I agree with Ashwin completely. Have been using Linux/Unix for a quarter
century. When my goal is to play with OS or its installations,
availability of many choices has been great. When my goal is to get
something else done, the minor variations became a pain.
Also, I don't agree with the Lego analogy. Lego bricks may have
different sizes and purposes but they have the same interface. You don't
need more than a moment to join any two bricks. Things are not so easy
across various distros.
Uday.
Dr. Uday Khedker
Professor
Department of Computer Science & Engg.
IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400 076, India.
Email : [email protected]
Homepage: http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~uday
Phone :
Office - 91 (22) 2572 2545 x 7717, 91 (22) 2576 7717 (Direct)
Res. - 91 (22) 2572 2545 x 8717, 91 (22) 2576 8717 (Direct)
On Tuesday 21 May 2013 06:14 AM, Ashwin Dixit wrote:
On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 12:52 PM, Arun Khan <[email protected]> wrote:
On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 11:18 PM, Ashwin Dixit
<[email protected]> wrote:
Yet, the Linux community seem to have two conflicting agendas:
Choose your poison. The FOSS eco system allows you both.
Arun, I am acutely aware that the FOSS eco system offers a wide variety of
choices.
The problem is not that there are too many Linux distros.
The problem is that there are too many Linux application package formats.
When a Windows or BSD ( *BSD | OS X ) user locates a desired application on
the Internet, they pretty much know it will run for them.
On Linux, you have to use the right package manager to install a desired
application based on its package format, and your architecture.
Choice is great for the brilliant Linux hacker, but terrible for the
average Linux user.
For an OS to be intelligent and user-friendly, it has to hide its
complexity from the common user.
The OS should just DWIM ( Do What I Mean ).
The average human user, is statistically more error-prone than a modern
machine.
The user should be removed from the loops of most decisions.
The OS should shield the common user from decisions such as:
"Software updates available. Install now?"
"Do you want to trust this site?"
Who wants to babysit a Personal Assistant who asks you every single time
before using the bathroom?
"There is some gas in my tummy. Fart now? [nY]"
Dear Linux, for starters, please don't tell me the package format.
Just make decisions for me, using real-time, context-sensitive heuristics,
and my custom settings.
Just my 0.02 BTC
Cheers,
- Ashwin.
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Subvert the dominant paradigm. Repeat as desired.
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