I think that its a choice that the user needs make. With the new KDE interface a user can just about operate like they would in Windows and ignore the file system. But for those that want to learn the 'guts' of the system and how it operates.....
I'm finding that I'm learning more making small 'correctable' errors than if I ran an executable and it did all the installation for me. Sometimes a person just has to get their hands dirty. "Anybody checked the oil level of their car recently?" Hey, Pat have at it. I still remember trying to install my first Linux system several years ago. Maddening but a great learning experience! Doug Fletcher, B.Sc Network Engineer Elluminate.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] (403)204-7896 Ext.63 (403)371-8494 (Cell) -----Original Message----- From: Jesse Kline [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 12:04 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: (clug-talk) Should the unix fs be hidden from desktop users? One of the first things I noticed when I first tried MacOS X was that you would never know that it was a Unix system unless you opened a terminal and hit cd /;ls I think that Apple has achieved a good balance between keeping the layout easy to understand for users of their classic system, while still retaining the traditional Unix infrastructure of the system. I just finnished reading a paper at http://evolvedoo.sourceforge.net/abstract/index.html which argues that the same thing should be done with the Linux desktop. I understand that the Linux file hierarchy can be confusing to users of MacOS classic and Windows, but I think that if it is explained correctly it is not too hard to understand at least the basics (ie. your files go in you $HOME dir, removable media can be accessed under /mnt, etc.). I was wondering what people on the list think. Do we need to hide the basics of the OS in order to make it more user friendly? Jesse
