I think that you have hit on the crux of the problem for Linux...it still
requires a fairly high degree of technical proficiency to install and run
it. As long as this is the case, MS and MAC will have an advantage in the
consumer market. Granted, this platform has come a very long way with the
improvements in KDE and Gnome just in the last year, but it is still full of
glitches that will hamper it being widely distributed and pre-installed on
home machines.
For example, I have had a number of problems getting printing to work
correctly since I installed LM8. It turns out that I had to go in and
change some settings in a cup.conf file to get it even half way reliable. I
also have had problems upgrading as the RPM manager does not seem to have a
list of update sites except in the security tab. This can be confusing (and
still is to me) because when one sees a tab for security, he/she will assume
that this is for security related updates only. What if I don't want that
kind of update? Where do I get them?
Burning CD's is another problem. I have tried to get the two cd burning
programs installed by default to burn cds. Gcombust finally has, but I
can't get it to make a bootable copy of the install disk 1 for LM8. There
is no documentation I can find and the it certainly not self explanatory.
My point is that unless one is very competent with OS's, Linux is hard to
use and understand. Even when one has been working in the field for 27
years as I have, there is a steep learning curve. For all of Microsoft's
problems, their OS works most of the time out of the box and is not that
hard for the average consumer to use. There are many sources of help for
the non-techie as well as the tech. Classes abound (both for free and for
fee) on how to use things such as Word and IE5. ( I know because I am the
automation coordinator for a public library system and we offer free
classes.) These are hard things for any OS to overcome. Can it be done?
Yes, but the platform will have to continue to mature and great emphasis
will have to be made on improving and simplifying interfaces and insulating
the non-technical user from the internals of the system. Most users will
not put up with what I and many others who have posted here for help have
had to go through. The difference between them and us is that we have the
mindset of not letting the computer win and enough technical know-how to try
different things.
Perhaps, as world governments and more in business embrace the concepts that
Linux is founded upon, and time effort and money are put into simplifying
things, then the average consumer will be willing and able to buy into it
also. The next couple of years should be interesting, especially
considering what MS is doing to combat piracy.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
BTW, I am a user who has installed Linux twice. Once about a year ago and
then abandoned it because I did not have time to learn it and now, because I
wish to get my feet wet into the "Unix" world and because I don't like what
MS is getting ready to do with its licensing. They are not intended to bash
anybody or anything, but only to honestly express what I feel could hold up
the revolution. Before anyone flames me, please let me get my asbestos
underwear!
Wendell Gragg
>From: "Solver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "Linux Newbie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Re: [newbie] Wow
>Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 21:32:25 +0300
>
>Well, for me Linux still is a secondary OS. I'm now going to start doing
>office jobs in StarOffice, but as long as I can't get modem to work, I
>can't
>do Internet stuff.
>Also, I have been writing apps for VisualBasic, and continue to do that in
>Win. But, I spend an even increasing amount of time in Linux. I'm proud
>with
>my OS knowledge:
>I have perfect knowledge of Windows 3.0, 3.1 and especially 3.11, as well
>as
>Windows 95 and 98. I know NT series (especially W2K Server), even though I
>really hate W2K. I know the very basics of BeOS - at least I can install
>it,
>install apps under it, and do some little job. I'm familiar with the
>Solaris
>OS, and am now gaining knowledge of Linux. When I get to interm. user
>level,
>I'll use my programming knowledge to recompile the source to suit my needs.
>Solver
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tim Holmes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "Sridhar Dhanapalan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Cc: "Adams, Jamie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'Linux List'"
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 7:13 PM
>Subject: Re: [newbie] Wow
>
>
> > I'm also the kind of person that likes to beat the hell out of a
>machine!
>One reason why I
> > had to get away from Windows. IT couldn't keep up. If a machine can't
>handle 8 different
> > programs running, it can't keep up with my usual 15-18 *term's running
>that I do work on,
> > playing small games, email, Mozilla and Netscape running plus w3m. I
>don't use KMail and I
> > do a lot of things via console, but I run tons of apps on a regular
>basis.
> >
> > I can't stand GNOME, and I KDE uses up too many valuable processes I
>could
>be using on
> > something else! :0) So I use Enlightenment with a rather small theme.
>That way I can have
> > 36 "desktops" to do the billions of things I like to do.
> >
> > I'm running on a Duron 850, which is going to be upgraded to a T-Bird
>1.2
>to use the 266
> > FSB on my Motherboard. I have 256 MG RAM, and 50 GB of disk space in
>that
>machine I
> > believe. A 20 GB and a 30 GB.
> >
> > But my previous P2 400 w/ 256 MG RAM took the load pretty well. Not as
>well as this
> > machine, but it took the beating. My only problems were in KDE and
>having
>KDE apps die on
> > me.
> >
> > tdh
> >
> >
> >
> > T. Holmes
> > -----------------
> > UNIXTECHS.org
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > -----------------
> > "Real Men Us Vi!"
> >
> >
> > | I guess it really depends on what you do with your system. I like to
> > | push mine right to its limits, running stuff like Windows in VMware
> > | (which is reasonably usable) and having several different web browsers
> > | open on a GNOME desktop. I've noticed that KDE and especially IceWM
> > | are faster than GNOME, but I find that GNOME suits my needs better
> > | (nothing can compare to Sawfish and the GNOME Panel :-)
> > |
> > |
> > | On Fri, 15 Jun 2001 18:26, Adams, Jamie wrote:
> > | > I dont know why you lot should be chuggin'. Im using a Toshiba
> > | > Satellite 2520CDT (AMD K62-300) with 64mb ram and a 4.1gig HDD,
> > | > everything runs perfectly on mine, much faster than 98 did! no
> > | > complaints here.. --
> > | > Jamie Adams
> > | > Housing Assistant
> > | >
> > | > 41 Castle Road
> > | > SCARBOROUGH
> > | > North Yorkshire, YO11 1BJ
> > | >
> > | > Tel: (01723) 507543
> > | > Fax: (01723) 355862
> > | >
> > | > >----------
> > | >
> > | > From: Sridhar Dhanapalan[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > | >
> > | > >Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > | > >Sent: 15 June 2001 07:33
> > | > >To: Jay needs a Guinness; Linux List
> > | > >Subject: Re: [newbie] Wow
> > | > >
> > | > >On Fri, 15 Jun 2001 14:58, Jay needs a Guinness wrote:
> > | > >> You are chuggin'?!!??!! I still have a Compaq 2266 with a Cyrix
> > | > >> 225MHz. Thank God I installed more RAM and a new hard drive. Me
> > | > >> PC is horribly obselete. But, not to disappoint you all, the new
> > | > >> computer I buy will be the new Dual Proc Mac with OS X. I refuse
> > | > >> to buy Windoze ever again, and I miss Macs.
> > | > >
> > | > >If I didn't have 256MB of RAM and a 12GB hard drive (which was
> > | > >absolutely massive when I bought it in 1998), I would've gone nuts
> > | > > a long time ago. My computer may be a bit on the slow side, but
> > | > > it's *just* (only just) fast enough to run GNOME with apps like
> > | > > Konqueror with anti-aliased fonts.
> > | > >
> > | > >I hope you don't plan on abandoning GNU/Linux entirely. Remember,
> > | > >Mandrake have a PPC Mac version in the works -- it's currently at
> > | > > the beta 1 stage, so it should be out quite soon. It even has a
> > | > > nifty app (Mac on Linux) that'll allow you to run Mac apps in
> > | > > Linux! If you're interested, there's a good FAQ list for Mac on
> > | > > Linux at
> > | > >http://www.ibrium.se/linux/overview.html.
> > |
> > | --
> > | Sridhar Dhanapalan.
> > | "There are two major products that come from Berkeley:
> > | LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence."
> > | -- Jeremy S. Anderson
> > |
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
>
>
>
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