On 02/11/10 12:30, Natalie Hooper wrote: > Thanks for your comments both on here and on the blog. > > Just to be clear, I'm not talking about stuff that stops ME from using Linux > but I'm talking about stuff that makes it confusing for new users/turn off > new users. If you truly believe that open source software is the only > ethical way to develop software, and I believe it is, then why develop a > system that will turn off most users? It seems like a waste of resources to > me to work on a super-system and fail at making it user-friendly. Are we > developing for a little private club or for the whole of humanity?
Hi Natalie, A question: how long have you been using Linux for? I can't recall precisely how long I have been using it for myself, but it must be getting on for 10 or 11 years, possibly longer, and in that time Linux has become orders of magnitude more user friendly, both in terms of installation and subsequent ease of use, and continues to do so with every year that passes. Yes, there have been steps back and the odd wrong turn along the way, but it is worth remembering the roots of this operating system, i.e. it was initially designed by geek for geeks. Should Linus Torvalds have kept it under wraps until it was developed to the point where the needs of the 'average user' (whatever one of those is!) were satisfied? Who's to say, but if he had I am pretty sure that the concept of open source would have been a very different one to what we are privileged to enjoy now. And none of this to say that I disagree with your suggestion that improved usability is a good thing, but rather that I disagree with mandating solely /your/ (or anybody else's) idea of improved usability. A couple of the things you would change are not Linux-specific, but rather application-specific and distribution-specific. You currently have the choice to use different applications or distributions to overcome your issues, and that choice is something to be preserved, not homogenised into a bland 'one-distro-suits-all' scenario where, like some of the alternatives, you take it or leave it. With regard to developing for the whole of humanity, I think it is fair to expect new users to meet the experts half-way. Linux is arguably one of the most complex artefacts created by man, and I would suggest that its continued growth and improvement is better served by giving users a gentle leg-up than it is by dumbing it down to the point where it no longer represents a clear choice from the proprietary alternatives. Finally, remember that everything you want in a distribution can be achieved, just not necessarily by someone else! ;-) Sean -- music, film, comics, books, rants and drivel: www.funkygibbins.me.uk -- Next meeting: Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum, Tuesday 2010-11-02 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
