RE: A good charge against free operating systems
Hi !
> My opinion is that if you don't care about
> technical basics you shouldn't use a computer.
IMHO, computers are mostly used as tools by a vast majority of people all
around the world. But using a tool doesn't mean you have to understand or
care about all the underlying technical issues.
When I use a screwdriver or a hammer, I don't think about physical material
resistance issues.
Of course, I could break my screwdriver trying something too hard for it.
But if I stick to a normal, basic use of my tool, it shouldn't break. And I
souldn't have to care about all the technical basis behind it.
In fact, my screwdriver is a very nice tool, indeed. Most of the time, if I
do something foolish with it, let's say, use its stick as a hammer, it may
not work very well (it's not what it has been designed for) but will not
break either.
You can't ask a secretary to understand all the complexity of a linux
system. You can't even ask her to use a shell, nor anything like vi or latex
or anything else. This is not HER job. She just needs a tool, a tool
providing her what she needs for her daily work, a tool that does not break
up in her hands while just using basis functions, nor doing something
reasonably foolish.
I, as a computer engineer, can understand most of the subtle technical
issues of a linux system. I can deal with lots of problems. Hell, I can even
use VI to modify a configuration file, or personalize my enlightenment
desktop down to any pixel... But I agree with the author of the debated
article : linux is not yet a tool that can be put in the hands of end-users.
Not that the end-users are too stupid to use it, but linux is just not
mature enough for that.
Best regards,
Frederic Aguiard
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