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Are you saying you're not l33t ;-)?
I was responding to the response, not to yours.

I'll put my point in another way, so that hopefully you can see we're not against one another. There are basically two larger lessons you can take away from doing tech support: "Users are [stupid/lazy]", or "Tools should be easy to use." Of those two, the only one that's viable in a workplace is the latter. And if it's not viable in a workplace, it's not viable.

Attitudes that boil down to "learn how it works or don't call me" -- the "133t 05" attitude -- are basically equivalent to "Users are [stupid/lazy]".

I was really just talking about attitude, but I will go on to say this: Without you there to stand in reserve, your wife is in jeopardy. It's been my experience that Linux desktop systems fail at least as often as Windows desktop systems; when they do fail, it's worse, though, because there's seldom anyone there to help. Desktop Linux needs to drive past that point, to realize *better* desktop reliability than Windows.

The Novell-SuSE-Ximian partnership can help to push that direction, but it won't be sufficient: Because those are all about centrally-managed corporate desktops, not consumer desktops. What needs to happen is for concepts of "self-healing" to be pushed down to desktop level, with open standards, so smaller players like Mandrake or Lindows (with their generally better understanding of consumer interests) can continue to play and push consumer usability the way it needs to be pushed.
Posted by: escoles@...   Posted on: 03/24/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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