I will not every fix my own air conditioner.  I'm a geek so I learned a
little about the theory of their operation but I have no desire to learn
the practical ins and outs of working on a refrigeration system.  I'll
happily pay someone else to deal with that "black box" on the roof.
(Especially when it's so hot up there!)

I guess that makes me a 'dummy' with regard to my air conditioner.

Computer users who have no desire to learn how a computer works can
still understand how Free Software helps them.  They run into it every
time they get a proprietary data file and can't open it.  They run into
it when the school district upgrades all their computers to the newest
closed source and format office suite and recommends that the parents
all do the same[1].  They run into it when they can't move their DRM
locked media files to another computer or player.

Yes, to most people a computer is "a black box of mystery" but I remain
optimistic that the benefits of Free Software are easy for most people
to grasp.

What does assembly language have to do with it?

Alan

[1]http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2007/07/27/news/local/doc46a9cc9908105330494432.txt


eculbert wrote:
> you zoomed right past my point... 
> 
> The 'dummy' cannot and will not bother to ever care
> what goes on in the computer..which basically gets
> down to assembly language at some point. Most people,
> a computer is a black box of mystery. That is or was
> the point both of the tee shirt and those guys
> uninformed and don't care attitudes.
> 
> 
> --- Alan Dayley <alandd@consultpros.com> wrote:
> 
>> The point of using Linux and Free Software is not to
>> be better than
>> someone else.  Even those who cannot install
>> anything on a computer can
>> and do benefit from using Free Software.  The
>> ability to install or even
>> configure software should not be a "right of
>> passage" into the Linux world.
>>
>> All are welcome to enjoy and participate.  Always.
>>
>> Alan