[oclug]Linux too hard?

[GR Gaudreau]

On Sat, 23 Nov 2002 14:13:33 -0500 (EST)
thus spake "David F. Skoll" <dfs at roaringpenguin.com>:

> On Sat, 23 Nov 2002, GR Gaudreau wrote:
> 
> > [gr]   OK, let's get one thing clear, Phil: I'm not a fan of M$,
> > I'm a Linux fan. OK, now that that's out of the way, let me add
> > something else: despite all its problems, Windows is still the
> > choice of the average guy/gal and it will remain so until Linux
> > can satisfy the needs and wants of the average guy/gal;
> 
> That is manifestly untrue, because Linux can indeed satisfy those
> needs.

[gr]   Disagree! Linux has yet to do that, for the reasons I mentioned
in a previous reply to you; so it is NOT manifestly untrue. I gave the
example of games, drivers and digital photo programs. As for surfing,
chatting and such, sure, Linux can do that; but that isn't all the AU
wants to do with his computer.

Is Linux more stable, more secure and faster than Windows? No question
about it, it is. Does Linux provide the same kind of program breadth
provided for Windows? No, it doesn't. Has Linux come a long way in
just a few years? It has and Linux people deserve to be commended for
it. I think that's a fair view of the situation, rather than the
one-sided view we often get from some Linux people who, because of
their hatred of M$, don't seem to be able to take a fair look at the
situation.

[david]
> 1) It's preinstalled on most hardware, and people are lazy -- why
> erase your  OS if what you get works well enough?
 
[gr]  Lazy, or just not interested in having to go through the hassle?
You said it very well: why bother to erase your OS if what you get
works well enough?" You've no doubt heard the old saying, "if it
works, don't fix it?" Bottom line, David, is that Windows works for
the average user, so why should he go through the hassle of, as you so
well put it, erasing his OS, if it does the job he wants it to do; not
to mention the learning curve associated with learning a new and
different OS?

[david]
> 2) A lot of people haven't even heard of Linux.  They equate PC ==
> Windows.

[gr]  And just what does that have to do with satisfying the average
user? I've been plugging Linux to my friends and family, and the
usual answer is: "Windows works for me, that's all I'm interested in."
As well, read my comment below.

[david]
> 3) Linux vendors lack the advertising budget of M$.  They can't do
> deals with  Staple or Future Shop to promote Linux.

[gr]  Then it's up to the Linux people to get off their arses and make
Linux known, instead of just putting down Windows and M$ for their
tactics.

-- 
GR Gaudreau
"Half the lies they told me aren't true!"
~ Yogi Berra