Re: [SLUG] Red Hat Slagging

[Alexander Else <aelse@xxxxxx>]

heya,

i'll send you the same thing i send david sainty, since i'm not really 
interested in pursuing this on the list (it's just a buncha crap, not 
something everyone needs to suffer through, right?).

To: David Sainty <saint@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [SLUG] Red Hat Slagging

Elitest though it may be, i don't think linux should be 'dumbed down' just 
so anyone can use it.  nb. i don't mean this to reflect on peter or anyone 
else.  Spend the effort to learn and the reward is the configurability of 
the o/s and associated tools.  If you just want something you can point and 
click at, windows is the option for you.

I'm all for making things easier, but i think there's a difference between 
being proactively lazy and luserfying software.  The main reason i think 
this way is that it seems that these days asking first is preferable to 
thinking, and i've been on many a list which has become polluted with 
questions that could have been investigated (note, i don't say solved) by 
anyone with a couple of hours experience with linux.  Often people don't 
even bother to use man or info, even if they know those tools are 
there.  How-tos are often nothing more than skimmed over and rtfm just 
isn't good enough.  This is turning out to be a bigger rant than i intended 
it to be so i'll leave it there.

Another worry is that if popular software is dumbed down it will be at the 
expense of inclusion of power features and increase of bloat (things like 
wizards, for example).  So i guess the reasons i think linux shouldn't be 
dumbed down are pretty self serving, but that's the way it goes.

Alexander.
enough procrastination, back to work..

At 20:13 12/07/2000 +1000, you wrote:
> Good on you Peter for giving Linux a go, taking the effort to learn, and
> using the tools that make life easier for you. I'm glad you've got
> somewhere. :-)


As for quoting in the right place, i generally quote at the top unless i'm 
going point for point through an email.  Imnsho this is preferable to 
following on.


At 20:48 12/07/2000 +1000, DaZZa wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Jul 2000, Alexander Else wrote:
>
> > At 18:12 12/07/2000 +1000, Peter Nelson wrote:
> > >I know this is very late in the conversation, but being newish to 
> Linux and
> > >Unix I would have been up sh1t street without RPM and GNORPM.
> >
> > You might have had to learn something.
>
> {like quoting and following message trheads in the right place?}
>
> That's a bit harsh - without RPM's and the like there'd be a LOT less
> penetration of Linux around the world.
>
> Sure, for a hardcore geek, RPM's are sneered at - but for your average Joe
> Q Public user they don't _WANT_ to know the ins and outs of makign things
> work - they just want them to go.
>
> That's the whole reason people are so loath to switch from M$ software -
> because you just point and shoot. Sure, it's got bugs, and sure, it
> crashes a lot, but that doesn't matter, because I just put the disk in and
> it goes.
>
> When Linux gets to be that easy, it'll grab signifigant market share. And
> that can only be a good thing, with no apologies at all to those who want
> to keep it mystical and the inner workings hidden.
>
> DaZZa - who doesn't believe in security by obscurity, be it job related or
> otherwise.
>
>
>
> --
> SLUG - Sydney Linux User Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/
> More Info: http://slug.org.au/lists/listinfo/slug