> Don't get me wrong, I really like Linux and hope it flourishes. And I'm not saying
>that Linux sucks in any way!
Mark...UNIX doesn't dominate the home computer market for one reason.
They've failed to get the interface useable by people who don't want
to know much about computers. I don't say that to slam you but rather
to point out the differences between the UNIX world and the rest.
Microsoft and Apple have worked hard to hide the computer. The UNIX
world has worked hard to keep make it available to the user. These
two strategies yield up different things but one thing it certainly
does is restrict UNIX to the power-user world.
That said, the various Linux distribution folks are working on making
it easier, adding lots of graphical interface stuff to automate setup
and such. You're probably right that they haven't gotten it
completely right yet.
What is safe to say is that if you expect Linux to be like Windows,
you should stick with Windows cuz it will never be. Linux is a
multi-user, multi-tasking operating system that is lean and mean and
definitely puts more power on your desktop. The price you pay is the
need to learn/know a lot more about your computer than you have while
running Windows. You must decide whether you want the power and
freedom that Linux provides and are willing to expend the effort
(significant) to learn it.
> But I'm just wondering because, without getting into a flame war, I'm
> surprised how bad the installation of Mandrake is. I got Mandrake because
Realize that the computer hardware industry is being held hostage by
Bill Gates' policy of requiring large payments to include device
drivers and such in Windows. THIS is much of what makes Windows easy
to install. Given the way those same hardware manufacturers are
jumping on the Linux cart, this will improve with Linux and just may
become less easy in Windows installations in the future.
Realize also that with a Linux installation you are 1) installing a
lot of application software as well as the operating system and 2) you
are doing a dual-boot operating system installation. Windows isn't
even capable of doing #2 and a W'98 distribution doesn't include
application software. You get to pay extra for that.
Cheers --- Larry
