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Thread ID: 60756	2005-08-12 04:58:00	Say It Aint So! Linux Snobs?......Really?	SurferJoe46 (51)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
380493	2005-08-12 04:58:00	I confess my dislike of basketing all people who use one system or another, or even like the same flavor ice cream . . . . this may or may not be my final opinion . . but I say it to provoke some interesting thought (somehow I think it might need a cool-headed moderator here soon . . . . Jen, are you watching?) :dogeye: Here goes . . . . . . right into the fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . As much momentum as Linux has enjoyed over the last few years, I'm still skeptical about its future on the desktop . It's not that I dislike Linux or that I think there's anything inherently wrong with it . It's that the numbers of people who actually want a steep-learning-curve, command-line driven OS are small . It has probably come close to saturating that market . For Linux to succeed on the desktop, it will require either (1) a coordinated effort by a large industry organization or . . . . . . . . . . (2) a major company, such as IBM, to get behind development of a true graphical user interface with direct, or . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3) at least, fully evolved access to the hardware and operating system settings without smug games of keepaway from the general populus and . . . . . . . . . . (4) teaching Linux at a preschool level, minimally in the lower grades when minds are meldable and not totally M$ oriented . (does M$ manufacture cribs or infant apparal?) KDE, Gnome, and others remind me of Windows 3 . 0's bad-hatched Program Manager . (OK, they're not truly that bad . ) ( . . . . . . . I digressed a little there, totally out of character for me) . While the usability of Linux desktops is better than the aforementioned comparison would indicate, it's still surgery for a dead horse . Someone needs to get serious about creating a Linux experience that's accessible to Joe and Jane Six Pack . :help: Even if only one-onehundreth of the Linux fanatics on this planet would devote some time to making this happen — instead of sniping at Linux newbies, Windows pundits, and each other — maybe Linux COULD become a mainstream desktop OS . Waiting to inhale here . . . . . . . . . . . . .	SurferJoe46 (51)
380494	2005-08-12 05:13:00	Interesting thoughts Having been a full-time linux user for a whopping two years now (Call me a g33k or a nerd, i dont care), its honestly not that bad. The low-maintenance side of it is something its got going for it. You're totally right, the command line scares the b'jeebers outta most people! Why should they have to use it when we mostly buried the command line in Win95. Old Gnome/KDE themes do look pretty nasty, but here's the latest look of KDE: www.canllaith.org Its a _lot_ nicer than windows by far. See here for where the Linux Desktop is going to take us: http://plasma.kde.org/ 1) You dont get a community as large and as active as the Gentoo community, their forums rock! 2) Not really, thats why we have a Linux community 3) Can you expand on this? Linux hardware support is better than Windows bar Modems. Mind me asking what brought this on? When was the last time you used Linux? My family had been using it fine for 9 months, no worries at all.... Im not saying its for everybody, quite happy to live and let live. However for those who want an alternative, I'll offer it every chance I can :)	Chilling_Silence (9)
380495	2005-08-12 05:16:00	Woah... are you testing a new flame proof suit joe? -Qyiet	qyiet (6730)
380496	2005-08-12 05:26:00	Hey, chill . . . I'm old and was just remembering the time I sent you a personal message and asked what you thought about LINDOWS . Besides, the truth be known, there isn't a current good fight going on in this site right now, and I thought I'd muck some up (a complete change of character for me) . BUT . . . . . . . . . . . You kinda put me off on trying it . . . not that you put me off, the fact that you said it might not be the thing I should do with my few remaining years, (my words, not a true quote from you . . . hahaha) . I think I told you I usta program for FORTH and the olde Basic that was available in the old(er) C>64 and C>128's that I had, and I was piqued by a new challenge . I did a little research, and quite frankly, I think I've grown a little hardened to using LINUX at all . All looks and research of LINUX leaves me cold . . . the learning-curve and such . Old dogs have a lot more trouble learning new tricks . Prophetically, (here's another into the fire here) I think Windows will be perfected any day now, and there will be no more hackers and trojans and bad things that can ever bother Windows ever again! I also have to remember to take my medications on a better schedule .	SurferJoe46 (51)
380497	2005-08-12 06:45:00	Ah, so you have never used or seen a recent Linux distro being used then before declaring it a dud? :rolleyes: It is not for some, it is everything for others . It can be as hard or as easy as you wish to make it . It is there as a choice and its newbie friendliness is improving in leaps and bounds . Noone says you have to try it . Whatever spins your wheels really . :) Quite a few overseas large governments (in France and Germany for example) have moved to Linux using mainly SuSE I think for all its desktop users . These are everyday people using a business computer as part of their work day .	Jen (38)
380498	2005-08-12 06:51:00	Command line? Consider it a volentary tool these days. I use it to update, using the scary command "apt-get update" to get software using "apt-get install evolution" (evolution didnt come with Mepis) to check whois "whois 123.456.789.123" and thats about it. It takes just under 2 hours to install everything on my laptop from scratch. It took all one night, countless reboots, and a return trip later to install XP on a friends machine a month or so ago. They only part of the Mepis install that requires thought, is making sure that i use the correct partition for "/home" as a mistake here would see me losing all previous personal files and settings. All hardware works, except perhaps the modem, but as i'm on cable i dont know if the modem goes or not. Errors when attempting to dial up seem to concern password and username, which i don't have, so that suggests even the modem works.	personthingy (1670)
380499	2005-08-12 10:01:00	There is only one reason I don't use Xandros as my main OS IRC dosen't work. Seriously. But as soon as I transfer to bitstream that'll be solved and I can move fully. I agree, Linux earns the award for most improved, and for some it is ideal. However for me Windows is easier (I can install anything by double clicking on one file, but Linux is a whole different matter :thumbs:) I do like Linux, but for various reasons I don't feel that I have the time and patince to master it. Sure, it is possible, and the only thing stopping me is a short attention span. When we get a new computer (Thus starting from scratch) Xandros is going on it as the only OS (Therefore force feeding it ;))	Edward (31)
380500	2005-08-12 11:23:00	Definitely possible if you look at something like OS X. You can go command-line if you want (or need to ) but ordinary people can do everything using the GUI. Installing packages is very straightfoward and in fact far more consistent than windows. Of course Mac OS X is sucessful as a commerical force (i.e. Apple) is behind it and they have control over the hardware. And yep you can stick Windows users (in my experience people actually don't know too much about Windows even after using it for years..) on OS X and they will pick it up. The only funny disasters is when they try and move system folders they shouldn't. There are many distros that are aimed at "Joe User" without command-line interaction. Of course it is different to Windows and so is OS X for that matter. People find that hard getting used to. Anyway, there are certainly novice type people at my local Linux User's groups and quite a few don't use the command line. They ask lots of questions and some do indeed "revert" to windows, but many just try a total immersion and come out the other side. And they aren't all young people either (using age as an excuse is starting to become a weak excuse these days).	gibler (49)
380501	2005-08-12 13:41:00	I agree, Linux earns the award for most improved, and for some it is ideal . However for me Windows is easier (I can install anything by double clicking on one file, but Linux is a whole different matter :thumbs:) One command run as root: apt-get install whatever Then watch as each package and each dependancy is downloaded, updated, and/or installed . Step 2 is wait and watch a few minutes (on broadband) Step 3 is run your program . All 3 things i have added to Mepis on flaptop have been done this way .	personthingy (1670)
380502	2005-08-12 13:49:00	IRC dosen't work. Seriously. But as soon as I transfer to bitstream that'll be solved and I can move fully.IRC should work fine on gaim. If you select auto login on all accounts, gaim will log in to all accounts on all protocols and display all contacts in one window, and all active chats in a seperate tabbed window. There should be no problems using IRC with gaim.	personthingy (1670)
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