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Is Linux Out of Touch With the Average User?

MrSmith writes "Is Linux's less than impressive market share an indication that the movement is out of touch with the average computer user? ZDNet examines five reasons that could explain why people are still willing to pay for (or pirate) an operating system when free alternatives exist. One of the reasons seems to be that despite what many Linux advocates claim, Windows users aren't on the whole dissatisfied with their OS: 'Despite what you read on websites and blogs, newspapers and magazines, people on the whole aren't all that dissatisfied with Windows. There are millions of users out there who just get on and use their PCs without any real difficulty.'"

4 of 1,067 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yes by Dorkmaster+Flek · · Score: 0, Troll

    No, they really are idiots. I'm not talking about people who can't compile source code or fix registry problems by themselves. I'm talking about people who really do think IE (or Google for that matter) is "the Internet"; people who can barely check their email; people who don't understand that turning off the monitor doesn't turn off "the computer". These are the same people who somehow manage to stumble through life and reproduce only because our society is built upon catering to the lowest common denominator all the time.

    --
    I like to think of online DRM as something akin to a college -- you pay for lessons until you learn something.
  2. Re:Yes by CogDissident · · Score: 0, Troll

    So what you're saying is that you like to nitpick on the difference between the linux kernel and an actual build of linux, without refuting what I said. Good argument form *golf clap*. But basically, to sumarize your horribly long, double linebreak argument, linux builds look the same as average windows, almost, but arn't quite as compatable, and the one person you know who does have it, has someone with technical competance as her repair-guy because theres not a snowball's chance in h___ that she can get it repaired at a normal computer shop.

  3. Re:Yes by enjerth · · Score: 1, Troll

    So, umm, how do I install this Firefox update I downloaded? Running Ubuntu 6.06.

  4. Re:Yes by ozmanjusri · · Score: 0, Troll
    It's. Still. Too. Complicated.

    No, it's easy.

    Upgrade to a new Ubuntu, get a new Firefox.

    You're just still. Too. Dumb. Don't worry, you have the rest of your life to get used to that.

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."