[Lazarus] [Fwd: Re: Is Lazarus a Delphi plagiat?]

[Juha Manninen]

Hello.

> I must be a very experienced OS project user: I just look for a download 
> link, then I can choose windows 32 bits, and a version (not the old 
> releases), and I get an exe. What to do with it? Run it, and Lazarus 
> installs.

The fact is that basic info for beginners is spread around. The wiki has lots 
of data but it is not always well organized. That is of course a problem with 
wiki pages in general because many people add pieces of information, trying to 
find the best place for it.

Lazarus installation is covered under wiki's Documentation section which is 
filled with other detailed info.
FPC release installation may be obvious as you wrote, but SVN install is 
buried so deep that I honestly didn't find it even after playing with Lazarus 
for some time (as I complained in one mail thread). But that is not for 
beginners, ok.

Now, the Lazarus main page "http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/"
should have clear links for:

1. Mention about FPC and a link for downloading and installing it. Now there 
is a link to Free Pascal but its relation to Lazarus is not obvious to a 
beginner.

2. Link for download instructions. There is one. Good.

3. Link for installation instructions which are here:
  http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Installing_Lazarus
They are not really easy to find because the wiki documentation section is 
filled with data.
Or, if installing Lazarus is too obvious to be documented then please remove 
it completely from wiki.

4. Getting started. This means making a Hello World program or something.


Once a beginner has passed those steps, made his first program, then the rest 
is easy. He can then experiment and google for detailed help or search the 
wiki.

I have the same experience as the original poster. If I want to test some 
program but don't get past the initial "installation" and "getting started" 
phases then I drop it and move forward. There is infinite amount of SW to be 
tried and most of it is crap anyway. I don't want to waste my time.

Fortunately I was able to install and try Lazarus and I am still hanging here.
So, the situation is not really bad but it could be better. If you look at 
those pages enough many years then you may not realize the problems, but for a 
beginner they are obvious.

Now, what is NOT needed at the Lazarus main page? Think of a person coming 
there for the first time.

Forum posts could be somewhere else, not in main page. I know this is a 
fashion in many other sites, too, but still it is not a good idea.

"About Lazarus" would be a better main page but still the history and 
widgetsets are not as important as the initial things I listed.


Regards,
Juha Manninen