> -----Original Message----- > From: john rigby [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: 13 March 2002 10:34 > To: Lee; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [newbie] Any First Go success stories ? > > It can be done. Mandrake can do it. All that is necessary is > to stop trying > to be all things to all people. > Put out a RETAIL product for the "rest of us". > We don't need Servers in a distro for God's sake! > Or 5000 utilities that even the laws of statistics tell us > will have a 50% > no-go rate. > We need an approved list of bits that work - like MS does, > but on a smaller > scale. > We need small entrepreneurs who will put together setup boxes > for people. OR > help by installing it on existing systems - putting in Win4Lin (next > version!) if necessary for already exposed users. > But mainly putting in the equivalent, or literally, > Wordperfect Office. 99% > of all prospects out there only want/need to get on the net, > write a letter, > run simple accounts and have a source of help on line AT THEIR LEVEL. >
Music to my ears! Speaking as a relative newcomer to the world of Linux, I was at first impressed by how many applications came with LM8.1, then dismayed by how few actually worked out of the box, or did anything useful. I was reminded of the PCs that you can buy in England from a company called Time - the HDs are bloated with loads of applications such as "another million indispensable fonts (release 3)". Sounds impressive in the adverts, but that's it. I don't have much patience for a lot of the tosh that litters my installation CDs - for example, none of the CD burner software worked, most had absolutely no documentation, and many of the games seemed to crash straight away. And the games that did work... well, they made Solitaire look exciting. A "retail" release as suggested by John would be great for me - leave out all the server stuff *AND* any alpha/beta releases *AND* anything that's undocumented/has no help menus. Some people like the fun of getting an undocumented cd-burner GUI to run. I just want to burn MP3s. Yes, the success of Linux is down to people who like to tinker with things to get them to work, and no, I am not trying in any way to denigrate what they are doing. What I'm trying to say is that I totally agree with John that Mandrake can't be all things to all people - I'd say that to seriously appeal to "users" rather than "geeks", you need a different version of the product: a cut-down version, not one with extra/different packages. By analogy, try this: You buy Windows in a retail pack. You try the included utilities, one is rubbish. You curse Microsoft. Then you download some shareware to try out, and it either works or it's rubbish. If it's rubbish, you shrug your shoulders and move on. Same rules should apply in the Mandrake world: everything that's on the "retail" Cd should work (especially if we're supposed to be paying for it nowadays). After that we'll take our chances with all the free RPMs/sources out there ;-) Just my EUR0.02's worth. Richard *********************************************************************** This e-mail and its attachments are intended for the above named recipient(s) only and are confidential and may be privileged. If they have come to you in error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or disclose them or any part of their contents to any person or organisation; please notify the sender immediately and delete this e-mail and its attachments from your computer system. Please note that Internet communications are not necessarily secure and may be changed, intercepted or corrupted. We advise that you understand and observe this lack of security when e-mailing us and we will not accept any liability for any such changes, interceptions or corruptions. Although we have taken steps to ensure that this e-mail and its attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. Copyright in this e-mail and attachments created by us belongs to Littlewoods. Littlewoods takes steps to prohibit the transmission of offensive, obscene or discriminatory material. If this message contains inappropriate material please forward the e-mail intact to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and it will be investigated. Statements and opinions contained in this e-mail may not necessarily represent those of Littlewoods. Please note that e-mail communication may be monitored. Registered office: Littlewoods Retail Limited, Sir John Moores Building, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L70 1AB Registered no: 421258 http://www.littlewoods.com ***********************************************************************
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