Unofficial Ubuntu 5.04 Starter Guide

[Andy Choens]

On Sun, 2005-04-10 at 12:26 +0200, Maximilian Gerlach wrote:
> Apps like this exist. Search the ubuntuforums for haih (hoary after
> installation helper) :)
> Maxi
> 
> 

They may exist, but the Unofficial Guide is really easy to find.  haih
is not. 

I actually think most of this should be enabled easily via synaptic.
This idea comes from my SUSE days.  Once you install SUSE the installer,
YOU (YAST Online Update) asks if you want to check for updates.  Some of
the updates available include the M$ Core Web Fonts, NVIDIA Drivers,
etc.

There should be a clearly marked repository that is enabled by default
in synaptic that contains "loader debs" of popular, but non-OSS
freeware.  You could write a deb that would wget Acrobat from Adobe's
FTP server, install it and set the symlinks.  Ditto with java.  Don't
redisribute these things, automate the download process for people.  M$
doesn't distribute these things, but it's idiot proof to install them.
Having a rigged repository would accomplish the same thing.

Flash, Java, Real Player, Web Fonts, Binary Drivers, Acrobat Reader,
etc. could all go into this new repository.

And, because it would be marked, people who want to / need to keep their
systems strictly OSS would be able to do so by ignoring or disabling
that repository.

My 2 1/2 cents.
--andy