I think this lack of a global roadmap is intimidating and leads lots of new people into the arms of RPM
There is this, PLUS the elitist attitudes of many of the posters here. Linux has, for better or worse, moved out of the realm of the hobbyist and into the mainstream. And as I have expounded upon many times, Joe Average User has no clue (nor even the desire to) about recompiling the kernel. He just wants his streaming audio to work and play music... he doesn't want to first have to compile the sound module or learn about insmod or any thing of the like.. he just wants to listen to his music.
To help these new users will require those geniuses amongst us to put aside their massive egos and gently point the new users in the proper directions. Merely saying Read the how-to at Sunsite is not enough. The how-to's were written by the hobbyist for the hobbyist. They were never meant for the typical user.
Well, to you it may have been a pointless article. However, it was a good fluff piece on Linux and the Open Source/Free Software movement. And, since the plan is for World Domination on the Desktop, all the good news articles Linux can garner, the better.
Remember, the suits that control corporate buying decisions are not reading/. They are reading articles in Forbes, Salon and the like. So an article that presents the benefits (read: increase in market share, improving employee moral, etc) of supporting Linux and Open Source/Free Software is a good_thing(tm). Its not pointless at all.
While this is interesting in a geeky sort of way, I'm not quite sure what the practical value of this is. As previously mentioned by others, there are many other, mayhaps better, ways to accomplish the things these two (2) products offer.
For instance, one can merely trap the data coming into the serial port. The specs (of the caller id data stream) for doing so are freely available, and there is no need for a dongle hanging off the back of your machine.
All of those people that are posting those It ain't that hard messages have never really dealt with normal users (yes, I know that there are exceptions). I hate to burst anyones bubble, but, yes, it IS that hard! Joe Average_User has NEVER opened his box. He (or she) is intimidated with the idea of having to do something that is out of the ordinary.
Face it, Jon (and those like him) are NOT like us! They don't recompile the kernel on a daily basis just because it can be done! Jon is making an honest effort to become a Linux USER. And if Linux is to take over the world (or the 40% of the desktop market that Linus wants to see), the Linux community is going to need Linux USERS, and that means that we do need Jon. Oh, and if you don't like what Jon has to say... then don't read his postings.
Within in a week after the certification tests are released a company such as Trancender will release a Become *nix Certified in 24 hours. MSCE is a joke... people might be certified but all it proves is that they can read and memorize. After working first hand with several of these certified persons it becomes painfully obvious that there is something seriously wrong with the entire certification process. Of course, your mileage may vary.
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There is this, PLUS the elitist attitudes of many of the posters here. Linux has, for better or worse, moved out of the realm of the hobbyist and into the mainstream. And as I have expounded upon many times, Joe Average User has no clue (nor even the desire to) about recompiling the kernel. He just wants his streaming audio to work and play music... he doesn't want to first have to compile the sound module or learn about insmod or any thing of the like.. he just wants to listen to his music.
To help these new users will require those geniuses amongst us to put aside their massive egos and gently point the new users in the proper directions. Merely saying Read the how-to at Sunsite is not enough. The how-to's were written by the hobbyist for the hobbyist. They were never meant for the typical user.
From you: patent on on-line payments and fullfillment of requests for downloading music
Imagine that... both statements infer the same thing.
Well, to you it may have been a pointless article. However, it was a good fluff piece on Linux and the Open Source/Free Software movement. And, since the plan is for World Domination on the Desktop, all the good news articles Linux can garner, the better.
Remember, the suits that control corporate buying decisions are not reading /. They are reading articles in Forbes, Salon and the like. So an article that presents the benefits (read: increase in market share, improving employee moral, etc) of supporting Linux and Open Source/Free Software is a good_thing(tm). Its not pointless at all.
For instance, one can merely trap the data coming into the serial port. The specs (of the caller id data stream) for doing so are freely available, and there is no need for a dongle hanging off the back of your machine.
Perhaps I do just lack imagination.
Face it, Jon (and those like him) are NOT like us! They don't recompile the kernel on a daily basis just because it can be done! Jon is making an honest effort to become a Linux USER. And if Linux is to take over the world (or the 40% of the desktop market that Linus wants to see), the Linux community is going to need Linux USERS, and that means that we do need Jon. Oh, and if you don't like what Jon has to say... then don't read his postings.
Within in a week after the certification tests are released a company such as Trancender will release a Become *nix Certified in 24 hours. MSCE is a joke... people might be certified but all it proves is that they can read and memorize. After working first hand with several of these certified persons it becomes painfully obvious that there is something seriously wrong with the entire certification process. Of course, your mileage may vary.