Re: Desktop productivity with Debian GNU/LINUX
on Wed, Jan 22, 2003 at 09:26:37PM -0600, Jamin W. Collins (jcollins@asgardsrealm.net) wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 23, 2003 at 02:51:46AM +0000, Karsten M. Self wrote:
> > on Wed, Jan 22, 2003 at 01:05:28PM -0600, Jamin W. Collins
> > (jcollins@asgardsrealm.net) wrote:
> >
> > > Should it be? I can understand a desire to ease the installation
> > > process. However, I for one feel it is tremendously benificial
> > > for a user to understand how their system works. That is of
> > > course, unless they are not the one maintaining it. In which
> > > case, I don't feel they should be the one configuring it.
> >
> > What's your comparison base.
>
> Is that a statement or question? I'm not sure what you after. My
> statement was not a comparison, it was more of a premise. In almost
> every situation it is benificial to have an understanding of how
> things work or fit together rather than simple memorization.
I agree.
Let me restate: I agree *emphatically*.
I *want* to know how my shit works.
Which is why it's very, very important that I understand there are
people who *just plain don't*. They don't know how it works, they don't
want to know how it works, and (regardless of truth value) they don't
think they can understand how it works. It's not how I funtion, I don't
understand it, it makes me crazy. But I know people like this. I've
worked with them. For them. May even be related to some of them.
There's a lot of them out there.
Would they be better served by an understanding, no matter how
rudimentary, of what's going on? Almost certainly. Does this change
the fact that they refuse to learn? No.
For this clas of users, a setup and installation which _doesn't_ present
choices, doesn't ask questions, doesn't tailor the system for optimal
performance, but just, mostly, works, is _preferable_.
Knoppix is the examplar of this: you put a CD in the CDROM drive. You
reboot the system. It just works. No questions asked[1].
Does this mean that the install process is restricted to a smaller set
of hardware, that the user is going to get in horrible tangles due to
lack of knowlege, and that they'll never bust out of a really small box
of functionality? Yes. But believe it or not, they want it that way.
I don't know how long you've been around here or what you've seen of my
posts. I've been less active in the past year. Trust: I live and die
for this stuff. I like tweaking my boxes. I work with computers during
the day, and come home to 'em at night. I set up new configs, push
limits, tweak my configurations, look for new tools. And I enjoy the
power this gives me.
But I don't project these traits on others.
Yes, I'll give another geek shit if they're being dense or stupid. But
for Joe and Jane Q. Public, I meet 'em where they're at. If they want
the power and the glory and the command line, so be it. If they're
happy in their legacy MS Windows dungeon, I'll sing the praises of the
side of the light, briefly, but otherwise let them be. It's possible to
demonstrate and illuminate, but you can't cajole these folks out.
And it takes a certain maturity among the technologically enlightened to
see this.
> > > Many of the people I've introduced to Debian are new to Linux in
> > > general.
> >
> > ...but are or are not otherwise experienced computer users?
>
> Most were not experienced users.
You fail to understand. This is a matter of mindset, not experience.
Some of the people I refer to above have twenty or more years of
computer experience. What they lack is the desire to learn about the
technology. And you know, hey, that's OK.
Peace.
--------------------
Notes:
1. Actually, even better: you can tell it what to do. For the power
user, Knoppix presents a set of options with an <F2> keypress at
boot. If these aren't enough, there's an interactive startup (I
haven't used this) which goes through the startup sequence
interactively and allows the user to specify which steps to run or
skip.
--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
What Part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
At the sound of the toner, boycott Lexmark: trade restraint via DMCA.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-979791.html
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