I'm not sure I'm in total agreement. The computing community is not made up of only two types of users: experts (many of whom use linux) and complete neophytes (who, for the sake of argument, use Windows). There is, in fact, a wide spectrum of folks - some of whom want an appliance, those who are interested in making the machine work better, those who like to tinker, all the way to the more hard-core 'hacker' (like many of us). So one size does not fit all and there's certainly plenty of well-functioning linux desktop systems that work well and are easy enough to deal with even for an inexperienced user. A user may need help in figuring out something/getting something new working but these lists (and info resources on the web such as twiki) can fill that need.
A personal example..At home I have two machines that the family uses; both are dual boot and can load Windows; one runs Mandrake 9.1, the other Red Hat 9.0. My wife and children have had the choice of loading Windows or Linux for the last year and a half. They run linux 100% of the time. I believe my wife and older daughter truly don't care...they're just trying to get things done and they know that I'll keep the computers up-to-date and running. My younger daughter is a bit more of a hacker and has grown to dislike Windows....she spends most of her time designing things with the gimp, reconfiguring the desktop, etc. Bottom line...in a typical family (albeit with a hobbyist hacker in the house) situation, they've chosen linux over windows and have no complaints or regrets (although they all still love the old Macintosh upstairs :-). Terry Smith Cape Cod USA On Sun, 2003-11-09 at 09:24, Praedor Atrebates wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Well, I gotta say that Redhat does have a point. I do think that linux is not > yet ready for the everyday desktop user except for Lindows - for a relatively > small subpopulation. > > I use it exclusively but then I have been playing with linux for years now. I > "get it". My father, wife, sisters...they don't get it. They get boggled by > configuration this and that, logins, etc. They are all too used to just > firing up and going with what is familiar. Then, the biggy, is games. If > you play games then you are set to go through even more work with only a > fractional hope that the game will work (working with wine is not straightup > simple and obvious). The newest games rarely work, or work only poorly. Not > a great way to make a favorable impression. > > Lindows is set to give linux a poor name as well, with their default > run-as-root setup. Sure, it makes it install and run similar to windoze but > it also makes it just as vulnerable as windoze. This can only make people > think (ultimately) that linux is no more free viruses, worms, and hack > attacks as windoze. > > I do think that for those who really just do web browsing, document editing, > emailing, then linux is perfectly valid. For those who game it just isn't > there and wont be until linux gets more game titles itself or wine/winex gets > much better and easier to work with. > > On Sunday 09 November 2003 02:58 am, Ronald J. Hall wrote: > > On Sunday 09 November 2003 02:20 am, James Sparenberg wrote: > > > Am I alone in noticing the insanity. As if SCO wasn't bad enough. > > > Lycoris deciding that it can rewrite the GPL. Now the CEO of RedHat > > > (or as I've heard of late DeadRat) is advocating that Home users stick > > > with Windows as Linux isn't ready for the desktop. Maybe I should send > > > the SOB a copy of 9.2 when it's ready to show him what RH could have > > > been if they didn't suffer from NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome. > > > > > > http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39117575,00.htm > > > > > > James > > > > Nah - you're not alone. I posted a message with a link to an announcement > > about this. The subject went something like "Redhat = traitors?"... <grin> > > - -- > Faith is the very antithesis of reason, injudiciousness a critical component > of spiritual devotion. > - --Krakauer > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux) > > iD8DBQE/rk4Yb1CLurEA6xURAmsnAJ9LgwGW6BvaUmOZeapdXBGE4SS/4gCcDgja > efM+7BPnCsPpFFqMr7rREWE= > =BHUM > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? > Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com -- Terry Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
