Hi Rich, Just for 1), when you choose the distro you want, written in white on blue on top of that you have a phrasing that describes (agreed, it could be better positioned, but it's there) : CentOS Linux => Consistent, manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For some open source communities, it is a solid, predictable base to build upon. CentOS Stream => Rolling-release distro that tracks just ahead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) development, positioned as a midstream between Fedora Linux and RHEL. For anyone interested in participating and collaborating in the RHEL ecosystem, CentOS Stream is your reliable platform for innovation. I agree on the missing points, and also the "Documentation" page includes doc for 7 & 8, even if you're on the 6.10 choice. Which means there's not even documentation links for 6 while it's still possible to download it ? On the other points, once you choose x86_64, there should be more guidance on the mirror page I'd say. You'll find the following ISO files, here is a list of which you'll find and what usage. Maybe the mirror parent page could include a readme or a redirect to the ISO page as well for that matter ? I think the fewest places the info is stored, the less likely we'll forget an update when there is one. Thanks, On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 10:04 PM Rich Bowen <rbowen at redhat.com> wrote: > A few days ago I got email from a user who was attempting to install > CentOS. I've included their full message below, but, to summarize, when > one clicks on the "CentOS Linux" link on the front page of centos.org > one is given a matrix of choices, and no guidance. On choosing one > option - say, x84_64 ISO, one is then given another list of options and > no guidance. Pick one of *those* options and you are yet again given a > list of options and no guidance. > > Now, it could be argued that someone who doesn't know what to choose is > not our target audience, and I suppose that would be an ok position to > hold. But wouldn't it be great to lower the bar just a little, and offer > some guidance as to which links one should click? > > I'd like to see several things: > > 1) On the front page, where it says "We offer two Linux distros:", there > would be at least some hint of what this choice entails > > 2) On the download page - https://www.centos.org/centos-linux/ - a > little explanation of what the various options there are. > > So far, this is all just edits to centos.org. The next two steps involve > pushing changes to the mirror network, and I honestly have no idea what > is involved there. > > 3) Adding phrasing to > http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/8/isos/x86_64/ that indicates what > that inscrutable list of links means. > > and finally, possibly not even possible: > > 4) Add words to http://centos4.zswap.net/8.2.2004/isos/x86_64/ (as a > random example) that say what the various options mean. This is probably > not possible, since these are just autoindex generated pages. We could, > however, offer Apache httpd and nginx configuration recommendations > which will provide that additional information for sites that chose to > follow the instructions. > > And, really, #1 and #2 are the most important here. > > The full message follows: > > >> > I stumbled on your address on a Centos Faq page. I hope you can give me > some sort of answer. > I have been searching for a way to ask a question, but have not located > a forum. As I am fairly new to Linux generally, I am exploring > varieties, and Centos surfaced as an interesting option. But, again, I > have a problem no one else considers worthy of asking or answering: how > do I choose? Apparently the user in the download directory is supposed > to know what they are looking for. > When I followed the link to "download CentOs", I chose a link with > ".iso" on it. This opened another page, so I picked another likely > candidate. I went four or five branches deep before I gave up. I have no > idea why I would want one branch or the other. Should I just leave > CentOs to the experts? > I really wish that on the home page there was a specification for "user > level". Do developers assume that the user is expert, and that someone > who is not qualified will get exhausted and go away? It seems very > unkind to make that assumption and not say so. If I am not the intended > user, please tell me! Otherwise, could someone please explain how to > choose which version of CentOs to use? > If you could forward this letter to someone who can take the time to > answer my question, I will be grateful. > << > > _______________________________________________ > CentOS-docs mailing list > CentOS-docs at centos.org > https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-docs > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.centos.org/pipermail/centos-docs/attachments/20200817/25b34122/attachment-0003.html>