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The future of linux



On Mon, 31 Jan 2000, Jason Nelson wrote:

> >
> Getting the big manufactures to sell preinstalled Linux machines I believe
> would be part of the answer here.  Its a bit of  chicken and egg issue.

Yes.

> >2) ease of maintenance:  What maintanence?  Once she's got an account,
> >and you've set up her printer (did she set up her own printer on
> >Windows?), what does she need to maintain to run e-mail and WP? 
> I fall into the "Oh its easy trap" often myself.  Linux is no doubt getting
> easier.   However just mounting your CDROM can be a daunting task for some
> beginners.  

This can be done automatically now, and is by default with a RH WS
install.

> Just the fact that the interface is not Windows or MAC can
> throw some. 

I'm having a harder and harder time buying that one as the DTE people keep
making desktops that look exactly or nearly exactly like windows.

On the other hand, my wife wouldn't touch the Linux machine
> until she found a game she liked and now she uses is regularly.

Was it xboing?!?!  That game rocks!!!

> "The floppy is not working"

Now automountable.

> "Where's the 'C' drive?"

I have a hard time with this one... I've always been the type to read the
manual.  It's in there.

> "I can't dial up" (a big one)

Yeah I mentioned this as a problem.  KPPP might help, but I don't use it,
so I can't really say.

> "How come I can't install this app (being an app not ported to Linux)?"

Call the vendor and get it ported.  Not easy, I know.. but they're
listening.

> "Dual boot how do I do that?  Won't I lose everything"

Not an end-user problem.

> Maybe a Windows and Mac to Linux Tutorial (if one doesn't exist)?

If they won't read the manual, why would they read that?

> Remember, even Microsoft had to deal with users complaining Windoze was too
> hard (coming from MAC users).  

Yeah, I guess people are just too lazy. Me Cynic.

> Lastly,  with all that said - LINUX has an exploding number of new users as
> we speak!  As this grows so will hardware compatiblily, number of
> manufactures selling Linux out of the box etc. will grow   So I think it's
> on the right track overall.

Very true.

-- 
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"    "Who watches the watchmen?" 
-Juvenal, Satires, VI, 347 

Derek D. Martin      |  Senior UNIX Systems/Network Administrator
Arris Interactive    |  A Nortel Company
derekm at mediaone.net  |  dmartin at ne.arris-i.com
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