digiryde wrote:
> 
> This is my opinion.....
> 
> I sit on both edges  of the OS fence (I use M$ aat work and Linux at home.)
> Unfortunately, I can not see giving most of the users I work with any linux
> packages at all.  They would never get past the installations.  Does this
> mean they are ignorant.  Yep!  But, you would not want me doing brain
> surgery either.
> 
> I think LM should be working towards an "ignorant user" install option as
> well (I like the ideas in the previous message!).  If you really want to
> convince the companies of "proprietary products" that the platform is one
> they need to pay attention to, then we have to convince the general public
> of the value of Linux as well.  That is never going to happen when they can
> not do the first 5% (installation) in relative ease and lack of thought.  M$
> has the right idea when it comes to that 95% of the market that is computer
> tech illiterate.  They take away the choices.  It keeps them (the user) from
> being overwhelmed.

The whole point of this is that it would cater for users. Most people
would NOT choose "custom/expert server" and be prompted with a choice of
samba/dns/dhcp/sql etc, but a typical MCSE who hasn't might, and would
find this much better than trying to find out what samba is useful for.

> To me, an "ignorant user" pacakge would come with a desktop or two to choose
> from at install time, but only one gets installed.  Yeah - this flies in the
> face of what most of us want on our systems.  But, before we are going to
> get the "masses" to use Linux/Un*x of any type, the confusion of
> installation (read too many choices) has to vanish.  The installation
> package would also contain the mainstream "products" that are being used and
> agressively developed in the Linux/Un*x world.  But, only one or two choices
> from each type, and GUI based.  Embrace what has worked for M$ (ease of use
> up front, limited choices to the end user, ...) and extend it beyond their
> ability (Read stability, powere, etc in addition).  I hate being forced to
> make money on M$ products, and would love to see M$ replaced with a sane
> platform.  Believe it or not, it starts at the installation for most of my
> users.

These users would choose "desktop" and be presented with the choice of
office/web/email/productivity/multimedia/themes/games/. If someone can't
realize what these are used for, they should consider whether they are
capable of doing brain surgery or whatever it is they do (even being a
secretary!). Most servers wouldn't have these installed, unless it's a
"terminal server" which could even be another type of installation.
 
I just made a detailed list of the kind of stuff I would like to see,
since this is where I spend most of my time choosing packages (we run
samba mostly, no NFS, no DNS, no DHCP, but do run SQL, apache.)

Buchan

> 
> >
> >
> > Larry Marshall wrote:
> > >
> > > >  Keep all the packages up-to-date
> > >
> > > Probably not a popular opinion but it makes more sense to keep most of
> > > those packages one version behind the cutting edge in your official
> > > distributions.  All you need to do is look at what's going on right now
> > > with RH7.0 to see that being on the edge can spell lots of trouble.  If
> > > you're going after the Windows user you can't have things crashing and
> > > being incompatible as they just aren't going to buy into the "download
> > > this and compile" model.
> >
[snipping my own drivel ...]

-- 
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
Buchan Milne                Mechanical Engineer, Network Manager
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|----------------Registered Linux User #182071-----------------|

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