-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Juan Alberto Cirez wrote: > For the last time: TO THE AVERAGE USER WINDOWS IS EASIER TO USE. > GNU/Linux on the server space is the $**t; but as a Desktop it > blows...and sucks
Sorry this does not cut it. Just saying it does *not* make it so. You will have to do better than simply making a statement. The fact that others disagree (including me) should not be a bad thing, if anything it should cause us to re-examine our own positions. You havenot progressed beyond the Linux sucks and Windows is easier for average users. No specifics, and you use > > The average user does not know, or care to know how to compile programs > from source; or know what in hell's name a device driver is. An average OK, but average users should not need to do this. Perhaps Slackware is different, > user is someone that unlike most of the reader of this list, does not > have a computer (or software development) background so please stop > interpreting my comments based on your own level of computer I do not have a software development background, in fact I have a Liberal Arts education. What is the point of this? I know people who are software developers that can barely open email attachments. You should also not forget that your comments are based on your own level of computer proficiency and your *projection* of what others are capable of. You seem to think that most people are not capable of reaching a certain level of sophistication, and that is extremely arrogant of you. > proficiency. I mistakenly assumed that your experience with GNU/Linux > would have given you an insight into the challenges people without such > experience encounter. Again, I was wrong. > I spend quite a lot of time in the areas where GNU/Linux actually has problems. You have not mentioned a single specific one. At best you proposed a really weak "Office Depot" challenge. You were able to spark this discussion, but you have contributed little except a couple of personal attacks since. I disagree with you, and you have said nothing to change my mind. > For the past three years or so we have been trying to introduce > GNU/Linux to the local government, schools districts and small to > mid-sized business. So far that endeavor has been less than a > spectacular success simply because the learning curve is to steep. This Sigh, there is always a learning curve. Microsoft has done a good job of making people forget this. Everyone had to learn how to use Windows, they just forgot that they did. For some reason most people are allergic to learning. I see that as a failure of our culture, not any individual product. I would also suggest that learning curve is not the reason for failure. My experiences in these kinds of projects have left me with an appreciation of how complex politics can be. > has been the case in every age group, category and proficiency level. > This of course is not hard to see: Microsoft has spent billions on R&D, > so naturally its final product would have addressed (or at least > attempted to address) in some ways the inherent difficulties in HMI and They spend the money, but I do not see the results. Ask your "average users" how much they like the new Office 2007 interface? Millions if not billions of dollars later, average people hate it (I know because I support it, no one liked it when they got it). The complaints have decreased in number once people *learned* how to use the new UI, but almost 2 years later I still get the calls. > well as hardware integration. I think we (the GNU/Linux) community have > spent so much time and effort hating Microsoft that we fail to > recognize (and worse, emulate) some of their successful approaches. > You may hate Microsoft, but most of the people I deal with are simply writing software for themselves because no one else has managed to write software for them. The best parts about Open Source are people scratching their own itch, not doing what some marketing dweeb tells them to do. > The fact that no one has even raised the possibilities these same issues > exists in GNU/Linux is simply astounding when the proof is so glaringly > apparent: Take a trip to your local Office Depot and grab some Perhaps. I find hardware support to be somewhat flaky regardless of the OS. Every day I deal with a large variety of software, hardware, and operating systems. No one gets it all right at the moment. I also spend my time in areas where there are actual weaknesses. I think you and I have very different ideas of what "glaringly apparent" means. > peripherals at random (printer, network cards, etc.) see how many of > these devices will work right out of the box in both Windows and > GNU/Linux; then see how easy and/or intuitive would be to "get > everything to work" in both OS. The fact that no one recognizes this > tells me of the disconnect between the open source developing community > and the average user. > I do not see this, but we have already covered this ground. Some hardware manufacturers *choose* to not support or take advantage of the resources available to them. The drivers can be written for them, so they choose not to. I am not sure what your point is, without marketing kickbacks (ie. the money that Dell, Lenovo, etc. all get from MS there is not going to be a drastic change. Also, I am not sure the goal should be mass adaption. I want the developers to keep doing the best job possible, if only 10% of the world ever uses that work, who cares? Right now Linux clusters are being used to solve real problems, I use Linux solutions every day at home and at work. Popularity contests are a poor metric to use for success, in any human endeavour (the Big Mac is popular, does that make it good?). I no longer really care what OS people have on their desks, as long as it is from MS or Apple, I will have income for years to come. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEARECAAYFAkpZIicACgkQwRXgH3rKGfNOrgCgopZo2yomYdVvp1t708/LqT8M Q3EAnAhKZmJlnXqQrmbuCOrsWr4hTCG4 =Hcve -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
