Re: [Fsuk-manchester] Constructivne Comment request

[Chris Rogers]

Hi,

I've just read Michelle's article via your link and I have to agree with 
her.  I've been playing around with Linux on and off for several years and 
each time a new distro appears, I eagerly grab a copy and burn it to CD, 
either as a LiveCD or as a full installation on an old Compaq Deskpro 
lurking under the desk, hoping that I'll be able to turn my back on M$ after 
20 years in IT support, going back to CP/M and MS-DOS v3.

Mostly I finish up disappointed.  Ubuntu 8.04 LTS seems to get closest to a 
usable desktop system but still isn't quite there yet - certainly not for 
the typical Windows user.

Other distros tend to fail in one way or another, sometimes quite 
spectacularly.  Two distros (Fedora? Debian? Mandriva? OpenSUSE? - can't 
remember...) left me with a blank screen at startup when they switched from 
text mode to graphics.  gNewSense, which I'd read about on this list, 
couldn't even find the Ethernet port on the motherboard.  :o(

As techies, we sometimes forget that for the typical user, the PC isn't an 
end in itself.  Mostly, all they want to do is read their email, surf the 
web, get music and play games.  They don't want to know about the stuff 
inside, in the same way as most people don't know what goes on under the 
bonnet of their car.

Some of the Free Software movement's stuff is outstanding.  OpenOffice and 
Firefox are both showing M$ how it should be done.  They just get better and 
better with each new release.

I'm holding on for a Linux distro that will do that too.

Chris


----- Original Message ----- 
> Michelle is telling charity organisations that Linux is too hard/not
> ready (on the desktop).
>
> She makes some good points, but perhaps you guys can make some useful
> counter points.
>
> Sigh.
>
> http://www.zenofnptech.org/2008/06/linux-desktops.html
>
>
> Michelle is a typical tech and well listened to in both USA and UK.
>
> Matthew Edmondson               address@hidden