On Wednesday 18 January 2006 6:39 pm, ET wrote: > Dan LaBine wrote: > > Bryan Phinney wrote: > >> People just want computers that work. Linux will never attract enough > >> users unless it is more simple to use. ... If you cringe as I do > >> everytime you read one of these statements you might be interested in > >> this article, about why some of us are happy that Linux is not like > >> Windows. If you have ever made one of the proceeding statements, you > >> might be interested in a different point of view. > >> > >> http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm > > > > HeHe! Let the call go out. Bring on the flame wars! Here we go folks! > > > > Jeez Bryan, nothing like stirring the pot, huh? LOL! > > > > Think I'll just duck and sit this one out. > > > > Dan LaBine > > but there will surely be enough traffic to know if $ympa bits again... There are some good points there, but some I think there is a little hair splitting going on. When a windows user tries linux, I think they are looking for something that is "easy to figure out". Yes, that is the reason you have KDE and Gnome. That is the place for a newbie windows migrant to start, because it looks familiar. I think that the real problem is that people don't pay enough attention to what distrobution they try first, and believe that all distros are the same. I have only tried three, and with the availability of cheap copies, I will probably try more. The real eye opener for people trying linux for the first time is that every branch of linux has been developed in a different way. Things are similar, and if your do everything cli, then the differences are greatly reduced, but for a newbie (attached to gui by umbilical), then the differences start showing up. There are a great number a programs with overlapping functions, which have been developed in different ways, and look and bhave differently.
To come to the point, I think the hardest thing for a newcomer to linux to deal with is the array of choices. It is as bad as building a house. I have deviated little from the install discs, and still there are four window managers on my system. Six web browsers, but two of those are text based. And then things get complicated from there. Have you ever gone to sourceforge, and just looked at projects to see what is out there? Someone has written a program for linux-using doctors to look at and analyze some sort of brain scan output. There are some tremendously specialized programs out there free for the download if you have the need. I think that the idea SHOULD be for linux to replace windows. Maybe, if linux starts getting too much market share, then M$ will have to produce better software to survive. That would, in my opinion, be the best outcome of all. Linux would still be an ongoing evolution. But, windows users might get a more stable OS. Sure, there are some things that windows has programs for that are not found in linux. But that only lasts as long as there are no linux people seriosly interested in making such an application posible in linux. It will be interesting to see how things change as time goes! -- Lorin Pino Stuck in the state of Missouri But Macro$haft free! Registered linux user #379683 ------------------------------- Currently Suse 9.2 Pro Asus A7V8X-X VIA KT400 AMD Athlon XP 2400 Plus 2.0 GHZ ____________________________________________________ Want to buy your Pack or Services from Mandriva? Go to http://store.mandriva.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrivaclub.com ____________________________________________________
