Re: [OT, FLAME] Linux Sucks
On Saturday 29 March 2003 12:04 am, Marc Wilson wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 27, 2003 at 12:38:27AM -0500, Hal Vaughan wrote:
> > On Wednesday 26 March 2003 11:17 pm, Marc Wilson wrote:
> > > Why? The *user* has zero business installing the box. Yes, Joe Moron
> > > benefits from having GUI tools, because they mean he doesn't have to
> > > think, but it matters not for the installer.
> >
> > Are you always so condescending to people who don't know what you know?
> > Perhaps it's not Joe Moron installing his box -- maybe it's someone with
> > a PhD in Physics who is so busy with his work on quantam mechanics he
> > doesn't have time to learn computers. Or maybe it's an MD.
>
> Exactly. He has better things to do. That's what being a professional is
> all about. I don't claim to have a PhD in Physics, nor do I claim to be a
> doctor, and I'm not expected to be able to fit into either of those. Why
> do *we* foster an idea that these people need to know how to build and
> administer a computer?
Under something like a Debian install (as it is now), yes, but under an
install like Lindows, Mandrake, or Lycoris, no. It also allows them the
CHOICE to say, "I want this system or that system, or I want to customize it
as much as I can."
From your earlier statements, you have talked about users doing what YOU (or
WE) want them to do. In other words, the technical computer people making
the choice for the real world users. There was an article (don't remember
the link or title, but it was on Slashdot, so it shouldn't be hard to search
for) about how relationships between developers and users are getting worse
because developers are too busy telling users what they need and how to do
things, rather than listening to users and finding out what they want and
need.
I believe in giving people choice and empowring them. It's clear from your
statements (and you've all but said this directly in earlier posts), that you
believe in developers making the decisions and giving the end result to the
users. Personally, as a user/developper, I don't trust anyone else to make
those decisions for me. I know one thing my clients love about what I do
with them is that I listen to what they want and provide them with the type
of system (here I'm not referring to a box, but to the over all set of
programs and service I provide) that they can easily and quickly taylor to
what they want. I know developpers hate dealing with the UI and hate all the
extra work user-friendlieness requires, but, to be honest, that's why, within
the next month, my monthly fee to a client will be 4 times the fee charged by
my nearest competitor. That's why my clients are willing to pay that fee --
because I listen, I give them the choice and empower them. While they aren't
administering a box, they can set up my system on their own and make all the
decisions about what they want to do on their own.
On the other hand, and it's been said in this thread before (by me and
others), you make it clear you want to tell people what they want/need and
expect them to accept your decisions and like what you give them.
There is a company that has done quite well with this "We know best"
big-brother attitude and I'm sure you'd fit right in, since your philosophy
meshes with theirs quite nicely. They're known as Microsoft.
Hal
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