On Tue, 2003-11-04 at 12:22, Devin Pratt wrote: > >I'm going to have to disagree with him somewhat also. > > > >I must say that my wife (not a computer person) has very little problem > >using Linux for all her computing needs. The only time she does have a > >problem is when I spent the previous evening upgrading or tweaking and > >some how left evolution or Gaim not installed (oops). As for Matthew > >Szulik's 90 year old father, I think he wouldn't have any trouble > >whatsoever doing the things he would want to do with Linux. (Email, web) > > > >There aren't just two distinct groups of users: corporate and home. I > >would dare say there is a large section of home-users that would have no > >problems using a Linux desktop. As for those not in that group. . . I, > >for one, won't suggest what other operating system you can use. > > > >Greg > > > > > The situation with you and your wife is more like the corporate case > than the home user case. In a corporate setting you have a sysadmin > whose job it is to set up the computers and help fix your problems. > That exactly what you do for your wife. My wife could also work just > fine on Linux if I installed it and answered a few simple questions. > But if I handed her a Mandrake CD and wished her luck she'd be in a bad > way. She's a smart lass, too, but she just doesn't have any experience > with that stuff. > > Devin
You're probably right about our situation being more like a corporate one. Should've thought about that. My comments were mostly spawned from a personal dislike of Micro$oft and the way they think they know what is good for me (When they don't). I want to reiterate, however, that I wasn't saying Linux at home will work for everyone. I was simply saying I believe the installers are good enough now, and the GUI refined enough in major distros that there are some users that could do Linux without problem (well, no computer is without problem). Especially if you are fair in your comparison with Windows and allow the user support calls (to Lindows or RH or SuSE). My grandma has called Microsoft several times for various things. Anyway, I don't really care to debate all that any furthur. I think this topic has been beat to death before on this list. You raise another interesting question in my mind, however by saying: "She's a smart lass, too, but she just doesn't have any experience with that stuff." Do you think people would be better off with a non-Linux OS because in general they don't have experience with it or because Linux lacks the "wizards" and little animals asking if you need help setting up this and that? AND Has anyone ever given their wife or grandma a Linux CD and wished them luck? Doing so, in my mind, would be the first step in finding out where Linux really is lacking for home users. Greg ____________________ BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
