Andy R <quadreverb@yahoo.com> wrote:
 
> It sure would be cool to see a nice bright green
> package of CD's at the local store, complete with a CD
> for "easy install and setup" or whatever you want to
> call it, but I don't really see that effort pushing
> NetBSD as a whole forward too much.

I believe it would push NetBSD a whole LOT.  Just having a boxed set of
CD's that one can spend money on makes it much more appealing for some
people.  People think it's weird to download and install their Operating
System.  Something about thousands of years of bying shrink-wrapped
products. ;-)

I think, if it's on the shelf, people will buy it.

> If Wasabi wants to
> do it, more power to them because they deserve all the
> exposure they can get. But otherwise, is it really
> worth the effort? What we have now ain't all that bad,
> and it fits in nice with the minimalist feel that
> NetBSD adheres to. Maybe a mildly revamped sysinst and
> a quick start manual is all that's needed? 

Thing about boxed sets is, I believe, that the most important part is
the "quick start manual".  It better be Frederico Lupi's Guide PLUS some
idito-proof instructions.

The reason SuSE Linux is doing so well is, I believe, mostly due to the
fact that they managed to create a very simple point-n-click installer
and sell all that with (a) a whole bunch of packages (6 CDs!) and (b)
some actually decent documentation.  Thick books that actually take the
newbie by the hand and explain stuff.

That is something that NetBSD may not even want to do (the question
about the target audience, again), but exhaustive documentation is an
essential part of the whole boxed-product thingy.  Which makes it the
more difficult.

-Jan

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