>From my own (newbie) standpoint linux has gone a long way from what it used to be.
Just four years ago, before I a joined the military I had an incredibly tough time making Fedora work on my slightly non-standard hardware until I finally gave up, I came back from deployment a couple months ago, and my experience was night and day to what it has been. Ubuntu was installed on my brand new laptop in only a few clicks, and I had a fully functional system running without having to touch console or having to manually install any packages. Compare it took me 1.5 hours to re-install XP + updates +all the drivers + software on a friends desktop. Linux is already at the point where it can replace an average email/browsing box, but perhaps it still needs a UI polish (gogo Shuttleworth!), a DirectX alternative for games (openGL is behind times), and re-worked color system before can be successful mainstream. Good news is that time is on Linux's side. On Sun, Nov 9, 2008 at 11:31 AM, Phil M Perry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Article on Linux in Popular Science, from the viewpoint of a "Joe > Windows" user > (it's mildly critical of Linux): > > http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-amp-gaming/article/2008-11/desktop-linux-%E2%80%93-will-it-ever-stick > and many comments responding how great Linux is even for non-geeks. > > Do --you-- all feel that Linux has progressed to the level of "point and > click" to > get any task done? Many people seem to be allergic to the command line > interface. We all know that there's a free equivalent to almost any bit of > Windows software out there, but is it easy for people to find and > install it? > How about proprietary shrinkwrapped software that can't be downloaded > (should you need some for one reason or another)? How about marketing and > promotion of Linux in general? The article mentions that pre-loaded Linux > laptops are returned at a far higher rate than Windows laptops, because > people > have been led to believe that using Linux is "just like using Windows". > Are naive > users being sold a bill of goods? When will Linux systems stop being a > toy for > tech geeks and start being a useful TOOL (or do you feel we're already > there)? > You want the OS to recede into the background and be unnoticed most of the > time. Ideally, your average user wouldn't even be aware of which OS their > computer is running under. > > I couldn't make it to the monthly meeting (car was in the shop), but if > it's a > major problem to supply ready-to-run executables (as in Windows) for a > wide range of architectures and Linux flavors/levels, and most non-geeks > don't want to touch a CLI, is there a solution? Can source tarballs, etc. > be distributed in a single universal package, and automatically compiled > and linked (after bringing in any prereqs, including compilers)? No getting > hands dirty running 'make' and related commands -- it just takes a bit > longer to install than a ready-to-run binary. Do such capabilities already > exist? Just a thought. I suppose that an alternative would be to distribute > Java bytecode or scripts such as Perl -- would they be totally platform- > independent? Sorry if this was covered at the meeting! > > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Sep 3 - Porkchop - The Areas of My Expertise > Oct 1 - Ubikeys > Oct 4 - Linux Fest > Nov 5 - Releasing Open Source Software > Dec 3 - TBD > > _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Sep 3 - Porkchop - The Areas of My Expertise Oct 1 - Ubikeys Oct 4 - Linux Fest Nov 5 - Releasing Open Source Software Dec 3 - TBD
