Don't be Afraid, Linux isn't just for Geeks

News Type: Event — Seeded on Sat May 5, 2007 7:55 AM EDT

Article Source: USA Today

technology, free, software, linux, open-source, os, geek, user-friendly

It came out earlier this week that Dell will soon offer computers running Linux instead of Windows. Not all of its machines, obviously — the company wants to stay in business — but Linux will be an option on at least two desktops and one laptop models.

It's going to be an interesting experiment. Linux is an incredibly powerful operating system, but it's a tinkerers' OS designed to let you get under the hood. There is also a huge base of developers who are coming up with new features, new software, and better ways to do things.

Older versions of Linux were strictly the province of geeks who wanted to play. But for the past several years there's been a large and growing movement to make it accessible to the non-geek — to make it as user-friendly as Windows, but with the power of the Linux community behind it.

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{"commentId":686656,"authorDomain":"thenet411"}

thenet411

Why does this keep coming up? I agree that Linux is tremendously powerful and can do many, many things. In the right hands. Linux is simply not ready for the masses. Instead of pushing Linux on those that are not ready for it, why don't devs put more energy into making it, dare I say this, more like Windows? Let's face it, people have gotten used to Windows. Most people use computers because they have to. Most people have no time, nor the patience, to sit down and figure out how a computer works. They want to click here and click there and as long as THAT works, they are happy. Once they have learned how to do something, they HATE it when there is a change. The simple truth is that now that people have become hopelessly addicted to the Windows way of doing things, it takes years of deprogramming to wein them off of it. Ever wonder how MS Word was so successful at getting users away from the old standard of WordPerfect? MS made Word look, feel, and behave like Word Perfect when requested. Then, little by little, people were weined off of the old WordPerfect ways and moved to Word.

If Linux is ever going to succeed with the masses, this is the approach that it will have to take. A comitted effort to make Linux desktops look, feel, and behave like Windows and then slowly teach them how they can be more efficient doing it the Linux way is the ONLY way it will ever happen.

{"commentId":686656,"threadId":"100437","contentId":"702052","authorDomain":"thenet411"}

2 votes

#1 - Sat May 5, 2007 11:14 AM EDT

{"commentId":686722,"authorDomain":"indelible"}

indelible inc.

I agree, and this subject is getting really old.

{"commentId":686722,"threadId":"100437","contentId":"702052","authorDomain":"indelible"}

3 votes

#1.1 - Sat May 5, 2007 11:59 AM EDT

{"commentId":686844,"authorDomain":"jaybutler"}

Jay Butler

The only flavor of Unix that is and will be successful in the short-term is Mac OS X. I have used a number of distributions of Linux at home and have found all of them to be greatly improved recently, but still a long cry from easy to use.

If my folks (or any other non-techie) asked me for a recommendation today, I would have to tell them OS X or Vista. There is no way that they would be able to handle any flavor of Linux. There are just too many things that do not work smoothly.

{"commentId":686844,"threadId":"100437","contentId":"702052","authorDomain":"jaybutler"}

1 vote

#1.2 - Sat May 5, 2007 1:14 PM EDT

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Things I can do in Linux that I can't do on Windows.	dmartin.org	Tue May 8	5
Dell's dance with Ubuntu: True love or farce?	The Register (UK)	Wed May 2	0
You may have been using Linux too much when...	beigebinary.com	Sat May 5	1
Dell joins Microsoft, Novell in Linux pact	ZDNet	Mon May 7	0
Dell Signs on With Microsoft, Novell	Associated Press	Mon May 7	4

DONALD TURNBULL

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Don't be Afraid, Linux isn't just for Geeks

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