Re: [SLUG] <OT> RIP Microsoft?

From: perthie (perthie@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Feb 14 2005 - 23:37:12 EST


> Hmm... I wonder then what the downfall of Linux might end up being?
> It
> reminds me of a comment by RMS: (here's an approximation)
>
> "If they remember our software, but forget our reasons for making it,
>
> then we have failed. If our software is long forgotten, but our
> process
> isn't, then we've succeeded."

At the moment, IMHO, its downfall is lack of useability for people who
are used to microsoft based systems. People fortunate enough to have
spent a number of years growing with Linux or UNIX have no problem at
all with not-so-everyday tasks. The people I work with, for example,
have been using Microsoft almost their entire lives. They end up coming
to me with Linux questions as though I'm the local guru (in reality, I
know just barely enough to boot the kernel, change runlevels, and mount
volumes).

In windows, all of us (people I work with) know where and how to change
a static ip address. In linux, I have to either be familiar with
ifconfig and route, as well as know all the options that must be passed
to each (and the man pages are so pedantic, they end up confusing first
time users) or figure out what graphical utility comes with a
particular distro that automates the task.

If there was a more familiar (and standard) orginization of utilities
that was friendly to windows users, I think Linux would be far more
popular.

As it stands now, Linux can take me to the moon, but I have to be an
astronaut to get there.

                
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked
Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages
posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Fri Aug 01 2014 - 19:09:33 EDT