Subj : Re: Too many? :)
To   : Ky Moffet
From : Ky Moffet
Date : Mon Sep 21 2020 22:43:00

KY MOFFET wrote:
> So there's finally a KDE-on-Debian that at least looks decent live.
> Let's try that... if we can figure out the damn partitioner. Not sure
> what took it so long but it didn't actually do anything; here's Mageia's
> /home still intact (well, at least I didn't have to redo my KDE
> settings), in part because it wouldn't let me change it. Two hours later
> it's finally installed.... at first it was really sluggish; seems to
> have gotten better. Letting it run updates, but I don't see anything to
> induce me to switch. Only reason to not nuke it is that the installer is
> a major PITA and I don't want to do it again, ever. Makes Windows
> installs look simple.

Okay, I am done with anything directly based on Debian (ie. close enough 
descendant to use Debian's installer). This is the dumbest thing I've 
ever seen. Q4OS is quite nice as a live system, using Trinity desktop. 
But the current ISO would not run live so let's do a test install, what 
the heck.

System: Xeon E1620v2 (same family as i7-4xxx), 64GB RAM. No slouch in 
the performance department.

Do you want to answer questions or do a wholly automated install?
A: Automated. (We saw enough Ugly Debian Questions last night.)
Q: Do you want to nuke all your data?
A: There is no data, dummy. Yes, please.

Half an hour later:
Reboots, but takes so long at first I thought it was hung. Then:
Q: What is your password?
A: ****
A: ****
[Note that it did not ask for a username. I have no idea what it is.]
Q: Do you want to install just Trinity, or KDE too?
A: This was billed as a Trinity ISO, WTF. Geez, just Trinity.

Now downloading Trinity...
Seriously??

Half an hour later.... I am still watching it download body parts. 
Trinity is not that big (a whole install ISO can be had for under 
500mb). I see all kinds of crap going by that is not part of Trinity.

[As to the usual excuse that "downloading during install ensures that 
you have the latest version" .... Debian uses a 3 year old kernel. Well, 
in this case, no matter; Trinity also uses a 3 year old kernel.]

Finally it is done downloading. Now it is Unpacking.... approximately 
10,000 downloaded files. This requires three steps per file: Preparing 
to Unpack, Selecting Previously Unselected Package, and Unpacking.

Now it is variously Setting Up or Processing Triggers For each of these 
10,000 downloaded files, which have become "Reading Database for 170,502 
files already installed." (Yes, that was the actual number.)

Now it is apparently doing an update on Chrome, among other things.

Back to Unpacking.
Seriously??

Finally, 1 hour and 21 minutes later (I timed it) it is Finished!
[To be fair, a fast connection would trim the "Downloading" part.]
Click "Finish".

At last, the desktop!

With a ten year old version of Konqueror (last updated two years ago) 
and a two year old version of LibreOffice. Why were we downloading as we 
installed, again?? Otherwise, a moderate selection of the Usual Stuff.

It croggles me that anyone could regard the above (and Trinity is one of 
the smaller and simpler desktops), as an easier and more-efficient 
install than Windows. And mind you this was the "automated" version.

Or in just FIVE MINUTES, using a single ISO and requiring no internet, 
one can install PCLOS/TDE "Big Daddy" (which includes current versions 
of all the not-too-obscure software that will run on Trinity).
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