David Johnson wrote:
> The average users of Dos95 or Mac have absolutely no knowledge of Unix
> or Unix-like operating systems. It's going to take them a while to
> figure out that "dir" does not list a directory. It's going to take
> them even longer to find out where /usr/doc is. <snip>
Interesting thread, but I think a major point is being ignored. IMHO the
average, hell most 'Doze users, know nothing about command line usage if
they even are aware that it exists. Just to be subscribed to this and
other Linux related lists implies, at least to me, that you are
motivated to learn more about an OS than most users. This means learning
the CL, shell scripting, configuration options, digging into the
sources,....., and, when all else fails, asking questions.
This is the beauty of the whole open source movement, e.g. Linux, that
anyone interested can become involved to any degree desired. Some will
jump in and try to improve or add to some area of the project benefiting
all. (For more on this phenomena read 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar' by
Eric Raymond, http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/. But
this requires time and effort to learn the various intricacies of Linux
and related apps. I would not worry about the 'average' 'Doze user being
confused about command syntax.
I fully believe that we are going to see over the next few months an
accelerating pace of Linux installations into not only servers but also
work stations in the business world and eventually home users. Most of
these new 'users' will still be only interested in specific apps, e.g.
word processing, and never know that CL interface exists:
point-and-click. Furthermore the only documentation they will read, if
any, is the help file associated with the app they are using. That will
leave the basic installation, configuration, customization, etc. to
those, many from this list, who understand the OS; this includes knowing
where and how to access the documentation.
Finally, anyone who feels that some piece of documentation is
incomplete, misleading, or missing can contact the maintainer with
suggestions (not criticisms). Or, look into the Linux documentation
project, or any other project, and volunteer your efforts. After all we
are all benefiting from the efforts of others and the willingness of
them to pass on their experiences and knowledge.
Ralph
