Jumping in late here, I was on holidays...
>I'm afraid I need to disagree with this. I picked up linux mostly because
>I wanted to have some understanding of unix, but it does have potential to
>be a desktop os. Think about the ease of use complaints, the original
>poster complained about not knowing how to even change directories. Would
>it be so difficult to add alias dir="ls -F --color=tty" to the bash
>defaults in the distro? I don't think so, and setting up some aliases for
In recent months, a new HOWTO has seen the light of day. It's called the
Config HOWTO, and in the words of its author "This HOWTO aims at making the
fine-tuning of your newly installed Linux box quicker and easier. Here you
will find a set of configurations for the most common applications, so you
can start to work with a well-usable system".
I found some of the information to be of great use. I certainly didn't see
anything glaringly wrong. I think many people would do well to read it, for
there is much to recommend it. And should you have a trick for easing an
installation that is not covered by the HOWTO... send it to the author.
Now I would say that it might be very educational for new users to read this
documentation, and apply some of the tricks and tips themselves... as part
of the installation process. They will feel like they are doing something
constructive.
While we wait for mouse-pusher applets that front-end the editing of
resource files, getting new users to edit dot files and the like has three
important benefits: a) they learn what files control what behaviour, b) it
encourages them to explore and c) they get a warm-fuzzy feeling of
empowerment over their system. I'm sure the issues described in the Config
HOWTO could be encapsulated in a Tcl application. But hey, it's easier just
to grab the latest version of the HOWTO and follow the latest guidelines.
I draw a parallel to the market for packet-mix cakes back in the fifties.
Companies came out with packets of industrial powder where all you had to do
was add water and mix, and stick it in the oven. Instant cake. Sales were
disappointing. They then redesigned the glop by removing the powdered egg.
To make the cake you had to add water, *break an egg*, and then mix and
stick it in the oven. The sales took off overnight. The moral of the story
is that people like to feel they are doing something constructive.
The point to remember is that Whinedows does not install out of the box.
Sure, it's useable, but who really uses it "bare"? I find I spend a couple
of days installing things like PowerToys and KernelToys extensions, choosing
cursor packs, chasing down a backup of my favourite screen background,
tweaking the colour settings, etc., etc., and arranging things to be "just
so". This is a *big* part of the addiction problem people have with Windows.
It's too much fun wasting hours doing this sort of stuff.
DL
--
PLEASE read the Red Hat FAQ, Tips, Errata and the MAILING LIST ARCHIVES!
http://www.redhat.com/RedHat-FAQ /RedHat-Errata /RedHat-Tips /mailing-lists
To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
"unsubscribe" as the Subject.
