Hey Andrew, This thread is likely to go as long as the one you started about championing your cause at school.
I think that most people in this group would agree that Linux is not a hobby OS. As far as OS's go, this one is quite mature and getting better all the time. The thing I would point out here is that what the average Joe/Joanne would consider an OS is actually a GUI and that is where you will get the vastly different opinions. I think from the server standpoint there is no argument, Linux is robust enough to handle just about anything you can throw at it and mostly limited by hardware. >From a desktop standpoint I would disagree with Shawn. For me KDE satisfies most of >what I need a Window Manager for and then some. I am a big Koffice users and I have >found that the apps are quite well developed. I have used Kspread extensively. In >fact, the CLUG Financial Statement and Schedules were done in Kspread. No small feat. >I have other lists made in KSpread. I would like to add that Kspread opened an Excel >file (Office 2003) just fine. I use Kword for wordprocessing and it works just fine for me. I've composed professional looking letters for things like the message I fax to the Herald on a monthly basis. The rest of the apps are mostly web related and work just fine for me also. There's a few things that I miss but I make do all the same. There's many ways to skin the cat. As a graphic artist I have also worked with the GIMP for raster images and it's a powerful tool, again it opens PhotoShop files which I think is very cool. The only piece that is missing from my puzzle is a professional quality vector graphics application. Sketch and Kontour are coming along but they have a ways to go to compete with the Likes of Illustrator. So for me, I find Linux very usable on a daily basis and not just for trivial stuff. I think it's only going to get better. But to call it a hobby OS, nope that's just FUD. I think the biggest challenge to users is configuration. The tools are there but they are not always easy to use. Things like SuSE's YaST make it easier. I consider myself a power user. Please don't confuse that with being a Linux guru, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know everything about Linux in fact I am constantly stumped by some of this stuff. However, I do most of what I need to do on a daily basis. This includes printing and CD burning. Jarrod ----- Original Message ----- From: Shawn Grover Sent: 3/23/2004 4:05:23 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [clug-talk] Is Linux a Hobby System? Your thoughts > I'm of two minds on this. But both say that Linux is NOT a hobby system. > > First, Linux is more than capable and professional enough to fill any server role. > Period. Anyone building a server has to go through similar issues getting a Windows > server or a Linux server running properly - the server needs to be configured for > your specific needs, regardless of OS. > > Second, For the desktop, I don't think Linux is "quite" there yet. It's damn close, > and is suitable to anyone who can figure out the "non-windows" method of doing > things. And that's where the rub is. There are TOOO many people trained (either > through formal courses, or just average use) in windows. The Linux community has > done a great job of adopting some aspects of windows that make sense, but evolving > others that don't make sense in Windows. The Windows users find this to be foriegn > to their way of thinking. > > The next big stumbling block for Linux on the desktop is installation. Anyone can > install Windows by blindly click "OK", and letting the installer figure out your > hardware. Linux has made huge strides in this area as well, but there is still a > perception that Linux is difficult to install. > > I have my non-technical roommate setup on linux, (Suse 8.2), and he doesn't doesn't > have any problems doing what he needs. But then again, he pretty much only uses the > web. His girlfriend acutally opened OpenOffice and created a spreadsheet without > any input from me (her first foray into Linux/OpenOffice). She lost the file when > she saved it, but only because she didn't track where the file was getting saved to > - we found it, and she used KMail to send it out. I only had to help with finding > the file. I only mention these instances because I think this speaks volumes about > how "hard" it is to learn linux for the desktop - not very hard at all. > > My thoughts. > > Shawn > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of Andrew Graupe > Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 3:40 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [clug-talk] Is Linux a Hobby System? Your thoughts > > > All CLUG members: while trying to promote linux at school and around > the community (an uphill battle, trust me), I have encountered several > people who say that Linux is a "hobby" OS. Sadly, the other problem is > they are to logic what Osama bin Laden is to pacifism. What are your > thoughts on this issue? Is Linux (through a distro such as > Fedora/Debian/Red Hat) easy enough to use for the average user? Is > Linux a hobby system? Also, what is the best way to convince others > (even some power-users) that Linux is more than just a hobby system. > > Just doing my part to help OSS. > > Andrew > > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca
