Re: Linux is not for consumers!

[Alvin Oga <aoga@ns.Linux-Consulting.com>]

On Thu, 11 Dec 2003, Johann Koenig wrote:

> No, its not for consumers. Well, at least Debian is not. Perhaps
> Mandrake or SuSE, where you can pay for support, is what you're looking
> for.

i think "debian" folks is selling [it|your]self short .. but claiming its
not for consumers ....
	- have you ever tried to isntall redhat on a motherboard
	that is redhat unfriendly ???
		- i can give you a hundreds of brand new mb, 
		and you-* will NOT be able to install rh ( 9.x and EL )
		... but debain, xandros, slackware, suse all seems
		perfectly happy to install/boot/run ...

	- and vice versa, i can give you a mb that debian will not 
	install on either .. or at least it'd take you the better part
	of a day or two to bend over backwards..

	- and on and on with sound, X11 and network config problems

	- than add performance tweeking problems on top of that...
		- you'd be surprised what the speed differences is
		between distros and/or between tweek'd or not

what is the criteria for "suitable for consumer"  and 
"suitable for eng gen neerz" ??

the typical consumer buys it ready to go off the shelf ...
	==
	== tom, dick and harry PC store down the street built it for them
	== complete with installation ...
	==

	- some consumers might be able to get it hooked up with their
	ip#/gw/routers .. otherwise ... their neighbor or friends come
	and play with their new toyz

then, typical consumer pluggs it in and expects to see:
	- mozilla/netscape ...
	- outlook look alive email client
	- kde/gnome desktop
	- "office"

	- they dont care about anything else ... 
	( "they" also includes business .. small and large businesses )

rest of the "what to do with the box details" is way beyond most consumers
.... and even still beyong some "eng gen neerz" too 

people can pay for "debian support" too ... just like they can
pay for redhat or suse or mandrake or gazillion other distro's support

c ya
alvin