> The dialin rpm is not yet compatible with 4.1 or 4.1.1.
Hmmm. This points out a real set of flaws in the whole "How-To" and
contributed packages aspect of e-smith. I recently poked around in these
sections and found it quite confusing. Not really what "should be" for a
product such as e-smith that is trying to simplify and demystify Linux
servers (and doing a fine job of it I might add). It is also a disservice
to those developers that have taken the time to put these packages together,
and users wasting time with solutions that will not work.
There is a lot of great stuff there, but it is apparent there is no serious
effort into maintaining the doc, version compatibility information,
eliminating redundant or outdated stuff, etc. The "contrib" section is
ghastly, an ftp server with just a bunch of names and rpms, no doc that I
could find at all (except for that stuff covered in the How-to's). This is
likely to turn off most of the target market, or at least those that try to
go beyond the base install (which, I admit, is sufficient for most).
There are great How-Tos there, with a good example being the MP3 jukebox
How-to. It clearly states the requirements (4.1), how to install it, and
how to operate it. Most of the others are also great, but the casual viewer
will have no idea if it the information presented is relevant to the current
rev or not (or past revs for that matter). In some cases of the contrib
modules, I think some have been incorporated into 4.1.1, and would be
redundant to install (or possibly cause serious problems).
Not to be one to point out a problem without a solution, I am willing to
offer to coordinate this and clean it up. I am more of a sysadmin type than
a programmer, so cannot contribute code in any useful fashion, but have done
a lot of technical writing and am a huge fan of e-smith and would like to
assist if I can. Heck, I could even handle hosting the How-tos for you.
Please do NOT take this as an insult, just as an area that seems to have
fallen by the wayside and in need of some tender loving care and ongoing
maintenance ;) If this is already on the radar, and work underway, cool,
just thought I would offer.
Best wishes,
JP
