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Fighting FUD with Humor
Technophiliac writes to tell us MadPenguin in running a review of "Fighting FUD With Humor" Marcel Gagné's 2nd edition of "Moving to Linux". From the article: "The biggest obstacle is fear. Modern Linux distributions are easy to install and easy to use. Unfortunately, we are constantly presented with messages telling us that it's too hard and that the average person couldn't possibly grasp the complexity. That's rubbish. People aren't stupid and people who use computers learn new things all the time."
Remember- the average IQ is 100. And half the people are dumber than that. Its a truely horrific though. (Yeah, yeah, I know difference between median and mean. On a bell curve like IQ its a good approximation to say they're equal).
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
You're not kidding, I used to work for one of the big-box style electronics places, and just about every average computer shopper was convinced they needed MS Office. Supposedly, I should have pushed them towards buying said fantastically overpriced suite. Generally, I asked them what they'd use it for... 9 out of 10 just wanted to be able to type a letter.
Oy.
I'd love to move some of my small office clients to OpenOffice or StarOffice, but they require the calendar and scheduling functions of Outlook.
Soon, you'll be able to use Thunder and Lightning against Outlook. If you can't wait, there's already the Calendar extension, an implementation of the iCal standard for T-bird.
I use Kontact, KOrganizer and KMail and all that. It connects to my company's Exchange 2003 server for calendar and address book and email and does it all better than Outlook.
What was your point?
-Neil
I've nothing to say here...
Doom3 (Legacy Doom for 1 and 2), Quake4 (3 and 2), RTC Wolfenstein, Wolfenstein ET, Unreal Tournament 2004 (and 2003), all have native Linux-clients, just to name some well-known games.
1st paragraph: Maybe that's just you
2nd paragraph: I have a hard time in Windows. Explain that if it's so intuitive. And GNOME has a graphical way of doing your startup program example as well.
3rd paragraph: Wow, that just.. everything you said was wrong.
In Windows, I can just right click on something and choose 'open with' and I'm presented with all of the possible programs that can open that file. In Linux...???
Yes I can do that in GNOME
The other big, big problem is the lack of standardised menus and behaviour for ALL PROGRAMS AND OS COMPONENTS.
Actually, there is a standard. The vast majority of programs follow them especially if you use one desktop envirionment like KDE OR GNOME. And to say that all Windows programs behave the same is garbage. Most programs have their own look and feel and do things their way. Or did you think Winamp and itunes have similar interfaces?
what does a right mouse click do in Windows? It always, always brings up a context menu of available actions. In Linux.. something, nothing, who knows.
Actually it... brings up a context menu of available actions.
Fourth paragraph: My girlfriend uses my computer without my help with no problem. She had never heard of Linux before she met me.
Maybe you and parent post aren't as smart as you think.
1. Package Management bad? You mean clicking on a file and having an entire app installed for you with no further interaction is bad? Yet you want the OS installed with no interaction. Would you prefer the user makes a mess of their OS by installing apps to wherever they like as windows currently does?
I believe we're talking primarily about switching to Linux from Windows here. Switching from OSX is a different story altogether since in my opinion the only reason to do that is to save money and have more control over the OS.
2. Its easier than installing windows. Never installed an OS that doesn't require user interaction - and I dont believe its possible to do that anyway. Imagine installing SuSE Linux only to get to the GUI and find that they assumed you speak German...etc. etc.
3. Separation of System and Apps? Works for me. Cant comment on OSX since haven't had enough experience with it. If you like it - keep using it - but understand that not everyone likes it.
4. Emulates poorly? Hmmmm, doesn't this mean its not emulating it? If you make it very different to windows, it will be perceived as hard to use. Keeping the look and feel similar and only improving on whats needed is just plain common sense.
5. not sure what you mean. Things are easy. Dont know too many people who "need" wizards that complain about windows even being too hard. People that dont need wizards may complain that it treats you like a moron - but in Linux you dont need to use wizards. Simple.
6. Pretty much how it is already in Linux - or would you prefer windows errors like "an error occurred".?
7. Development tools on linux are among the finest around. Syntax Highlighting works better, autocomplete works great, everything is integrated. When I use VS now I feel like its very lacking in features. Each to their own though. Package Management is the main way to install apps in most linux distros - it makes sense to use them. They work very well if used properly.
8. Copying the functionality of a similar app means it will be easy to adapt to and if another app is successful on another OS, why not base your app on the same model? As long as there is no copyright or similar infringement, it only makes sense from a usability perspective to follow the same guidelines.
Most Linux apps are written to fill a need, and they often do.
9. (9 comes after 8) Most people DO use office at home. I'd bet its the #1 reason people buy a computer - to type and print documents. The fact is, openoffice 2 is a great alternative. Still, there are reasons for sticking with one or the other.
Sorry to be so harsh in replying to your points, but there is a wider world out there. Personally I'm not into forcing people to switch, but I do often point out to people that there are alternatives to windows.
Windows often DOESN'T do everything people need - they are just unaware of an alternative or dont really know enough about the alternatives to want to switch. All just my opinion of course.