Massive Linux handout set for French schools

TalkBack 25 of 29:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Ease of use

I have not tried the versions of Linux you mentioned. I did try RedHat, Mandrake and Lycosis (sp) and to me getting them to install wasn't too bad but I have been doing this for a while. Connecting to the internet was confusing and downloading and installing software a pain in the rear.

"""A lot of the "easy to install, easy to use" stuff comes from the fact that most people buy a
computer with Windows installed and tuned for the box it's on. It's fairly rare now that anyone would have to install their own Windows OS."""

This is true but at this time to get Linux on a computer, in most cases, either the person has to install it or get someone to install it for them. In this case unless the install is very simple a lot of people are going to be confused and give up. Not because they are dumb but because they do not care to mess with computers that much.

"""And yes, the learning curve can be steep. But
remember that newbies plunked in front of a
Windows box face the same steep learning curve as they would on a Mac or Linux running GNOME, KDE, xFCE or any of the other desktops."""

Most newbies today have at least seen if not worked with a windows computer. They will know that to brouse the internet double click on the IE icon. To write a letter or report double click on the Word icon. Now they can be taught to press the icon in Linux to do the same thing but unless Gnome and KDE have improved their default GUI and fonts since I last tried them (and it has been a while) people are going to say that they suck. They will not care that you can modify everything to make it better. If they try to open a file or something in an OSS word processor and it doesn't open, they are going to blame Linux not Microsoft.

Remember most people don't care what OS is on the machine, they just want it to work the way they are use to and for most of them that is the Microsoft way. Now this may change as the more computer literate generation gets older but until then, and I am not sure about even then, I don't see Microsoft being hurt too much by Linux.

Posted by: richhayes   Posted on: 08/12/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• IBM Smart Business Time Savings Test IBM If time is money - is your organization in need of a way to save both? ... Download Now
• Dell Latitude Notebooks With Embedded Broadband Wireless Networking Provide Sales Force With Mobile Access Dell Edward Don & Company is a world-class distributor of food service ... Download Now
• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now