[LUNI] Microsoft loses 10,000 (so far) in Extremadura, Spain

[Larry Garfield]

Robert Jacobsen wrote:
> I couldn't agree more! I've been running a Linux desktop at home for
> almost 2 years now and I prefer it over my Win 2000 work laptop.
> 
> Those who say Linux is not ready for the desktop are probably associated,
> in some way, to Microsoft or have been brainwashed by those Congresscritters.

Well, as someone who is not nor have I ever been in the employ of 
Microsoft and has not been brainwashed by Congresscritters, I still say 
that Linux is not quite ready for the desktop. :-)  More specifically, 
GNU/Linux, but Linux itself, too.

When will I consider Linux to be "desktop ready"?  When all of the 
following conditions are met:

1) User can add, remove, and upgrade software cleanly;
That includes adding and removing modules from larger programs, as well 
as the system itself.

2) User can add, remove, and reconfigure hardware cleanly;
That includes adding and removing modules from the kernel (aka Drivers)

3) User can add, remove, and reconfigure customizations cleanly;

4) All of the above can be accomplished without
(a) touching a command line, or
(b) recompiling anything.

Until the above conditions are met, GNU/Linux will not be "Desktop 
ready".  Why?  Because the kind of people who use "desktops" (as opposed 
to "workstations", even with the blurring technological lines) are 
*scared away* by the command line and the compiler.  As well they should 
be.

Compiling is, and will always be, a potentially dangerous activity. 
Typical users should not have to deal with that.

The Command line is an interface optimzed for users who know what 
they're doing already.  The learning curve is higher than for a 
well-designed GUI.  It requires the user to remember commands, rather 
than just recognize them.  Sure, the folks on this list are comfortable 
with it, but most people are not, nor do they have any desire to be, nor 
should they have any reason to be.

Mandrake 9 comes closer than most systems I've seen.  Debian, once it's 
actually set up and working, isn't bad, if there was a good graphical 
alternative to apt-get.  (Again, great for expert users, not for typical 
users.)  With the very nature of open source, however, I'm not sure if 
that level of end-user friendliness is truely possible.  Here's hoping, 
though.

-- 
Larry Garfield			AIM: LOLG42
lgarfiel@students.depaul.edu	ICQ: 6817012

-- "If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you." :-)