FW: Why Open Source Sucks for the Consumer

[J.L.Francois]

Looks like a case of RTFM.
See my rant below.

It seems like on Sat, Aug 26, 2000 at 09:53:13PM -0700, Lucas Vogel scribbled:
Orig Msg> 
Orig Msg> > Linux is not only not ready for prime time its not even ready for
Orig Msg> > pay-per-view.
Orig Msg> 
Orig Msg> Hear, hear.  Amen.
Orig Msg> 
Orig Msg> I *still* haven't figured out how to tell my machine the proper
Orig Msg> timezone (there's a configuration program that appears to let me set
Orig Msg> it, but it's utterly ignored).

Linux is ready for the Prime Time depending on what you use it for.

I have 9 Debian Linux machines humming along nicely serving various
server functions with no issues on X86 and Sparc hardware.

I do not wast energy trying to get my Linux installations to 
behave like my Windows installation.

That is like complaining that the screwdriver is not ready for
prime time until it can perform like your hammer does.

Timezone is usually done at installation and the HOWTOs cover this.
Timezone is deprecated in the Debian 2.2 release but is still documented
in the KickStart-HOWTO.

Orig Msg> Floppy management is pathetic (the default in this -- commercially
Orig Msg> "supported") version isn't even good to read/write DOS floppies, the
Orig Msg> only relevant exchange format).

There are ways to automount floppies on insertion and have their type
autodetected.
/usr/doc/mount/examples has a good description of what an /etc/fstab
should look like and what all the crap means.

Orig Msg> I can't sync my palmpilot -- there's an application, but configuration
Orig Msg> is impossible and there's no information.

I have been synching my pilot to Linux since I bought my pilot.
The pilot-link package is minimal and text based.
Jpilot rocks on the GUI.

Orig Msg> And so on.

This is yet another Linux user that either does not or cannot be bothered
to spend the time and effort to learn what Linux is capable of.

No one, I mean no one, learned how to use DOS, Win3x/WfW, Win9x,WinNT,
etc overnight. However being immersed in the environment for a long
period of time made it comfortable for todays batch of desktop users.
The same user then installs Linux and somehow expects it to be the 
same type of environment.

Making an OS easy to use does not remove the responsibility
of the user to reference available docs when needed.
How many people on this list have seen Windows users productivity
drop to zero when they try to use a feature of MS-Office they 
haven't had to use before?
I see people that swear they are MS-Office masters fumble their way
thru some simple routines and *never* attempt to read a manual
or reference the Microsoft WWW pages at their disposal.

One trip to /usr/doc/, www.alltheweb.com, or www.google.com and 
searching for the answers would have saved this user a lot of frustration.

Orig Msg> --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.pythonlabs.com/~guido/)
Orig Msg> 

With great power comes great responsibility.

Jean Francois - JLF Sends...
President & CEO - MagusNet, Inc., MagusNet.com, MagusNet.Gilbert.AZ.US
Director Of Managed Services - OpNIX,Inc., www.opnix.com
OpNIX - Simply Better Bandwidth