On Sunday 22 February 2004 03:48 pm, deedee wrote:
While I mentioned in an earlier post that I know rank newbies who have had no problems at all with Linux, I do not know a single person who is expert in ms win who has been able to install and use Linux without a lot of problems. Not one. My own problems were due to thinking I knew something about Linux based on my ms win experiences and knowledge.
Actually, I started out in IT as a Windows/OS2/Macintosh support person. While I have always had exposure to alternate operating systems, I would have considered and probably still consider myself something of an expert in MS Win, even now. I also have a certification with HP-UX Unix, and have been using Linux for 3-4+ years. I wouldn't say that MS Win "experts" would have problems with Linux but would say that MS Win power-users would have inordinate problems with Linux. Their expectations are higher. A newbie is happy to just get things working, while a power-user not only wants to get things working but has expectations about how things will work. The newbie expects to adjust to the system, the power user wants to adjust the system to them. The expert, OTOH, even in Windows, fully expected to devote the time to figuring out how to adjust the system. The end goal is not to have a customized system but the knowledge gained from learning how to adjust. The newbie just wants to color, the power-user wants to put the exact right color in the spaces, the expert was probably always the type of person who was not content to color within the lines at all. I think that that type of mentality is rewarded much more in Linux than in Windows.
Good points. I also find that with Windows users there is also a difference based on whether and how they have been instructed. When I give newbies lessons, I'm always careful to emphasise general knowledge, like what the right mouse button or the Alt key normally does, how windows behave and so on. All too often people are just taught (or pick up) very specific skills which they don't know how to generalise, so if a program looks different from the one they've been using, they get stumped. Even something as simple as learning general vocabulary can make a big difference - I know people who know the word "Excell" but not "spreadsheet"!
Sir Robin
-- "Caesar non supra grammaticos." - Suetonius
Robin Turner IDMYO Bilkent Univeritesi Ankara 06533 Turkey
www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin
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