Rise of the 'Consumer' Linux Distribution

Hodge writes "Newsforge has an article discussing the potential for 'Consumer' Linux distro's, i.e. ones aimed at regular users rather than the Geek Elite. It's quite an insightful article, recognising that the vast majority of computer users just want a system that works and don't care about issues of open- or closed-source and don't even want to know about dependencies."

Comments

Re:Why do we always come back to this

[KalvinB]

"Windows has never been much more user friendly than Linux on desktop"

Um...

Linux is the epitimy of unfriendliness. I don't think there's an OS out there that makes you do more to accomplish less. DOS is dead. STOP OBSESSING OVER THE COMMAND LINE. The mass market does not care to have to type in lines of commands to do something. They want to click.

Windows is just click click click and you're done. Linux developers still havn't figured out when a config file is appropriate, when a GUI is appropriate and when to have both. And even when they do use a GUI they're completly lost when it comes to what should be on it and how to organize it.

Linux is as userfriendly as Windows? Have you even USED Windows? Even the most basic stuff like opening a file in Linux is a pain in the ass.

Who was the genius that decided that by default (at least in KDE) clicking on a file should open it in an uneditable form?

It's geniuses like that which are going to prevent Linux from ever becomming mainstream.

And don't tell me KDE isn't Linux because without a desktop Linux will never make it to the mass market. To the mass market the desktop IS Linux. And if the desktop sucks, Linux sucks.

And no, I'm not going to dick around getting a stupid file opened in an editable form when I could format the drive and install Windows and avoid that and the numerous other headaches Linux likes to impose on it's users who for the most part are so full of themselves they don't have a clue why the mass market doesn't give a rats ass about Linux.

The fact the original artical was called insightful just adds to the irony of a Rick Berman article being on here and everyone going on and on about how out of touch he is.

Windows is king of the hill because Microsoft got everything the mass market wanted right. Linux isn't competition in the mass market because Linux developers don't know what the mass market wants and when they tell them, they ignore them and call them lamers.

I could learn Linux. But you know what? I've used it enough to know it's not worth the effort. Why learn a cheap imitation of Windows that does less than Windows in a less userfriendly way when I could use Windows and do everything I want and more easily?

Windows has gotten my money numerous occassions and will continue to do so. Every time I see these articles on Slashdot it's the same "revelations" over and over and over. Time to get in touch with what the mass market wants. Otherwise Linux will never come close to touching Windows in that market.

Ben