On Tuesday 17 June 2003 09:37 pm, w9ya wrote: > Yesterday I was at a client's. I was installing software using the 'drake' > gui tools while they watched. The clients remarked that they were sure glad > they didn't have to install software on linux. They went on to say the they > were use to a much easier install process. They are not stupid. They are > not slow. > My personal opinion is that this has to do with familiarity and not difficulty. Installing software is not difficult if you evaluate the tasks that go into it. I think if you had a user that had never experienced Windows and asked them to install something on XP they would have the exact same reaction and have the same questions. How do you start the installer? What is this C-drive? How do I start the program?, etc.
When people criticise Linux for being hard for Windows users, they are really criticizing it for being unfamiliar to Windows users. Try this. Take a typical home Windows user and change the desktop theme so the background and icons are different, and then move their desktop icons to different locations. I give you a 75% chance that they won't know what to do. IMO, if you want mass adoption, you have to make it easy and making it easy means making it familiar. I'm not advocating that, but I think it a truth. BTW, remove your reply-to setting, it's causing replies to your Cooker messages to get addressed to you personally. -- Greg
