perthie wrote:
>>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.
Hi Perthie!
I think there is a controversy as to whether Linux really wants to serve
an average user. I think a fair number want it to be a closed club with
a steep entry fee in terms of learning curve. That said, a fair number
of times you hear RTFM it may just be a cover for "I don't know" . . .
Regards,
Pete
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