Re: Fedora Coverstory in Linux Format -- comments from a fellow technical author

[Bryan Smith]

Andy Hudson wrote:  
>  Andy here - _the_ Andy who wrote the review for Linux Format. 
First off, thank you for responding.  As a fellow technical author I
understand the frustration to write an article that everyone doesn't
consider biased.  Many times, no matter how extensively you try to
convey context and consideration-specific aspects of a viewpoint, people
will still think you are biased all to often.  So I understand the
difficulty in pleasing everyone.

>  What I don't want to do is kick off a flame war about the
> relative
>  merits of Fedora or Ubuntu. 
Unfortunately, that's partially what happens when you compare
distributions.  I personally avoid using "rubrics" and other "value
comparisons" and, instead, try to list a set of features and how they
were implemented.  Many times, I find things are "different," not so
much "better/worse."

I know it's hard to avoid.  Ironically, in a Linux and community
developed software world where many distros use the same software,
people coming from the "commercial" software world tend to still want
"shootouts" and "versus" arguments.  It's hard to force people
into a
"discussion" about how different distributions approach things.

>  What I will do at the start is point to my closing statement about
>  Fedora which is:
>  "Once again a solid distro, with added Xen goodness. Give Fedora a
>  chance to impress and you won't regret it" 
Unfortunately, people will only focus on what they disagree with.
That's the reality of any article where you make comparisons.  ;->

>  For what it's worth, what I meant to convey with the partitioning
> is
>  the lack of re-sizing for the average Windows Joe who needs to make
>  room on their hard drive for Fedora. 
If I can add one piece of advise, don't assume everyone is coming from
Windows.  Take the time to explain something from multiple user
standpoints.  If you can't in the space/size allocation, then consider
_avoiding_ it -- or better yet -- add a sidebar.

In this case, you could have stated something like ...

"Fedora's partitioning is powerful and favors advanced volume features
like LVM2 in the GUI that will please experienced and corporate
UNIX/Linux administrators.  Unfortunately, for those with disks already
dedicated entirely to Windows, Fedora offers no ability to resize
partitions in its Anaconda installer which may prevent its
recommendation to those newer to Linux or without such additional
tools."

You could probably cut that down and/or integrate Ubuntu comments into a
total of a single paragraph.  It's always ideal if you can take any
point and put them in a single paragraph.  It makes it easier to either
include the paragraph or just leave it out during editing.

Or consider the sidebar.  Maybe one like "The Missing Pieces" and
comment on some common "show-stoppers" in each Fedora and Ubuntu.

>  The annoying thing is that I directly compared Ubuntu's
> partition
>  re-sizing ability to anaconda's, but this obviously got cut from the
>  final review. 
I know how that goes!  The key is that you need to try to limit
verbosity and keep a point into a single paragraph.  I know how
difficult that is, because I'm over-verbose myself.  My initials are BS,
but I'm not know as the BS merely because of my initials.  ;->

>  As for Ubuntu getting difficult when straying from the beaten
>  path...  Ubuntu out of the box is perfect for the average desktop
>  user, someone who needs a web browser, an email client and a word
>  processor. 
Be *CAREFUL* saying such.  Maybe it's because I write for CMP's Sys
Admin, which is still the #1 UNIX/Linux magazine in print circulation,
but do *NOT*ALIENATE* those experienced UNIX/Linux readers.  In fact,
consider why Sys Admin still has a _very_high_ circulation rate --
experienced UNIX and Linux administrators don't like the "cater to
Windows readers" attitude.  There are a _lot_ of us readers out
there!  ;->

Two years ago I wrote an article on the Opteron, focusing on its partial
mesh interconnect and I/O MMU.  I had to balance the concepts that even
most PC hardware enthusiasts didn't understand (trying to break their
worship of the "shared" front side bus, FSB) against common RISC
platform implementations and their integrators who were used to switched
interconnects (which is still not a partial mesh interconnect).

I got trashed on Ars Technica because some people were taking things
from a PC standpoint and others from a RISC platform standpoint.
Someone told me of the thread, and I finally entered it.  No matter how
much I tried to point out the context in each statement, some people
were just rude and refused to even recognize what I was trying to
balance.

>  With regards to the Suck it and See statement - this was added
>  after I submitted my review, and not by me. I think it's a little
>  harsh myself. 
Does Ziff-Davis publish this magazine?  I have _refused_ to write for
them since last century because of such non-sense introduced.

>  As for being someone who prefers Ubuntu, well to be honest I
> actually
>  prefer Fedora. Haven't spent some time away from the mailing
>  lists/wiki I've just had my wiki account reactivated and am looking
>  forward to writing some docs onto the wiki. I wanted to go with Fedora
>  as I think it is the more exciting distro, especially after the
>  sterling release of FC5. 
I figured as such.  The best authors are the ones that question what
they prefer, focusing more on what their preference doesn't do than the
limitations of another choice.  That right there tells me you are a good
author.

>  By all means, feel free to disagree/agree/ignore me, but be warned
> I'm
>  feeling a little edgy (no pun intended) after having a tooth extracted
>  today... I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have about
>  the review. 
I just had 3 fillings done on Wednesday.  Weird coincidence among
authors in the universe I guess?  ;->


-- 
Bryan J. Smith         Professional, Technical Annoyance
mailto:[e-mail]   http://thebs413.blogspot.com
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        Fission Power:  An Inconvenient Solution