> On Fri, Mar 26, 2004 at 07:16:13PM -0700, Nathan Rackliffe wrote:
> > Last week I was sitting in a class with my laptop connected to the
> > ethernet link for the TEC room (The professor must wonder why I sit
> > so close) Someone came up to me and asked me to share the internet
> > connection, so we could all be online at the same time. On Windows,
> > this took about 3 minutes, with no documentation. On Linux, I'm
> > still reading mailing lists. Linux still needs to be smarter about
> > what it does and hide needless complexity from the user, while
> > allowing access to all of the complexity needer or desired.
>
> Sharing your connection is intuitive:
>
> 1. Let other people connect to your computer (wirelessly, I assume).
> 2. Forward their connections through your Internet connection.
>
> The steps to accomplish this are less than intuitive, but they come
> with experience:
[Extreme snippage]
> Voila! You are now sharing your network connection (assuming I didn't
> miss a step there; I'm just pulling this off the top of my head). Of
> course, it is completely insecure, but the HowTo's at TLDP explain how
> to fix things a bit.
[Extreme snippage]
The difference that Nathan was trying to point out, is not the functionality
but the ability for a windows user to be ignorant of the bulk of what you
said. In windows all of the above snipped parts can be replaced with
1. Check the box marked "Allow other network users to connect through this
computer's Internet connection" on the properties for the appropriate
network connection applet.
2. Voila! Done!
The ease of use and level of required knowledge is much less. Is this a
good
thing(tm)? Yes! for a desktop OS being used by a casual/moderate computer
user.
Is it a good thing for a server/router/etc OS? Maybe not.
In other words, for Joe user Linux is just not there, yet. Windows and
MacOSX
both just do all of the other things in the background.
Now before anyone flames me, I'm trying to look at this from the perspective
that Nathan suggested. For example, my younger brothers are a designer
(uses
MacOSX extensively) and a comms major. They're not computer newbies, but
following Michael's directions would be challenging at best for them.
Recently
the comms major was setting up a shared internet connection at my parents
house.
Walking him through it on the phone for windows (initially) and a dedicated
router
later on, was cake. If, however, I had had to explain the steps snipped
above...
I think we would have given up.
Josh
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