Posted by member 378001 on 2007-07-30 16:34:57 link
Please do read this wall'o'text, as it explains a few things about me, and why I'm not the troll I seem to be.
First, a word of thanks for the many responses to this thread, many of them with good information, and little "flaming", despite provocation.
Now, on to my responses, in order...
DeViLbOi: Yes. You, as the fanbase, ARE responsible for what's on YouTube. Or rather, what's not there, at the moment. You should have video out there of why someone should choose to put LS on their system. You should be competing for developers. Beryl/Compiz' userbase are skyrocketing right now, because there is an absolute *crapload* of video out there that shows off how they work, what they do, and just general wow factor. Vista appears to have a good following, as well. People have decided they *like* eyecandy.
As for the Ubuntu website, etc... Well, I wouldn't expect that you would have the same layout (which is probably a good thing), but the quality of content is achievable, at least in part. Howtos are fairly easy to make, requiring mainly a basic familiarity with the subject matter, and some time. When I get myself together enough to feel comfortable installing LiteStep (and unpack one of my non-production machines to do it on), I'll be more than happy to help with documentation. As may have been mentioned earlier, your installation instructions leave a bit to be desired.
xcal: I apologize. I was trying to rattle your cage a little, and the majority of the posts that I have seen from you, other than in this particular thread, are informative, if a bit terse in many cases. I will look forward to reading your posts in the future when I am troubleshooting my new LS install, once I get off my lazy derriere and install it... right after I finish moving into my new home. Moving is the dominating force in my life right now, and everything is hectic because of it. Give me a couple weeks, and things should be back to an even keel.
Oh, yeah... and I *did* ask for it, didn't I?
West: No, your initial impression is probably accurate. I think I *was* looking for a fight. At the very least, I was trying to be a spoon, if not an outright troll. Jumping to conclusions, taking things out of context, and in general being a jerk. I wanted to provoke a response, see what kind of fanbase LiteStep has, and thus determine what level of support I could expect to receive when I run into problems. And believe me, I *will* run into problems. My parents used to joke that given a pair of toothpicks, my brother and I could destroy an anvil. The upshot of this is that the knowledge caused by accidental (or purposeful) destruction helps to safeguard against the same issues in the future. I am an IT professional, my brother owns his own construction company. We've broken a few anvils along the way, but we make better hammers now because of it.
On the other hand... the being scared of trashing my system comes from the several warnings sprinkled throughout the LS websites that indicates that LS is not for the technically inept, and some outright warnings that it can "crash your system" if installed improperly, or just from normal use. I can't point at anything specific, and am relying solely on my (admittedly suspect) memory for this impression, and am willing to take this with a grain of salt because of that fact.
My ten-year-old rant was precisely that, a rant.
As for the comments about installation being intimidating, they are accurate. My perception, from what I have read on this site, is that installation is troublesome and potentially problematic. From what I gleaned from this website's downloads section, I have to first download and install the basic package (omar, I believe?), then get several upgrade packages, and finally, I will need to select, download, and install a theme. It reads as if I am going to be performing open-heart surgery on my computer... and I'm a Windows(tm) technician with over 20 years experience with PCs, starting with a TI-99/4a when I was a kid, and moving all the way up to administering literally dozens of municipal networks today. I triple boot XP Home, XP PRo/64, and Ubuntu Desktop 7.04 - I'm a Linux noob, but I'm certified on Windows(tm).
Speaking as an IT professional, I would recommend someone give your product a miss at this time, based on documentation availability and apparent ease of use... unless they were a hobbyist interested in the scene, or wanting a good coding toy/project. This is easily (hah! as if anything is ever easy) remedied by improving documentation and simplifying the download and installation process.
To everyone: Thanks for putting up with my button-pushing. It has been an enlightening experience all round, I'm sure. I do intend to install and play with LiteStep, and I am *certain* that I will require assistance at some point. What I have gotten from this exchange is that tempers can flare here (only mildly, and that's impressive for a forum), but if someone is persistant, the community supports them. I'm looking forward to the good-natured ribbing I'll receive when my posts wander into the support forums.
Please take my words to heart about your front page, I meant them. More information (not pictures, words!) is vital. Please also consider giving LiteStep some fanboy presence on the video sites - it's the global commons, if you see what I mean. If you haven't the foggiest notion how to capture video of your desktop, you might look into FRAPS, a free video capture program (ok, shareware, but still. No skin off your wallet).
If someone would take the installer in hand, get it up-to-date, make it simple, point, click, reboot... It would make a lot of people less frightened of LS. There are literally millions of people out there who want the eyecandy, and most of them are in the "it should 'just work'" category. For some of them, the urge to tinker will run rampant. I'm in that latter category. I've been breaking computers and other electronics for over 20 years now.
I can *usually* put them right again after ;)
First, a word of thanks for the many responses to this thread, many of them with good information, and little "flaming", despite provocation.
Now, on to my responses, in order...
DeViLbOi: Yes. You, as the fanbase, ARE responsible for what's on YouTube. Or rather, what's not there, at the moment. You should have video out there of why someone should choose to put LS on their system. You should be competing for developers. Beryl/Compiz' userbase are skyrocketing right now, because there is an absolute *crapload* of video out there that shows off how they work, what they do, and just general wow factor. Vista appears to have a good following, as well. People have decided they *like* eyecandy.
As for the Ubuntu website, etc... Well, I wouldn't expect that you would have the same layout (which is probably a good thing), but the quality of content is achievable, at least in part. Howtos are fairly easy to make, requiring mainly a basic familiarity with the subject matter, and some time. When I get myself together enough to feel comfortable installing LiteStep (and unpack one of my non-production machines to do it on), I'll be more than happy to help with documentation. As may have been mentioned earlier, your installation instructions leave a bit to be desired.
xcal: I apologize. I was trying to rattle your cage a little, and the majority of the posts that I have seen from you, other than in this particular thread, are informative, if a bit terse in many cases. I will look forward to reading your posts in the future when I am troubleshooting my new LS install, once I get off my lazy derriere and install it... right after I finish moving into my new home. Moving is the dominating force in my life right now, and everything is hectic because of it. Give me a couple weeks, and things should be back to an even keel.
Oh, yeah... and I *did* ask for it, didn't I?
West: No, your initial impression is probably accurate. I think I *was* looking for a fight. At the very least, I was trying to be a spoon, if not an outright troll. Jumping to conclusions, taking things out of context, and in general being a jerk. I wanted to provoke a response, see what kind of fanbase LiteStep has, and thus determine what level of support I could expect to receive when I run into problems. And believe me, I *will* run into problems. My parents used to joke that given a pair of toothpicks, my brother and I could destroy an anvil. The upshot of this is that the knowledge caused by accidental (or purposeful) destruction helps to safeguard against the same issues in the future. I am an IT professional, my brother owns his own construction company. We've broken a few anvils along the way, but we make better hammers now because of it.
On the other hand... the being scared of trashing my system comes from the several warnings sprinkled throughout the LS websites that indicates that LS is not for the technically inept, and some outright warnings that it can "crash your system" if installed improperly, or just from normal use. I can't point at anything specific, and am relying solely on my (admittedly suspect) memory for this impression, and am willing to take this with a grain of salt because of that fact.
My ten-year-old rant was precisely that, a rant.
As for the comments about installation being intimidating, they are accurate. My perception, from what I have read on this site, is that installation is troublesome and potentially problematic. From what I gleaned from this website's downloads section, I have to first download and install the basic package (omar, I believe?), then get several upgrade packages, and finally, I will need to select, download, and install a theme. It reads as if I am going to be performing open-heart surgery on my computer... and I'm a Windows(tm) technician with over 20 years experience with PCs, starting with a TI-99/4a when I was a kid, and moving all the way up to administering literally dozens of municipal networks today. I triple boot XP Home, XP PRo/64, and Ubuntu Desktop 7.04 - I'm a Linux noob, but I'm certified on Windows(tm).
Speaking as an IT professional, I would recommend someone give your product a miss at this time, based on documentation availability and apparent ease of use... unless they were a hobbyist interested in the scene, or wanting a good coding toy/project. This is easily (hah! as if anything is ever easy) remedied by improving documentation and simplifying the download and installation process.
To everyone: Thanks for putting up with my button-pushing. It has been an enlightening experience all round, I'm sure. I do intend to install and play with LiteStep, and I am *certain* that I will require assistance at some point. What I have gotten from this exchange is that tempers can flare here (only mildly, and that's impressive for a forum), but if someone is persistant, the community supports them. I'm looking forward to the good-natured ribbing I'll receive when my posts wander into the support forums.
Please take my words to heart about your front page, I meant them. More information (not pictures, words!) is vital. Please also consider giving LiteStep some fanboy presence on the video sites - it's the global commons, if you see what I mean. If you haven't the foggiest notion how to capture video of your desktop, you might look into FRAPS, a free video capture program (ok, shareware, but still. No skin off your wallet).
If someone would take the installer in hand, get it up-to-date, make it simple, point, click, reboot... It would make a lot of people less frightened of LS. There are literally millions of people out there who want the eyecandy, and most of them are in the "it should 'just work'" category. For some of them, the urge to tinker will run rampant. I'm in that latter category. I've been breaking computers and other electronics for over 20 years now.
I can *usually* put them right again after ;)