User Linux

[Peter Eddy]

Travis Riddle wrote:

> Why not just download Open Office for Windows.  If that will not work
> (the linux community seems to be fine with it) then Word Perfect can
> be found for less than $40 bucks.  Gimp instead of Photoshop.  Perl
> is free.  There is even free AntiVirus.  And all an end user has to
> do is download and run the .exe.  No compiling the kernel, no rpm
> managment, and extremly easy updates.

Certainly these are options too, though I haven't had to recompile my 
kernel in years, and I haven't had much trouble typing,

"yum install <appname>"

either. In fact, it's easier than on windows because you don't have to 
go look for the application to download and wade through various 
advertisements and end-user agreements.

> The Linux desktop community is going to have to get serious about
> making their product easy to use or the home consumer market (as well
> as most of the business market) will continue to ignore them.  95% of
> the people that use home computers already think that MS products are
> over their heads, put linux in front of them and they will never turn
> it on again, they have better things to do.

If you'd been using Linux for as long as I have you'd know that Linux 
and Linux desktops *have* gotten vastly easier to use, thanks in large 
part to the efforts of RedHat. If you'd been around to witness this 
transformation you'd probably be wowed with the current state of Linux 
rather than being upset by it. Go try to install an old version of 
Slackware or Debian if you want to see what I'm talking about.

If you'd been around you'd also know that the history of Linux usability 
discussions is littered with people who complain about the problem but 
don't do anything about it, either by contributing code or paying for 
Linux so companys could afford to put more effort into development.

Peter