On Thursday 03 May 2007 12:35:08 lyndon sutherland wrote:
> If only it were that simple. But there are users and there are users who
> are less than users ;)

Like the people who put diesel fuel in a petrol engined car, and then wonder 
why it won't go after the second top up?

> But seriously, you really expect a Linux neophyte to grasp Synaptic
> straight off?
Absolutely, you have to know everything about the ins and outs to be able to 
use the apt-get system.

> You think they might know what all those lib and kernel 
> thingies shown in Synaptic are?
Yes, in exactly the same way as _absolutely everybody_ is fully aware of the 
history and physics of microwave generation by the Cavity Magnetron before 
they press the button to heat their Cup-O-Soup at lunchtime.

> Is that not exactly what owning the 
> desktop is about, not having to know, a la Windows or double click the
> executable installer? Have you never met people who really don't even
> know what a zip file, let alone a .tar.gz or .deb file, is?

Sure I have, but I have yet to meet somebody who can't type
"apt-get install application" and then sit back to watch the incantations 
scrolling up the screen. Even children of 6 or 7 can do it.

That's all there is to it, and there are even GUI frontends to the Synaptic 
system for the intellectually impared who can't read the glyphs on the 
keyboard keys.

-- 
CS

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