On Thu, 2009-09-10 at 14:12 -0600, Jeff Schroeder wrote: > These days, Linux distros have install processes that are at least as > simple and painless as Windows. I'm a Kubuntu user myself, and when I > need to build a new system I just slip in the install CD, answer a few > simple questions like what timezone I'm in and what language I prefer, > and in 15 minutes the system is up and running. > > I should also mention that the system is actually USEFUL, too. It has > OpenOffice and a mail client and a PDF reader and other general > applications that an average desktop user would need. Windows, on the > other hand, requires all of that stuff to be installed separately.
You're missing the point. Most people don't install Windows themselves. They pay the Geek Squad or badger a brother-in-law. Having recently lost 16 hours of my life reinstalling and fully updating Windows, I'm intimately familiar with how indescribably horrible it is, but for most people it's a none issue. > In short, I'd argue that you no longer need to be a geek or a hacker to > use Linux in a general office environment. The reason people don't do > it en masse is simple inertia. They've used Windows for ten years and > they're used to it. They may not even LIKE it, but it's hard to > overcome the indoctrination. That's like saying that most people don't drive hydrogen cars because it's hard to overcome the indoctrination. In both cases, the infrastructure simply isn't there. Doesn't matter how many snide comments we make, or how much wishful thinking we do, most people's needs are different than ours, and that's why Linux isn't more widely used. /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
