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Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 19:11:19 +0000
From: Bernard Peek
Newsgroups: alt.comp.freeware,alt.os.linux.ubuntu
Subject: Re: My ubuntu experience
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In message , Topaz_Crow
writes
>> _Newbies_ not only want it, but
>> it has to be easier - or as easy - as Windows
>> to navigate the basic controls.
>
>OK, the Linux developers must dumb down the OS just to meet the wants
>of a few lazy or scared newbies. Is this a good thing. I've mixed
>feelings on this. Many people, Like yourself are making great efforts
>to learn and you don't seem to be too scared to experiment with the
>CLI. So there is no problem then.
The paragraph you quoted has some clues to what the real problem is. The
phrase "if the Linux _community_ want newbies to try out and switch to
Linux" is the key. There are an awful lot of hidden assumptions behind
that, and while they stay hidden a lot of people are going to be talking
at cross-purposes without really communicating much.
The first assumption is that there is such a thing as "the linux
community." There are lots of individuals and groups that use or develop
Linux but I don't think that there is a Linux community that "want
newbies to try out and switch to Linux."
There are individuals who want newbies to be able to use Linux in
exactly the same way as they would use Windows.
There are individuals who are quite supportive of newbies but expect
them to learn the Linux way. My guess is most volunteer Linux developers
are in this group.
There are individuals that work for companies that are trying to make a
profit from selling Linux-based products or services. They want more
people to use Linux.
There are individuals who believe that "dumbing down" Linux to make it
more like Windows is wrong.
Most people don't fall completely or consistently into any of those neat
pigeonholes.
>I don't necessarily disagree with the effort to make a newbie friendly
>distro. But how far is it going to go. People are going to complain
>that it's not easy enough even if it were exactly like Windows.
*If* someone wanted Linux to replace Windows then they should work on
making the user interface identical to Windows, so that users can switch
without having to learn anything new. In general the people who really
do want that to happen are a) those who believe that non-free software
is morally wrong or b) want to make a profit from Linux.
I believe that a lot of the opposition to "dumbing down" Linux comes
from people who have learned how to fix problems using the command-line
or by editing configuration-files, and don't understand that there are
other people who find that an insurmountable problem. I think this
includes a lot of Linux developers who have written software that does
what they want and don't see why they should put in a lot more work to
make it work for people who aren't prepared to meet them half way, by
putting in some effort to learn those techniques.
I don't think either side is being unreasonable. Let's not lose sight of
the fact that most Linux developers are volunteers, you aren't paying
the piper so you don't get to call the tune. If you want a particular
feature in a program then you can hire a programmer to add it, or you
can sweet-talk the existing developers into it. Demanding that an unpaid
volunteer puts in many hours of their own time to do it just isn't
reasonable.
On the other hand there are volunteer developers who actually want to
persuade newbies to use Linux, and there are developers working for
companies like Redhat, SuSE and Ubuntu who are paid to make Linux
software easier to use.
I've got a suggestion that developers might like to consider. When they
next work on a program that newbies might want to use, change the way
configuration options are stored. Make a conscious decision to store the
program configuration options in a binary format instead of a text file.
Alternatively whenever a tester has to edit the configuration file by
hand, log that as a bug.
> I just
>fixed a Windows computer for a friend who has had it for years and
>still don't know the difference between a hard drive and memory. He
>thinks all pop-ups are viruses and hacker attacks. Can we make Linux
>user friendly enough for these folks? Do we really want to? Does it
>matter if Linux becomes No. 1?
Does it matter to who? There are different people involved with Linux
and all of them have different wants.
>
>There comes a point where if people want *better* they must learn how
>to use the *better* option. If they want easier, stick with what they
>know and pay people to keep it going.
>
>If one wants a faster car, one must learn to drive it. If one wants a
>race car, you can't expect the manufacture to make it so that it
>rides like your Cadillac just to please the people who don't want to
>learn how to handle it.
That's only partly true. If car manufacture was evolving as fast as
software there would be people trying to build cars that had the ride of
a Cadilla but could travel at 200mph.
>
>>
>> My wife and kids are not interested in system controls, that's my job. All
>> they want is to click their favourite apps open and use them... Getting a
>> ten year old to understand a command line is nigh on impossible!
>
>My eight year old is starting to delve into it. My family uses Linux
>with no problems. Of course my wife only uses the command line if I
>tell here how to. But she doesn't have a problem on these occasions.
>
>You are making a great effort to learn to use Linux and chose a good
>starting point with Ubuntu. Keep it up and you will be happy with your
>choice. Eventually, you may end up being the one giving CLI commands
>to help.
I started programming computers when there was only a CLI. But even
though I recognise that the CLI is very powerful and flexible I don't
think that it's acceptable to require average computer users to have
anything to do with it. Neither do I think it's acceptable to force
users to edit configuration files by hand. Linux is not going to replace
Windows while this is ever required.
But Linux doesn't have to replace Windows. There's a job that needs to
be done and Windows currently does it reasonably well. Linux has the
potential to do it better, and there are people who want it to do that
and are willing to put in time, effort and money to do that. But let's
not lose sight of the fact that nobody has a right to demand that the
volunteer developers work towards that end if they don't want to.
--
Bernard Peek
back in search of cognoscenti
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