Langa bashing (was Re: Problems getting Linux into homes)

[Eric Diamond]

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 7:28 PM bbales
> The point I am trying to make is if I fire up my windows98 box
> and use internet explorer to go to a site with sound, I can hear 
> the sound.  I've installed Linux on probably 40 or 50 boxes and 
> I can't get sound on my own box.  I correspond with folks who 
> can't even tell me what browser they are using, but they can get 
> sound with it.
> 
> Linux is great, but it ain't easy.   Yet.

And the point I was trying to make, along with having a little fun, and
this is especially poignant if Mr. Langa has been around for as long as
he has, is that I'm tired of hering IT people complain about something
being difficult to configure. If this stuff were simple, and any joe off
the street could make it all work, then most of us wouldn't be employed.
And anyone who not only expects that everything should work correctly
after a vanilla install but gets angry at the fact that it doesn't,
shouldn't be employed in the first place (at least not in this field).

If Mr. Langa had stopped at his first distro and spent any time at all
researching the driver situation for his card, then he probably could
have gotten it working before he could have finished his second install
and definitely would have by the time he could have finished his third.
By that time he would have found either an appropriate driver or
conclusive evidence that one didn't exist.

For that matter, why in the world would anyone undertake to install an
OS on ANY machine without researching the hardware first and collecting
all the drivers and software necessary to achieve the desired
configuration before he started the install. In my mind, that in itself
is invalidates both the mans test and his abilities.


Eric Diamond
eDiamond Networking & Security
303-246-9555
eric at ediamond.net