[K12OSN] OT: Towards Linux Desktop Comfort

[Dan Kegel]

On 10/30/05, Daniel Hedblom <daniel at solle.se> wrote:
>>    http://kegel.com/linux/comfort/
> I think you make the same assumption many other do about Linux.
>That its supposed to be a drop in replacement of Windows.  ...

Interesting fact: one of the major goals of
Open Office 2.0 was to be more of a drop-in replacement
for Microsoft Office.  They had tried being different for
years, and discovered that users simply didn't care to
spend the time to learn a different interface; they wanted
their old familiar one.
Does that mean Linux has to be just like Windows?
No.  But it does mean that if you want people to use
you, you have to make the learning curve really, really easy
for users who are switching.

>Microsoft is yesterdays news, we can stand here and wait or go ahead and make
>something better than they do. If we just mimic them all we ever will
accomplish is
>second hand stuff. Why follow when you can lead?

I'm totally with you, but if we want to switch over millions of
people per year, we have to make sure they're comfortable
with the idea.  Don't you agree?