🚀 go-pugleaf

I really love emacs, and the more I read about GNU stuff the more
excited I get. But I've been trying to install gcc for two weeks now
on a Sun IPC running 4.1.1 (a very common machine) and I can't get it
to work, and no one will answer my questions on gnu.gcc.help. My point
is that the whole GNU project might be well served if they could get
someone to answer these kinds of questions.

I've been a sys admin for a while, and I'm not an idiot, but I have no
expert help here I can draw on. And I can't justify spending this
much time installing a free package (it'd be cheaper to buy one!) I
read all the gnu groups and answer as many questions as I can - I
think other, more experienced users of GNU stuff (not to mention those
who wrote the programs) should do the same. I know that some will say
that I could pay for support, but there's just no way my boss is
going to go for that unless I can show him some reasons why it's worth
it. And I can't do that if I can't get these things installed in the
first place!

So I guess this is just a plea to those GNU gods that they remember
that not everyone is as experienced in system administration as they
are, and that if they want a large crop of users, who will later (when
they're more experienced) go on to contribute code to the GNU project
(as I hope to one day), they have to help more people get the GNU
stuff running on their machines in the first place.

I know I'm going to get flames because I'm complaining about something
that is, after all, free. But it's just a crying shame to have all
these free great packages that, with just a few minutes help from an
expert, could be accessible, and not be able to use them. Am I the
only one who feels this way?

Just so you don't think I'm totally ingrateful, thanks, RMS, for GNU
Emacs, which is the best program I have ever seen or heard of, and
thanks all you other GNU programmers, for working so hard to craft
quality software. I only wish I could use it!

--
Edward Hartnett			ejh@khonshu.colorado.edu