POS?Forum: User Feedback Topic: POS? started by: haarvik Posted by haarvik on Mar. 22 2004,17:54
After messing with this POS for 3 days, I have come to the conclusion that it just doesn't live up to the hype. Issues?1) Networking doesn't start automatically if you have static IP 2) If you set a static IP, you can't go back to DHCP 3) God forbid you want to add something...et al vlc...broken libs..it segfaults or can't join multicast group. 4) And don't forget about the forums...post and you might get a response in 24 hours. Just because YOU don't want to go above 50mb doesn't mean others don't. There are a lot of useful programs people want. You shouldn't force them into not using them. Guys, if you're gonna put something like this out, make sure it works before you do. Read your forums...you'll find out what people want. Posted by TyphoonMentat on Mar. 22 2004,18:31
Well, perhaps this distribution isn't for you if you want one larger than 50Mb. There are plenty of other Live-CDs out there - Feather, Flonix, SLAX, Morphix, Kurumin, and even Knoppix itself.And personally, I find that these are some of the most responsive and useful forums on the internet. Posted by haarvik on Mar. 22 2004,18:46
Whether it's for me or not isn't the issue. It's the fact that things are broken and instead of telling people how to fix them, the common response I see is "It'll be fixed in the next release".I was hoping this distro would have what was needed for my application. The one I find that meets my needs will end up benefiting tremendously. If I can't find one, then I guess I'll have to do my own. Posted by Dan on Mar. 22 2004,19:29
Harvik, who forced you to use DSL? And how much did they force you pay to download the iso? Instead of bitching, why don't you figure out the solution to you problem and share your fix with the community?I am sure you can fix your DHCP/static problem by intelligently using the 'restore' AND /opt/bootlocal.sh scripts included in DSL. Posted by POG on Mar. 22 2004,19:44
I don't get it - POS?DSL is a work in progress (note the "0." at the beginning of the version number). In spite of this, when I browse the forums, I see lots of people reporting that: - the solutions they get on the forums work - DSL detects their hardware better than other distros they've tried - DSL works well on their older hardware - they're happy with DSL I have yet to work with a distro which works perfectly, and the other live-CD distros I've tried have had more glitches than DSL. I really appreciate all the work John and others have put into this project. As a specialized distro, I'd call DSL a POG (Piece of Gold). Posted by haarvik on Mar. 22 2004,19:53
Nobody forced me to use it. I read the description and thought I was getting a decent distro. Secondly, had there been documentation on where and how to reset networking, that would not have been an issue.The problem with opensource accross the board is modularity and documentation. I can't tell how many times I have downloaded something, only to find out there are dependanceis that aren't met. If that wasn't bad enough, there is no documentation to tell you which app you need to fill those. This is common everywhere...from RedHat to Debian. It's no wonder Microcrap is leading the computing world. At least when you download a program they TELL you what is required to run it. Posted by Dan on Mar. 22 2004,22:36
You should stick with Microsoft products.
Posted by haarvik on Mar. 22 2004,22:40
Well, it is definitely looking better all the time.As for "reposnses on forum", I've had a post there since this morning with no response. Quick, huh? Posted by Dang N00b User on Mar. 23 2004,00:46
Since this morning? Do you think that DSL users sit around during weekdays monitoring this forum? We're talking volunteers giving their time reading and responding to posts (and sometimes testing solutions before responding). Give the user community some time, jeez.
Posted by Del on Mar. 23 2004,03:11
*can't quit laughing* Yup, installing DSL forced me into not using software I like. I mean, it was so difficult to install things I wanted. Took all of 15 seconds to type 'apt-get install make gcc g++' so I could compile exactly what I wanted. Besides, people who didn't want to stay within the 50Mb limit of DamnSmall probably wouldn't have messed with it to begin with. Nor would they have expected a full-blown OS out of a mini distro. The others who don't want to stay below 50 have done their own thing, and created some bigger distros that are just fine, some even based on DSL from the start. Regarding the post since this morning. As mentioned, noone here does this for a 'real' job. It's all volunteer. Most answers come in the afternoon-evening (and more than a few in the middle of the night). Go ahead, post a Windows question to microsoft.com and see how long it takes to get a real answer there. My bet is it's longer than 12-ish hours. If that answer is "It'll be fixed in the next release" you can count on waiting another year or two. With DSL the next release is likely to happen within a few weeks, if not a couple days. Finally, "If I can't find one, then I guess I'll have to do my own". Indeed, that's the point. If you don't like it, take the code, tweak it to suit, and make your own custom doowhackey. Bitching about it won't get you anywhere. Posted by Grim on Mar. 23 2004,03:57
And the hype you've heard about this distro is...? The distro is primarily intended to be a 50MB "live cd". What'd you expect? Mozilla? OpenOffice? Gnome? Kde? It's safe to say you had unrealistic expectations, it's also fairly safe to say you're being an ####### about it.
If John and crew caved and branched out beyond 50Megs then the project has failed. Install the distro to hard drive and do a dpkg-restore, you can install till your heart's content. The live CD needs to remain at 50MB, while it might not be enough for you, there are plenty of people who are perfectly content with things the way they are. Personally, I don't see any need to change things just because you're not getting your way and want to cry like a big, bottle-sucking baby.
Unless you're having compiler issues, probably due to the use of busybox instead of gcc, I'm not running into anything that's broken. I doubt DSL'll switch out busybox for a fullblown gcc anytime soon due to size constraints. And if you don't like it, I encourage you to make your own. Set up a website (with your own money), develop the distro (on your own time), and set up a forum that answers your users questions (instantaneously, because you obviously have the time). And then when we get more users of your mindset we can direct them to your distribution that will obviously fill their required niche, and everyone will be happy. That is until you get some user on your messageboard that throws a tantrum and calls you a loser because you didn't include vlc in your distribution.
There's nothing wrong with DSL, it works as advertised. Fullblown desktop and plenty of apps to go with it. You didn't get exactly what you wanted on your timetable, boo-ing-hoo. I hate to be like this, but you're being anything but diplomatic about this. It seems to me like you downloaded an iso, burnt it to disk, tried it out and it wasn't exactly what you wanted, so you fell in the floor like a two-year-old in a department store kicking and screaming until you got your way. Only this time it doesn't look like the little screaming fit is going to work. I do have a suggestion for you though, why don't you be a nice man and email John and offer to pay him in order to get the functionality you want added to the CD. If he accepts your offer, you get what you want and DSL get's a little more funding and you don't come off sounding like a little brat complaining about he didn't get the exact shade of blue transformer he wanted for his birthday. Posted by roberts on Mar. 23 2004,03:59
Well, here is your answer dude.Dan is so right, it is simply to use the /opt/bootlocal.sh and backup/ restore Add the following lines to /opt/bootlocal.sh ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.12 netmask 255.255.255.0 route add default gw 192.168.0.1 Your Welcome Posted by haarvik on Mar. 23 2004,12:51
No, I tried it for 3 days. Things like apt-get having errors like "size mismatch" makes it kinda hard to install what you want. Not being able to reset your IP makes it kinda hard to install what you want. As a live CD? Yes it is fine. As a hard drive install? No, too many issues.I looked at many small distros and they all have the same common problem....multimedia support sux. When I try to play an mpeg I get seg fault errors. I imagine that's due to busybox or fluxbox. My own distro? Yes I will most likely do it, and yes I DO have the time to answer peoples questions. I answer them on other forums usually before the authors do. And as for donations or paying someone, when and if I ever find the one that does really support multimedia and works easily in the upgrade department, I will engage them to develop it further for my needs. But thats the whole point. If you can't get an answer to a question relatively quickly, why would you engage them to take it a step further? Oh, and thanks roberts...but with mpeg's giving a seg fault it's kinda pointless now. Posted by roberts on Mar. 23 2004,18:47
I regually play mpegs, listen to internet radio, and stream audio. There was a problem with ogg/mp3 that has been fixed in 0.6.2. Believe me busybox has nothing to do with limiting the liveCD and all the apps therein.
Posted by Grim on Mar. 24 2004,01:53
And in three days you couldn't figure out how to use the search feature on these forums. Roberts seemed to be able to find the solution to your problem on this forum in just a few minutes. I myself told you how to get around the apt-get problem--"dpkg-restore".
< Other people don't seem to be having your problems... > I don't know your particular problems, but if nothing you've tried seems to work, the problem might not be with the distributions. Just a thought.
I'm proud for you, I hope it works out as well as you think it will. I think you'll appreciate John's effort more, once you undertake your own distro.
If you're looking for multimedia support, have you tired < Dyne:bolic >, they're primarily a multimedia distribution and their latest ISO is 612MB. I doubt you're gonna find/create a multimedia distro under 100MB, but I encourage you to prove me wrong. DSL isn't for you, that's the way it goes sometimes. Hope you find/create what you're looking for...best of luck. |