Re: Debian may lose a user
On Tuesday 25 September 2007, Mike McCarty wrote:
> Mike Bird wrote:
> > On Tuesday 25 September 2007 09:55, Mike McCarty wrote:
> > (big snip)
> >
> >> Anyway, that's it, FWIW.
> >
> > Long message wth no specifics. No way to help you.
>
> I wasn't asking for help. I'm telling you that due to
> perceived lack of help, a user is leaving (or at least
> it seems to me that she will).
>
> At the time the problems were first reported, details were provided.
If, by the "official reporting tool," you mean filing bug reports, I
don't know of any program or group that replies to those unless they
have to ask for specifics. If she has problems with bugs in Windows
XP, it's even less likely any bugs she reports will be fixed, unless
it's in the next version she has to pay for.
On the other hand, I did not see a statement in your original letter
that said she (or you) actually asked for help on a mailing list or
similar forum.
I'm a big proponent of being as helpful to new users as possible. When
I first came on D-U when I wanted to learn Debian, Woody was still out
and, at that time, I was shocked at how blunt and rude some responses
to questions were. It's not like that anymore, but I did learn one
thing: Debian is not for everyone.
From what I've seen, this user Debian might lose filed issue reports and
expected quick patches for them, did not ask for help on a mailing
list, and figures it's just this one distro or Windows. Then, as
admin, you bring up these problems to inform Debian, but do not give
one single detail so we can help. If we can't help, why tell anyone
anything?
There's also distros intended for people that aren't as familiar with
Linux, like Ubuntu or Mandriva. If I were working with this person,
I'd recommend trying Ubuntu instead. Debian is not for everyone. I
don't mean to be rude, but given the facts indicated in the paragraph
just before this one, I seriously doubt your girlfriend has the
experience needed to use Debian. I'm not saying that to be mean. It's
like any other tool: Some work for everyone, some work better for
people with no experience, and some work best for those who are
experienced and want more than what most use. Debian, in many ways, is
more for servers than an end user system. While I don't like to lose
users, I would question if this is a user that "gets" Debian or even
should be using Debian as opposed to another distro or even a different
OS.
Hal
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