-27-2002, 02:35 PM

Code:

#include <iostream.h>
void main()
{
int a, b;
cout << "===Welcome to Ultimate Linux Chooser===\n";
cout << "Do you like tweaking settings(y/n)? ";
cin >> a;
if (a == y)
  {
  cout << "Do you know what bash stands for(y/n)? ";
  cin << b;
  if (b == y)
    cout << "Slackware are worth trying for you!\n";
  else 
  cout <<  "Go with Debian!\n";
  }
else 
 cout << "Give Mandrake or RedHat a try!\n";
 cout << "Find RedHat in TuxCDs.com as XXX XXX.\n";
}

Not sure if everything is correct, just felt like writing something.
I can't any perl.
EDIT// What is CGI???

Mara · 06-27-2002, 04:23 PM

This piece is not checking if values are correct, but nice try

Eits0 · 06-28-2002, 04:15 PM

How to make it check?
Just on day 5, can't know everything

Well, it works anyway, tho it might not be stablest program out there.

Mara · 06-28-2002, 04:44 PM

You need to read to a char table, then look if the value is correct (for example, no numbers).
BTW, not if(a == y), but if(a == 'y')

Eits0 · 06-29-2002, 10:53 AM

aha.
Day 6 going, back to study