Kamaraju Kusumanchi wrote:
Finally, to all those people, who keep referring unstable for newbies -
situations like this should be kept in mind.
raju
I have not recommended Debian's stable branch to people new to Linux for
a long time, and I don't think I ever would, except as a "just try it to
get your feet wet" sort-of thing. I'm talking about people who are
garden-variety desktop computer users, not people with specialized needs
or with particular purposes in mind other than finding an alternative to
Windows. The simple reason is that the software in Debian stable is too
old. People who are already using open source software on Windows --
things like Firefox, OpenOffice.org or AbiWord, the GIMP, Thunderbird,
etc. -- are the people most likely to be curious about Linux in the
first place. That's how I came to Linux -- it was a result of my
gradual realization that open-source software almost always worked
better than proprietary counterparts, so it was natural to wonder if an
open-source operation system would also work better. Those people are
already using the latest versions and they are used to using the latest
versions without giving it a second thought, because that's how it works
in the Windows world. I can't see myself saying "Yeah, use Linux and
you'll be back to a version of Firefox you left behind 1 1/2 years ago.
It's great!"
I would tell people either to try out Debian stable, then install or
upgrade to testing, or try Ubuntu, depending upon what I know about them
(how patient they are, whether they enjoy tinkering with their machines
or not, etc.). Debian stable has a lot of value and serves many
important purposes, but being a showcase for a nice up-to-date Linux
desktop is not one of them.
--
Michael M. ++ Portland, OR ++ USA
"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute
reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream." --S. Jackson
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