[aklug] Re: Basic Linux information

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009, jonr@destar.net wrote:

> I don't know what happened but it sent before I finished.
>
> First of all, I replied to a thread and it did not die, Huzzah!
>
> All I want is to give a new user to Linux the apps that they use now.
>
> I didn't list out hand holding, I didn't say we would do it all for
> them, I didn't say they should never learn, I didn't say that we go to
> their house and fix their system, did I? No.
>
> What did I list 47 applications and 76 different configurations? No.
> Here is what I see as what is needed:
>
> Email
> Flash
> PDF Viewer
> Java
> Shockwave
> DVD and Movie player (MPlayer, Xine, Totem)
> MP3 player and on RH systems how to get mp3's to work.
>
> Is it really that frikkin hard to make sure those work? By making
> those few apps work from the gate constitute doing everything for the
> new user? Gimme a break.

Yes and no. In theory it's all doable as long as you're not concerned with
some of the software/codec redistribution licensing restrictions, and you
don't care about poorly supported hardware, like certain frame buffers and
audio components.

But even then, that's not my objection. My objection is based on one simple
question: what does that accomplish? It gains you (possibly only
temporarily) a new user who's going to expect things to just work. A user
whose going to wonder why "app a" which wasn't on your list doesn't also
work, or why he can't run the latest version of iTunes with the iPhone 400GG
that comes out tomorrow.

If you had to make it that easy to get that user on board, do you honestly
expect them to make the leap to contributing to Linux?

The irony is that we will all likely see exactly what you want, but not as a
distro, as a pre-installed copy on a netbook or Internet tablet. And it
makes sense there because those consumers will hopefully understand they're
getting an appliance, not a general purpose computing device.

> Jon - List master of the day! -

:-) Correction: Jon - List instigator of the day! -

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Wed Sep 16 22:31:31 2009