On Friday, July 07, 2006 4:36 AM GMT, Chad Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> IraqiGeek wrote: >> You want Linux to really break into mainstream computing, get the >> majority of distribution publishers/makers to agree on a single main >> standard Linux framework where there is a single and unique standard >> for every task that each and everyone of those publishers will >> adapt. Let the decision making burden be on the developers of the >> distro, not on the average end user who only cares to push the power >> button, wait a miniute or so, and then be able to check their email >> and browse the net without giving a rats ass as to how any of that >> is happening. Then, and only then, Linux will start to be adopted by >> the masses. > > Yes. One of the big mantras of Linux is choice. People are used to > things that have user interfaces as difficult as a toaster. If a > computer doesn't work as easily a toaster, it's confusing. Windows is > more of a toaster. Linux, espousing choice, neccessarily cannot be a > toaster. If you remove the choice of window managers, filesystems, > etc., Linux ceases to be what it is today. I'd rather have a computer > than a toaster, so I choose Linux. If the distros did what you say, I > think very few of us would stick with it. I know I wouldn't. > I dont believe that standarizing means necessairly that you don't have the choice anymore. It barely means that there is a common set of defaults shared between distros, something similar to the Debian Common Core (DCC) but extended to the remaining aspects of the OS. This way, Linux distros would have a "toaster" mode that makes it intuitive for users to learn Linux without worrying about the details, at least in the beginning. Yes, windows operates in toaster mode by default, but once you have reached the technical level where you can make informed decisions about what you want it to do, and how you want that to be done, you can still customize it to a certain degree, and it certainly doesnt lack in the complexity department. One doesnt have to be a car mechanic to know how to drive. With Linux, in its current state, you have to be a tech savvy person who is willing to go through lots and lots of technical details, read many long man pages and howtos before you can accomplish some simple task as simple as installing the driver of a new device you want to add. > Another thing you miss, which is huge, is marketing. I had a very > intelligent boss who always bought Intel products because they, in his > mind, "worked better with Windows." That's the power of marketing. > Microsoft does it better than anybody in the OS world. They make it > sound as if you have only one choice, and that's Windows. And people > believe it partially because they're not interested in learning > differently. There's also the perception of value in a price. If it > costs more, it's worth more, right? That's what business classes > teach you. No, I'm not missing that one, but thats a total different story. I have been personally dealing with this "Intel is better" mantra for years now. However, I don't believe that you cant get granny to use Linux no matter how much marketting you do. Sure, with enough money you could intice her to try it, but then you'd leave a negative experience that would be very hard to reverse. > > In summary... > > Linux: > Choice > Free > Difficult Why cant Linux be easy, yet still represent the choice and freedom it is representing today? > > Windows: > No choice > Expensive > Easy Its sorta like "you get what you pay for". People want ease of use, and hence will pay microsoft to get an easy to use OS where they can actually focus on doing their work (99% of people have non computer related jobs), not on how to get that damn document printed. > > Chad Martin > Regards, IraqiGeek www.iraqigeek.com How an engineer writes a program: Start by debugging an empty file... ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/6pRQfA/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/0XFolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this list, please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] & you will be removed. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LINUX_Newbies/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
