I agree with you that Linux has come a long way and that it is a massive achievement.
I started using Linux (Debian) in 2004 or 2005 (can't remember exactly), I stopped using it at end of 2007 because it was too unstable to record music on (after recording a full album using Ardour, I gave up). I went back to it because it had matured and because Ubuntu was getting more and more user-friendly. So I have a medium term experience with Linux and this is why I think it is ready for world domination (so to speak). However, this doesn't mean that it's wrong to discuss its weaknesses. As for talking to technical people, I used to work as a highways engineer/designer and was used to talking about technical stuff all the time to non-techies, such as councillors and residents, so I have a certain understanding of what it takes for people with different technical knowledge to communicate about technical things. This is this understanding which is making me see a flaw in the community. The fact I see it as a flaw doesn't mean that I don't understand why it's there, communication is a difficult thing. And yes, some of the issues are distro specific, and apps-specific, so perhaps the title isn't specific enough but if you take Linux as a whole culture, it makes sense to include these as well. I can only talk about the distros I know and also, the point was about new users so there is no point mentioning stuff about Gentoo, which isn't a distro recommended for new users. I think some of you are really misunderstanding my purpose here. My purpose isn't to diss Linux, or to complain about it, but to constructively throw ideas as to how to improve its user-friendliness. Now, if you don't want it to become more user-friendly and want to keep it the best kept secret, then we'll agree to disagree. But otherwise, I was asking for more ideas. Why? Because the Linux Format article got me thinking (clearly, I'm not the only one in the community with this feeling) and also because it's fun to brainstorm/imagine how something we are familiar with could evolve. I was expecting someone would take the leaf and perhaps have a "10 things I'd change about the kernel" for example. This is the spirit of my article and this thread. It is clear I haven't expressed it correctly (ironic considering what I said about communication lol) but also, I think there is a bit of over-protectiveness regarding Linux. Constructive criticism won't harm Linux, it will help it being adopted by more users (again, if you don't want that to happen, we can agree to disagree). So for now, I'll stop here as I think I've said what I wanted to say over and over again, and I really don't want this to turn into a heated discussion. The purpose of this was to spur on your imagination, not your argumentative skills lol -- 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
