on Wed, Jan 22, 2003 at 09:26:37PM -0600, Jamin W. Collins ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > On Thu, Jan 23, 2003 at 02:51:46AM +0000, Karsten M. Self wrote: > > on Wed, Jan 22, 2003 at 01:05:28PM -0600, Jamin W. Collins > > ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > > > > Should it be? I can understand a desire to ease the installation > > > process. However, I for one feel it is tremendously benificial > > > for a user to understand how their system works. That is of > > > course, unless they are not the one maintaining it. In which > > > case, I don't feel they should be the one configuring it. > > > > What's your comparison base. > > Is that a statement or question? I'm not sure what you after. My > statement was not a comparison, it was more of a premise. In almost > every situation it is benificial to have an understanding of how > things work or fit together rather than simple memorization.
I agree. Let me restate: I agree *emphatically*. I *want* to know how my shit works. Which is why it's very, very important that I understand there are people who *just plain don't*. They don't know how it works, they don't want to know how it works, and (regardless of truth value) they don't think they can understand how it works. It's not how I funtion, I don't understand it, it makes me crazy. But I know people like this. I've worked with them. For them. May even be related to some of them. There's a lot of them out there. Would they be better served by an understanding, no matter how rudimentary, of what's going on? Almost certainly. Does this change the fact that they refuse to learn? No. For this clas of users, a setup and installation which _doesn't_ present choices, doesn't ask questions, doesn't tailor the system for optimal performance, but just, mostly, works, is _preferable_. Knoppix is the examplar of this: you put a CD in the CDROM drive. You reboot the system. It just works. No questions asked[1]. Does this mean that the install process is restricted to a smaller set of hardware, that the user is going to get in horrible tangles due to lack of knowlege, and that they'll never bust out of a really small box of functionality? Yes. But believe it or not, they want it that way. I don't know how long you've been around here or what you've seen of my posts. I've been less active in the past year. Trust: I live and die for this stuff. I like tweaking my boxes. I work with computers during the day, and come home to 'em at night. I set up new configs, push limits, tweak my configurations, look for new tools. And I enjoy the power this gives me. But I don't project these traits on others. Yes, I'll give another geek shit if they're being dense or stupid. But for Joe and Jane Q. Public, I meet 'em where they're at. If they want the power and the glory and the command line, so be it. If they're happy in their legacy MS Windows dungeon, I'll sing the praises of the side of the light, briefly, but otherwise let them be. It's possible to demonstrate and illuminate, but you can't cajole these folks out. And it takes a certain maturity among the technologically enlightened to see this. > > > Many of the people I've introduced to Debian are new to Linux in > > > general. > > > > ...but are or are not otherwise experienced computer users? > > Most were not experienced users. You fail to understand. This is a matter of mindset, not experience. Some of the people I refer to above have twenty or more years of computer experience. What they lack is the desire to learn about the technology. And you know, hey, that's OK. Peace. -------------------- Notes: 1. Actually, even better: you can tell it what to do. For the power user, Knoppix presents a set of options with an <F2> keypress at boot. If these aren't enough, there's an interactive startup (I haven't used this) which goes through the startup sequence interactively and allows the user to specify which steps to run or skip. -- Karsten M. Self <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/ What Part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? At the sound of the toner, boycott Lexmark: trade restraint via DMCA. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-979791.html -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]