On Wed, 26 Dec 2007, Ed Greshko wrote: > Robert P. J. Day wrote: > > for the first time, i'd like to download the fedora 8 x86_64 re-spin > > and, to be frank, there's not a single web page i've found that tells > > me how to use jigdo to do it. > > > > i've perused the tutorials and HOWTOs at fedoraunity.org and > > followed links, and i'm now fairly conversant on the rationale behind > > re-spins and why jigdo was developed and a whole lot of other stuff > > but i've yet to find a single page that says, "oh, you want a re-spin? > > follow these steps." > > > > seriously, this is what i think has been a fundamental failing of a > > lot of online fedora documentation -- the notion of a simple "recipe": > > do these things, and you will get what you want. instead, there's > > typically a great deal of philosophical substantiation, while the poor > > reader is just sitting there, thinking, "well, yeah, but i just want > > to *do* something, so how do i *do* it?" (it's sort of like, when i > > ask someone for the time, i want them to tell me the time, i don't > > need to be told how to build a watch.) > > > > so, really, when i decided to grab a re-spin, i figured to invest a > > minute or two googling, find the command, and run it. i'm still > > looking. why is it typically this time-consuming? > > Not 100% sure what you are asking...but are you seeking > http://atterer.net/jigdo/ for guidance? sort of, but not quite. (in fact, i'd already been there.) let me explain. as someone who writes a *lot* of technical documentation (mostly linux-related courseware manuals), i'm always interested in finding clear and concise ways to explain how to do things. and sometimes, as an experiment, if i'm trying to do something for the first time, i approach it from the perspective of pretending i know *nothing* about a particular topic, and see how long it takes me to figure out how to do what i want. in terms of grabbing a fedora 8 x86_64 respin, i figured i'd just start with google and see how long it took me to find the appropriate command. so i googled and started following links and, yes, i ended up at atterer.net but, technically, if i'm new to jigdo, i'm not looking for "guidance", i'm looking for how to *do* something. and, IMHO: 1) i should eventually find the command or commands to run, and 2) if it's related to downloading fedora ISOs, i shouldn't have to leave a fedora-related website to learn how. maybe i just wandered off following the wrong link but, if someone else on this list wants to test this and has never downloaded a respin, i'm curious as to how long it would take to figure out how to do it based on just reading the online docs and following links. maybe it's just me. maybe i need more coffee this morning. but i still haven't run across a simple paragraph that reads, "oh, you want a respin? do this, this and this, and it's yours." instead, what you normally get is a rambling, philosophical discourse on what some tool is for, and why it's useful and so on. personally, when i ask someone the time, i want them to tell me the time; i don't want to be told how to build a watch. anyway, if there's single web page that gives the recipe, i will of course eat crow and be suitably embarrassed. rday ======================================================================== Robert P. J. Day Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA http://crashcourse.ca ========================================================================
