On 09/08/2012 11:51 AM, Camaleón wrote: > On Fri, 07 Sep 2012 13:37:55 -0700, Weaver wrote: > >> I know how hard it can be to see the forest when you are too close to >> the trees, so I thought I would re-post something I put up in another >> forum where Miguel de Icaza's recent communication was being discussed >> and in answer to Vaughan-Nicholl's recent article of semi-acceptance. >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> The most 'untechie' person on the planet can use any Linux distribution >> once it is installed. > > (...) > >> The reason they don't is the install procedure. > > (...) > > I think it's not that easy. > > First, because "untechie" users neither have to install Windows nor MacOS > as both usually come along with the computer in a pre-installed form thus > they only have to provide some basic data. > > And secondly (and most important, IMO) once the Linux system has been > installed, configured and ready to use there's still the problem with > applications. You only have to tell "untechies" that they cannot install > Photoshop CS[whatever] and their response (98% of the time) will be > something like "what kind of crap is this?" ;-) > > Linux is more like an intense mental activity that requires from your > attention (and high doses of patience and interest) and not all the > people is ready/looking for that. > > Greetings, >
To add to Camaleón's points I'd also observe that -- even when users do install Windows, they usually do so from an installer (possibly a really, really bad one customized by the computer manufacturer) that doesn't ask (m)any questions about what's already on the system. Windows installers don't give a rap about whether or not you'll be able to boot the OS that was previously on the system before Windows was installed. There's a kind of hubris to that that we (the FOSS community) wouldn't be thrilled to see coming from our own distributions, I think. But making those assumptions makes it pretty easy for Microsoft and its business partners to make an installer that's easy to use. All it has to do is re-pave the highway. GNU/Linux/HURD/BSD users have a lot of freedom to configure things just the way they want them. That requires them to do anywhere from a little to a lot of learning. The people who are turned off by the effort of finding out how to choose a partition scheme (pretty darned easy by default in Debian, for instance) or a file system (also not hard by default in the d-i) are probably not going to enjoy the party once they're here. The people who do take interest in such things -- like I did back when I used DOS and Windows -- probably aren't going to balk at all at what they find in the d-i expert install. I didn't. I went straight from all Windows to all GNU/Linux without bothering with virtual machines or dual booting or any of that stuff. Just saved my data to a safe place, took all the machines to Debian testing, and stuck our data back on the "new" systems. Actually, the hardest part of the switch was finding a way to convert some of the data from proprietary formats to open formats. Good fortune to you! the worrier -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/504b7b5e.6060...@comcast.net
