[KLUG Advocacy] Lindows/"I Want to Love Linux" rant....

[Robert G. Brown]

On 14 Oct 2003 16:08:06 -0400, magoo <mag00@voyager.net> wrote:

>> >It could be that his Windows system just works for him,  there actually 
>> >are happy Windows users - so he sees no motivation in moving to something 
>> >foreign.
>
>> Does he say so? It might serve to clarify his position.
>
>NEVER underestimate the ignorance (and laziness) of the typical computer
>user.  
I don't think this relates to the above comment; I've found that users 
are very good in their own problem domains, but I don't expect much in
the way of actual computer literacy from anyone, unless they make some
claim to the contrary. My Impression was that the site owner we're talking
about represented himself as more than a "user".

>Some day... and it may be a long time... Linux will be usable
>as a "people's OS!"  It is better left to network administrators and 
>those obsessed with digital elitist dogma!
What are you talking about? What is "digital elitist dogma"?

>Any moron (chuckle) can get functional with Windows at the application 
>level... some day those same morons may switch to Linux!  
I think we've had this thread already, and frankly, it's not going to 
turn out any different this time. If I give a user a configured Linux
box with the tools on it they need to be productive, they're happy,
period.

This isn't conjecture, and it isn't theory or dogma. It's experience,
I've been there and done it.

>Red Hat v8.0 works, but it is not pretty or fully functional.   
>Windows v3.1 has worked great for me for the past 10 years... 
>Windows 98SE has worked just fine for me too!   Everything
>just works!
Then use it, and be happy. Frankly, I think you're pretty lucky.

>No nerd ego boosting hacking and compiling required!
What does this mean?
The last dozen or so Installs I've done, everything has worked out of
the box. These included a top-end sound card, USB devices, IDE-CD burners,
scanners and tape drives. I did ZERO hacking, and I certainly didn't get
any ego boost (or failure) out of the experience.

>Being lazy and stupid is a problem with our own OEM operating system.
>Anyone have a patch we could download for that yet?  Ummm!  Was that
>a lightening bolt?  
No, I think it was a short-circuit. I beleive we're talking about two
different kinds of users; peoplewill be lazy and stupid when they can
afford to be (ignoring those who are simply scholarly for the moment);
one problem is that they often do not know when they can no longer 
afford it, and they are very much subject to exploitation until then.
This isn't particularly a problem with Linux, it is something that 
pervades our society, and it effects many aspects of our lives, often
things far more important than the the software we happen to be using
at the moment.

>Sorry... divine programmers can get so emotional!
Oh, I don't know... I se at least one non-programmer that's getting
pretty worked up over all this... :)

>OK!  The bugs (seven vices) and the features (seven virtues) are great!
Whatver this means...?

>Linux will empower the desktop of the average idiot soon, I hope!  :-)
>Until then... idiots will just have to worship at the feet of the
>Linux elite.
Consumers in any discipline end up at the "mercy" of one elite or another,
with Linux, you can be a lot more selective about which elite you want
to adopt, and it could be just yourself! You can't say that about a 
lot of things (gas, water, food, political leaders, etc.) in this
society...

>What did we ever leave the command line for anyway...
>only LOSERS need a GUI!
If you say so. I'm going to use a balanace og GUI, command line, and
other tools that allows me comfort and high productivity....

						Regards,
						---> RGB <---