Re: [gNewSense-users] Marketing Suggestion: Put up a Web page about gNewSense

[Harry Prevor]

kbp wrote:
> I put a simple Web page up about my installation of gNewSense.
>
> http://sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/gNewSense.html

Wow, this is great! Very informative, even for a long-time gNewSense user
like me. I plan on doing the same for my Yeeloong and my desktop as soon
as I get home.

Some suggestions for improving the page:

- You should note that users should not make LiveUSBs with anything but
`cat', as per bugs #39912 and #39986. This is, as far as I know, not yet
fixed in gNS 3.1, and it seems to be one of the most common problems users
have when trying to install gNewSense. Unfortunately this seems to leave
Windows users unable to install gNewSense via USB, but there is a `cat'
for Windows: <http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/coreutils.htm>
Someone should try to make a gNewSense LiveUSB on Windows using that
method and see if it works.

- The kernel that comes with gNewSense is quite old and as a result some
users, especially on laptops, find that their hardware doesn't work well;
you should probably tell users that they can upgrade their kernel using
jxself's repository at <http://jxself.org/linux-libre/> if they are having
problems like a low screen resolution or an unsupported device.

- You could also note that users can upgrade their web browser to
Iceweasel 17 easily via <http://mozilla.debian.net/> (choosing oldstable,
iceweasel, esr). As far as I'm aware, there are no freedom issues with
these packages; I'd like a confirmation on that before recommending them
to new users though.

- gNS 3.1 is currently "semi-released" in that the netboot images are
available via <http://gnewsense.org/Main/Download>, but the live images
are still not released. It fixes the default sources.list and installs
network-manager-gnome by default. You should probably note this in the
guide so some users don't get confused when they find that some of your
issues are already fixed.

> I suggest as many that can put a page up somewhere so we can get more
> visibility.
>
> Perhaps use 'usesthis.com' as a template?

Hm. Interesting that the software that powers usesthis.com is free
software: <https://github.com/waferbaby/usesthis/> I'll try to run it on
my gNewSense webserver when I get home. Could be a good idea.

P.S. Nice to see gNewSense get a mention at
<http://richard.stallman.usesthis.com/>; does anyone know if all that
information is still accurate (published in 2010)?

> Cheers all, looking forward to testing the 3.1 live ISO

As am I! Good things ahead!

-- 
Harry Prevor