Section 9.f states that installing the DHCP client is optional. This section, IMO, is *not* optional for a lot of users. It'd be nice to let a user know that the DHCP client installation is necessary before getting to the "Optional" section. I know this sounds rather obscure, but think about this from the perspective of a user who has spent the last few hours reading through the maunal and installing Gentoo. Skipping optional parts might seem so much simpler after this. Yes, I know it is blasphemous to even think that the user might skip a section, but it *does* say "Optional". I believe that making this process more explicit will only make life easier for a lot of people.
Created attachment 90468 [details, diff] Patch to extend the DHCP note This is a small patch that informs the user up front that installing a DHCP client would be a good idea if (s)he is using DHCP.
To quote from that section of the handbook: "If you require Gentoo to automatically obtain an IP address for your network interface(s), you need to install dhcpcd (or any other DHCP Client) on your system. If you don't do this now, you might not be able to connect to the internet after the installation!" How is this in any way unclear that if you do need an automatic IP address (explained in all previous references to dhcp), you must install a dhcp client? By the way, patches against html are no good, see http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/gdp/doc/doc-tipsntricks.xml for how to create proper patches. :)
Josh, what I'm saying is that the "Optional" tag on the section is misleading -- a user may (rightly) feel that this can be skipped for now, since it is optional. It might seem like nitpicky semantics, but I think this is a valid concern -- for users of DHCP, installing a DHCP client is *not* optional -- if this is skipped, the user is left with a Gentoo install that is functionally incomplete (if I can't do an 'emerge --sync', the system is functionall incomplete). I think it is reasonable to at least explain to the user what needs to be done. Technically, the same applies for PPPoE as well. Besides, not everybody even understands what DHCP/PPPoE are. I'm not saying that we should make this a Computer Systems Administration 101, but a small explanatory note before the Optional sections begin won't hurt. Sorry about the HTML diff -- I was wondering why the whole thing looks so different nowadays. :)
Created attachment 90509 [details, diff] Explicitly tell the user to merge dhcpcd during config
Created attachment 90510 [details, diff] Let the user know about DHCP client options up front
Updated patches (against original XML :p): 1) Let's tell the user about DHCP clients while (s)he is setting up networking 2) Let's also point to the list of available clients at this point (someone said something about choice *grin*)
After seeing the patches, I'm inclined to add the info in. It's quite trivial and removes confusion (if any existed in the first place). If no one has objections, I'll put it in after like 2 days or so.
Patches look good.
There's a typo in those patches that you said are okay (Sysyem). Except that, i think this info should go in, additional clarification in this matter doesn't cost us much and can save many.
(In reply to comment #9) > There's a typo in those patches that you said are okay (Sysyem). > Except that, i think this info should go in, additional clarification in this > matter doesn't cost us much and can save many. I heartily agree. <looks meaningfully at fox2mike>
Hands up! This is a hijacking
(In reply to comment #8) > Patches look good. (In reply to comment #9) > There's a typo in those patches that you said are okay (Sysyem). He he, you both missed the missing & entity. /me wonders about requesting another go at the fix-me ;-) Committed. Thanks a lot for your suggestion and patches.
