>>>>> "Kevin" == Kevin Stokes <linux@pieskysoft.com> writes:
>> As to your assertion that "Linux is chasing away the very
>> people it needs" - that's a fallacy.
Kevin> I don't think it is. How many copies of Redhat, Suse and
Kevin> the others were sold in the last two years? How many
Kevin> copies of Debian were downloaded by newbies in the last two
Kevin> years? Total those up and call it N.
And now count the people who got their Debian, or RedHat, SuSE,
Caldera, TurboLinux... CDs from a friend, or from their local LUG,
or... you got the picture?
Kevin> Of those N, how many are running Linux today? I'll bet
Kevin> it is less than N/10, and could be as low as N/100.
And yet this N/100 is still high enough for us.
Take my LUG for example: low attendance of the monthly meeting is,
say, 15-20 people (at high attendance, the room's too small ;-).
Too few? No, sir, because of these 20 people, there are at least 5
who are, if I dare say so, what you might call a `guru'. Doesn't
matter whether they are using RedHat or Debian [1].
So your assertion about "chasing away" *is* a fallacy... as Linux
certainly doesn't *need* these people. Linux needs *clueful* people,
because (ta-da!) those are the people who can help... even if you have
to be helpful yourself in your problem reporting to *get* their help
(see Karsten's posting).
Kevin> 1.) I assume most of the Linux community would like to see
Kevin> Linux be the dominant OS in the world, and think it
Kevin> deserves this.
Actually, most *companies* want that. Well... and a lot of users.
But *not* by sacrificing anything. And, well, flexibility most
implies complexity (from the POV of the `newbie').
Kevin> 2.) In order to accomplish this, it will be necessary for
Kevin> most users to switch from Windows to Linux.
Sure. *If* you want point 1.
Kevin> 3.) If a guy like me (who has installed and operated OS's
Kevin> from Assembly on the Cosmac Elf II, to Basic in ROM on an
Kevin> Ohio Scientific Challenger 4P, to Data General RDOS, to
Kevin> PDP's RT11, to CP/M, FORTH, and DOS and Windows), cannot
Kevin> seem to do the simplest thing in Linux, then Linux (and the
Kevin> doc) is in a form that (1) and (2) will not occur.
Sorry, Kevin, but given this honestly impressive list of OS's you've
used (I assume you've also used them, right?), your "Linux is too
complicated" is hard to believe.
Kevin> If the Linux community does not care about (1) and (2),
Kevin> then I think they are heading in the right direction.
Most of the community doesn't care all that much for these,
yes... or/and they have more important things to do. (*And* there a
folks who don't have trouble getting into Linux despite your
implications to the contrary).
Bye, J
[1] Even though Germany is said to be SuSE territory... well, one of
the founding regulars once told me that "All the people who know Linux
and know their stuff use either RedHat or Debian". Okay, I'd make
that "the majority" by now (there are one or two `gurus' or
`semi-gurus' using SuSE).
--
Jürgen A. Erhard juergen.erhard@gmx.net phone: (GERMANY) 0721 27326
MARS: http://members.tripod.com/Juergen_Erhard/mars_index.html
George Herrimann's Krazy Kat (http://www.krazy.com)
I wish I had more energy -- or less ambition.
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