On Thursday 12 August 2004 09:21, Andrew Graupe wrote: > turn, made me think about what I do on a regular basis to keep my linux > system working perfectly, which can't exactly be described as > user-friendly.
it's hard to discuss generalities =) which things do you do on a regular basis that aren't user-friendly? > This brings me to an interesting point: what does "ready > for the desktop" actually mean? define "desktop" first, since not all desktops have equal needs or demands. > the desktop. Or does it mean that it is ready for use by the average > computer user that justs wants to surf the web, check e-mail, and play > games (collectively, the "Desktop" market, note the capital D)? there is no such thing as "the Desktop market" in the way you mean it. there are desktop computers of various ilk, and these are sold into a large number of rather different markets: corporate, scientific, government, call centre, educational, home, gamer, etc, etc...each has its own peculiar requirements. > I would > argue that linux, although it is good, is not quite there yet. i would probably agree. there are segments that it isn't ready for yet, and this is almost exclusively due to a lack of 3rd party commercial applications on the platform that people are, for better or worse, currently tied to at the hip. there's also the issue of accrued knowledge. keeping up a Windows or Mac system is also a burdon. this is why most people don't change configuration options much and rely on a friend or paid techie to help them through the more difficult parts. power users usually manage on their own, but that's because they've acrued system-specific knowledge. put a hard core Windows user on a Mac, or vice versa; it's the same with Linux. there is a learning curve involved if you want to manage your system, regardless of what system that is. most people have accomplished that with past version of Windows and Mac and so it's a past issue (and a current investment). moving to Linux may mean making that investment again. i think we've done a lot of work towards minimizing that investment, however. with well set up defaults, configuration tools that are becoming easier and easier to use and familiar metaphores and application designs it's pretty easy to switch a user over. getting under the hood is a different question, but most people don't do that. that said, there are (large) segments for which Linux is quite ready for daily use. -- Aaron J. Seigo GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43 _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca
