RE: water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.
:: If the point of Linux is to develop a little club of elite members who
:: have this great software, then the Linux development community is doing
:: great. If the point of Linux is to become the dominant OS in the world,
:: and show everybody how free software is superior, then they have some
work
:: to do.
Now it has been said i must admit that i've encountered some 'elitarians' in
the linux world, and these are close to being full born fascists. If you
don't get along with the information at hand they consider you to be a dumb
ass. This however seems to be more like a IT related issue then a linux
related issue. Those who love to consider themselves naturally born it
professionals love the 'elite' idea. I personally believe that they are,
though highly intelligent, stuck in the gorilla stage of human evolution and
are probably 'protecting' >their< property. Happilly coding away on some
open-source software with their allies, about wich no mortal can grasp the
internals. Determined to dominate the cruel and 'most importantly' STUPID
world out there, because they are superior (or simply more aggressive but
you'll never hear them say that).
These people do NOT seem to realise that THEY are the ones who give a face
to Linux, and are doing a verry bad job at it. It's something like a
linux-port of the Unix admin who was notorious for his grumphy moods. Sort
of like Savages with silicon guns. Sad to see really if you realise the
impact linux has had and the momentum it gained.
I'll stop right here because i'm getting really pissed off.
I leaving for a safari in the nearest IT Building :)
Regards,
Joris
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Stokes [mailto:linux@pieskysoft.com]
Sent: woensdag 11 april 2001 15:25
To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
Subject: Re: water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.
>GNU/Linux is a grown-up's operating system. You're expected to know
your way around, or be able to figure it out.<
I'm sorry, but the 'You're dumb or lazy or both' argument will not fly.
There is an easily-correctable problem with Linux, and I hope the good
people who devote so much time to Linux will see that.
There is nothing I have seen in Linux which is any more difficult than
other operating systems I have used. The difference is that most of the
doc is oriented towards the person who already knows everything. It is
just so silly that Linux developers have worked so hard to make the software
itself very good, but then leave it in a state where 98 percent of potential
Linux users fall in deep hole if they try it.
If the point of Linux is to develop a little club of elite members who
have this great software, then the Linux development community is doing
great. If the point of Linux is to become the dominant OS in the world,
and show everybody how free software is superior, then they have some work
to do.
Once again, this is not meant to be an attack on Linux, or the extremely
helpful and friendly Linux people. It is an opinionated observation on how
Linux could be improved, from the perspective of somebody who is not dumb or
lazy.
I think all Linux needs is a help system designed to be as good or better
than the Windows Help file. A large index of topics, each one with 6 to 10
page plain-language intro, and lots of typical examples (each with an
explanation) of how to do common things. If this could cover all the
standard newbie things, and it got installed along with everything else so
the user didn't need a browser or email running in order to get help, then
Linux would be much more popular. All those people who install it but end
up reformating the partition after a week of failure would instead join the
community. The question is, what does the Linux community want?
-Kevin Stokes
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