Re: Why is setting up X so arcane?
Nikki Locke asked:
> I'll restate my original complaint -
> Why is it so difficult to set up X?
To weed out the unworthy?
To force new users to learn what's going on?
No, it's more like to save you from yourself.
The fact is, like it or not, to install a Linux
distribution is to take a big step toward learning all that
technical stuff you have left to Tech Support in the past.
Linux is not Windows. It is a variety of UNIX, a mature
operating system developed by programmers for programmers.
It sets much higher requirements for its users' technical
abilities and attention to detail. Quite frankly,
it is a dangerous operating system for the careless to
use, as it will happily destroy itself at your command.
Programmers love it because you can make things happen with
relatively fewer keystrokes and it has so many tools you
can connect in myriad ways to quickly throw together ad
hoc problem solutions. These would be sufficient reasons
to use it even if Windoze was as reliable and inexpensive
an environment.
Now in the case of X, the developers do not want you to
literally destroy your monitor with your misconfiguration
of their code, but they do want you to be able to
tweak its performance to its limits. They have no way
of knowing just how knowledgable you are. So they have
been ultra-conservative with defaults and encourage you
to read, read, read before you configure, and try to
get you to learn the technical specs of your equipment.
There's a lot of good, well-written information available
to assist you in all this, but you've got to put in the
skullsweat to make it happen.
To make Linux too easy to use is a lot like handing a
two-year old a loaded pistol.
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