On 07/14/2015 09:59 PM, Franco Lanza wrote:
> More than the already know switch from gnome to xcfe4 as the default
> desktop and the oblovious change to sysvinit instead of systemd, i would
> to propose some other default changes in the standard install:
>
> nano -> vim
> exim -> postfix
>
>
> what do you guys think about that?
>
*** I think the 1.0 release should focus on replacing systemd init with
sysvinit, and the choice of XFCE for the desktop was part of this
strategy. There's no substantial reason rather than personal preference
to change other packages from the base install. Such changes can, and
should be made using custom preseed files, for example.

Debian/Devuan have a number of ways to customize a setup (tasks, seeds,
blends, etc.) and this should become a primary objective once 1.0 is
out. It is my conviction that a system wishing universality should keep
options as diverse as possible for the people who will use it. From that
perspective, I see Devuan as a base system, suitable for building upon
it. I believe configurations and presets are where the Devuan community
can shine, and that the devuan-sdk is a great starting point to choose
this route.

Doing this would encourage Debian developers to reflect on their choice
to impose a narrower route to what's possible to do with the system. On
the contrary, changing too many default packages from a base install of
Debian would probably unnecessarily complicate things for people who
need to work with both systems.

That said, my personal choice has always been to install vim (in
addition to, not in replacement of GNU nano), and to replace exim by
postfix first thing (+ ssh, zsh, emacs, ...). But I agree with Dan that
postfix might be overkill for some users, and especially desktop users
who will use a remote setup for SMTP and IMAP servers. The ssmtp package
seems like a good alternative. I also agree with Golinux that vim is
simply unusable for profanes<troll>, especially those humans who expect
to be able to actually write text when they open an editor</troll>.

Cheers,

==
hk

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