>>What is needed is a smooth, easy interface for an installation with the
gnarled back end covered over without also covering over the options for
installation that an end-user will want to have some control over.
--- I think Apple has shown us the way. I know a lot of unix guys switching to Macs. I'm hoping it will have a positive influence on Linux developers. In other words, forget about Microsoft, chase Apple. If Linux evolved into a Mac-like OS that ran in Intel, that might attract Mac software developers. That would be rather interesting.The Mac scared the hell out of Gates when we was not allowed to join the developers program. It was specified to have 1 MB of RAM, a 10 MB HDD and a 14" monitor for $4500. And that was before the PC-XT was out. The Mac II was actually meant to be the first Mac, until Jobs took over the project, pushed it aside and replaced it with a small "information appliance". What a mistake. Tiny screen, no HDD and only 128 KB of RAM killed all the developed projects (mine included).
Ken Elliott
===================== -----Original Message----- From: slug@nks.net [mailto:slug@nks.net] On Behalf Of Chad Perrin Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 11:45 PM To: slug@nks.net Subject: Re: [SLUG] free xandros
Robert Snyder wrote: > Yeah yet another over guied Linux iso to store on my harddrive let me > just jump around like an idiot until i hit my head on something. > > But thanks for giving me yet another distro to bash for being inferior > to a much older and graceful distrobution such as slackware. But > Xandros with out crossover office really loses it point of being free. > These distros try to hard. They need to think harder not try to dumb > down the interface as a quick fix. > >
Since the software that allows it to run Windows applications isn't freely licensed, they really can't offer Xandros OS for free with that functionality. Otherwise, they'd be out of business in a week flat.
I agree that dumbing down the interface isn't the way to go, though. It's a shame that every distro that does a really exemplary job of smoothing out the heinous tangle that installing Linux can occasionally be also is built with the philosophy that their users should be prevented from personalizing their distribution at all. What is needed is a smooth, easy interface for an installation with the gnarled back end covered over without also covering over the options for installation that an end-user will want to have some control over. At one end of the extreme, you've got distributions that don't even do a credible job of resolving package dependencies so that the user has to know beforehand what all the dependencies are to make sure none are missed, and at the other end you've got "four-click installation" that leaves you with an OS little different from a discount Windows in security and functionality. Rarely, if ever, does anyone provide something that covers over the warts without also gutting Linux of its power.
That's really the biggest hurdle in the race to make Linux a contender in the desktop market: the distros that make things easy for new users also don't offer enough new functionality to make it worth the bother of switching OSes. It takes a dedicated computer geek to get to a point where you can really appreciate everything Linux has to offer, generally. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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