Re: Comment on article - Switching Back.
<quote who="Satelle, StevenX">
> I agree, for the avenge home user Linux is a no-no. Its strengths are in
> the Server arena. I run Linux on all my machines at home but I like a
> challenge. I'd never put it on my Fathers PC. He has problems finding the
> power switch, literally he called me to find out how to turn the pc on.
> In my opinion Linux is not yet ready for the enterprise. Until it is
> set-up so that even people who learned computers in college can admin it.
> It wont be ready. I work in an Enterprise and I can truly say that very
> few people here would be able to do simple things like map a network
> drive (mount -t smbfs -o username=joebloggs,password=secret
> //machine/cdrive /mnt/smb) and also the whole user/group management is
> far from ready.
i have to disagree to some extent. if the user is new to computers
for example linux makes a fine system. debian may not be, but
for example mandrake or suse is. i set my sister up on suse 7.3
several months ago and she uses it to type documents, browse the
web, download some kinds of music(not sure what) and burn/copy
CDs. and check email through my squirrelmail server. the system
is not susceptable to viruses, with a built in firewall it is not
very suceptable for attack, but MOST importantly, i chose suse
because everything is there. That is, everything is on one set
of discs, $75, cheap, easy to install(i made sure the hardware
was very linux compadible), no registration codes, no activation,
no 3rd party software. this would allow her to reinstall the
system if needed, its not hard to install. i even set up a tv
card in the box(since suse 7.3 has automatic tv card support),
so she could plug a cable into the box and watch tv on it
if she wanted to. she hasn't yet since i already have a P200
which runs xawtv 24/7 (uptime of 470 days too) that is
right next to her machine.
combine it with 2 SCSI disks operating in raid0 for her /
partition, and another SCSI disk for her /home partition, and
a journalling filesystem(reiserfs), she can hit the reset button
and the system is back up in a matter of seconds(blew me away
first time i tried).
she has never complained, she likes it, she has never really
been exposed to computers, she had a win95 computer for
several years and while it worked, she couldn't burn cds,
it got viruses, and was slow(486). but she never got to
the point where she was used to it.
linux isn't for everyone, especially those that are hard set
in their ways.
my mom recently got my grandpa a network appliance to access
the net, i am setting him up an account with squirrelmail with
his own domain(easier to remember for him), and all he does
is browse the net and read email. he has never really used
a computer before. again - a perfect case for linux.(I don't
know what appliance he's using)
and i can tell you as far as mapping network drives go, plenty
of people have that problem in win32 as well. they try to
browse the network and can't find the machine(maybe netbios
is misconfigured or something is wrong in WINS) and they
panic. i've seen it happen. its a bitch to troubleshoot that
kinda stuff. win32 is easier to do many of the more 'advanced'
computing functions such as using fancy software and shit,
but for the basics, linux is more then enough provided the
hardware is well supported.
but 'easier' is not easy enough for many people, so it doesn't
matter if its easier if they still can't manage to do it.
I admit that change is hard, it was not easy for me to completely
drop win32 at the drop of a dime back when i did i think in 1998,
it was a slow process that involved me getting more and more
fed up with the system, and then i'd boot into linux and have
honestly a more stress free experience.
and since many people managed to use DOS, even Win 3.x back in
the day(or even worse win2.x), I am confident that linux is
far and above at the very LEAST win3.x(i started computing
with win3.0). people can learn just about anything, they just
have to be exposed to it, it is that much harder when they
have used a similar product that works quite differently.
i think i even remmeber my dad back in the day telnetting into
a shell to check his email with pine(~1994). or maybe it was
elm.
my mom really hated win95 when she first started using it,
she was used to using a real old mac laptop(system 6 i think),
it was to the point where she would ask me which of the 2
butons to click to do something. it took her probably a good
year of day in and day out use to adjust to it.
IMO computers have at least maybe another 10 to 15 years to
go before they are as easy to use as an oven or a tv or a
washing machine. till then, companies will keep hiring people
like me to run their networks, troubleshoot their 'enterprise',
and keep their precious employees as productive as possible.
and consumers will keep calling dell or IBM and getting
scripted instructions on how to put in a rescue CD and wipe
out their entire system and restore it to factory settings.
i don't think linux is ready to take over the world just yet,
last thing i want is linux to be hated by lots of people much
like NT is cursed by many in the IT world because it was pushed
before it was ready. but it is ready for certain tasks on
the desktop.
macs aren't all that great either, i have a couple friends
that make a living off of consulting with clients about the
problems on their macs. have been for years ..they are better,
but not quite there yet(haven't seen OS X in action ...maybe
its better).
Once MS gets to the point where its almost impossible to pirate
their software I think there will be a big move towards cheaper
software. my sister can't afford to pay her phone bill right
now yet alone $200 for a copy of win2000 or $350-400 for office.
as steve ballmer put it:
"One issue we have now, a unique competitor, is Linux. We haven't
figured out how to be lower priced than Linux. For us as a company,
we're going through a whole new world of thinking."
http://www.varbusiness.com/file/36355.html
nate
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