We already have the six-page
Preface and (chapter one) the
Introduction.
The existing
Basics (chapter three) does already include
the EDITOR variable, amongst others.
SilverC3ll I know that you're not a lazy person. As a newcomer, please, how would you rank these five options?
ee (easy editor) as a default- a concise, newcomer-oriented wiki page explaining the value of setting a default
EDITOR (and how to do so; three or four lines)
- expansion of the book of frequently asked questions
- a minor change to FreeBSD Handbook section 3.9 to exemplify easy editor instead of emacs
- expansion of section 3.10 to include not only the link to vi(1) but also a
vi tutorial that must be read before attempting installation of FreeBSD
Thank you for your considerate words; I have no experience yet with
ee and well, as "prosthetic" as this might sound, vi is not so much of a challenge when one is assisted effectively by AI, a luxury contemporary beginners have in their learning process and feels very much like having a personal mentor. I do think, of course, that what you suggest in
point one and
two is very reasonable: you will be managing the entire operating system by editing configuration files, and first offering a mastery of whatever default text editor makes a lot of sense; and offering explanations of a few alternative editors as well. Vi is of course a challenge; I am presently gaining experience in the easier
nano and I would wonder why one would want a more difficult editor to be a default, unless the more challenging editor is indeed more effective. Of course, I seem to understand everyone in the UNIX community appreciates intelligence; it is indeed
a culture of intelligence, and therefore I can understand that making some things easier might come across as almost culturally offensive, as if it "lamifies" the use of the operating system and ultimately opens the floodgates to a Windows-like userbase, harming the culture. I think when such developments are resisted, it is because we honour the culture of intelligence (
laziness was already mentioned in this thread). And yet, it cannot be denied that no effective operating system will intentionally make itself difficult to use! An effective operating system is one that is easy, stable, and everything just works. This means that it is ultimately desired to find a balance between intelligence and ease of use, basically leading to an Ubuntu or Mint-like evolution where the elite and your proverbial not-so-erudite grandmother co-exist. The culture of intelligence becomes a
choice the moment you choose to open the hood and remove the gui; but ease of use remains the main objective, from an open-source mentality not in terms of being
competitive necessarily, but certainly
accessible and being able to serve humanity's technological advancements from an ethical and humane perspective (e.g. avoiding Microsoft-like data-theft; Bill Gates needs not know what your girlfriend looks like).
As to
point three, concerning the expansion of the FAQ, my experience with FreeBSD is not yet thorough enough to make any meaningful statement about it. Everything seems rather accessible, and I just noticed the "
cool joke" ;-). Of course, being as thorough as possible is always appreciated.
I think as to
point four and
five, that my above statements have expressed my humble neophyte view: why choose a difficult editor over an easier editor, unless the more difficult editor is more effective or versatile? I think if I were a developer, I would have to look at what features configuration-file editing needs in a text editor. If an easier editor possesses all those features, then why use a more complicated one? Again, as mentioned above, this might be a choice unconsciously motivated out of
culture rather than a choice of
efficiency, should vi be elected over a more user-friendly editor. This potential proclivity, of course, can harm the progress of FreeBSD's public accessibility.
I'm an author and turned to FreeBSD in order to increase my privacy, not wanting my voice persecuted or activities monitored for having a view the establishment might disapprove of (feeling warned by Edward Snowden; sharing some of the views of J.B. Peterson and Elon Musk). Though I write about Oriental philosophy, I think my ability of seeing conceptual coherences and communicate them with a certain measure of skill, if humility would allow me to say such, will enable me to turn my note-taking in my progression as a semi-IT neophyte into a documentation that will ultimately read much like a "FreeBSD for Dummies", which I think is a type of communication that is presently lacking. Yes, I know, "- for Dummies" can be a bit of an oxymoron, because there is realistically no such thing as "Quantum Physics for Dummies", like so there is also no such thing as "FreeBSD for Dummies." However, the "for Dummies" approach simply means as little jargon is assumed as understood, and is avoided as much as possible, speaking the language of the uninitiated.
My approach will be this:
- Not assuming any prior knowledge of computers while introducing basic computing from a FreeBSD perspective;
- This will leave no epistemic gaps while thoroughly explaining the FreeBSD operating system;
- Gamify the content of each chapter and header via interactive quizzes such as via quizizz.com, basically creating a "Duolingo" for FreeBSD concepts and scenarios. Interactive learning while utilising a "punishment and reward" system addresses a primitive survival mechanism of our psyche that correlates success or failure with a primal life/death scenario (the most basic form of punishment and reward). This means the concepts taught in this manner become emotionally relevant to certain aspects of the psyche; information that is emotionally relevant is information that is retained;
- I will attain a BSD certificate in order to possess enough authenticity;
- The written work will be subject to scrupulous feedback from the community; if the general consensus is that I have failed, then I would accept that judgement;
- I will only compose this document after a minimum of three-year-use of the FreeBSD operating system;
- The document will be published for free; gratitude can be expressed financially by donating to the FreeBSD Foundation.
In terms of improving FreeBSD education, I think it would be great if the FreeBSD platform would offer shells that have certain problematic FreeBSD configurations; assisted by a relevant tutorial, the user is guided in solving the problem, explaining every concept along the way. I would personally further empower this by supporting each scenario with a quiz to test apprehension of utilised concepts.
A next step would be setting up shells for FreeBSD pentesting and vulnerability patching. I noticed there are many legal hacking challenges but, if a quick glance allowed me to see this correctly, they all seem to be centred mainly around Linux, and a bit of Windows.
These two approaches,
problematic FreeBSD configurations and vulnerable configurations, will greatly enhance the FreeBSD learning process and will, in my view, allow FreeBSD to reach the greater public. It even becomes a fun puzzle and will appeal to the culture of intelligence. There are virtually no (interactive) courses for FreeBSD for as far I could see; though I'm presently following an excellent course by UrbanPenguin on Udemy. His is the only one I could find. I hope that that will change in the future. Not even the BSD certification platform of
Ipi.org, if I understand correctly, offers any actual education.
EDIT: I suppose the shell solution could also be replaced by an image/iso solution: offering certain installation files that have a respective maintenance challenge preconfigured in them, serving as downloadable course-modules in a way.
Sincerely,
SilverC3ll
