Re: Comment on article - Switching Back.
Kurt Yoder wrote:
> I must say, I can't understand the basis for this type of argument. People
> say "Linux is for power users only; don't use it if you want a
> consumer-grade OS". However, where is it written that an OS is "either or"?
> Why can't Linux be a consumer-grade OS *and* for power users. All that it
> would take would be to hide the complexities of the setup for basic users,
> but leave them exposed for people who want that.
>
> I definitely want the "unwashed masses" to start using Free OS's. This makes
> it impossible for companies like MS to hijack computing behaviour, etc. I
> don't think that any sacrifice has to be made by "power users" to reach this
> goal.
>
> --
> Kurt Yoder
> Sport & Health network administrator
>
I believe as you do. Like you, I believe that with a sufficiently
powerful GUI, and hammering on the "middleware" between the GUI and
the OS, Unix could be a desktop system. AFAICT, that class of
hammering isn't a goal of most Linux distros, and I'm convinced
that's a Good Thing. Some distros (RH?) may see Unix on the desktop as a
goal: more power to them. That choice of resource allocation is their
right.
At this point, I recommend OS X/Aqua for those who want to avoid the
MS hegemony, and resent the requirement that they become "power
users". I think that Apple is well on the way to providing a desktop
Unix environment, and I wish them well as they assume the task of
maintaining the business model required to support that technology.
There was an interesting discussion this week on linux.debian.devel
w/r/t/ fixing the menu structure [1]. One of the posters asked "Like
OS X, why can't Debian grant admin privs to the first user, with
subsequent users getting this role explicitly?" In reply, someone
wrote "Because it needlessly compromises security, and creates more
problems than it solves". I believe this is a concise example of why
(Debian) Linux has a long way to go before it's a "desktop for the
rest of us". Some users like the ability to take things apart into
pieces on the garage floor, and, for example, understand at a deep
level the security issues w/r/t/ a computing environment. I
I've satisfied myself that "joe average user" now has a choice if he
doesn't want Windows, is not interested in tinkering w/ the OS, and
doesn't mind a proprietary computing environment that's reasonably
secure.
Prof. Nancy Levinson has written on the engineering class's
relationship to society and the effects of the technology they
develop. Her analysis of the similarities between the introduction of
the steam engine and the introduction of computers in America and
Britain is particularly illuminating w/r/t/ the question you pose.
[1]
My apologies in advance if I'm not summarizing the discussion
accurately.
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Microsoft Free By 2003
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