I do confess, I find the idea of AOL for Linux slightly... ah.. discomforting.
But then again, and I can't say as it really shames me to confess, I use AOL with a BYOISP account. I'm sorry that people think of the content, chat, and groups on AOL as complete drivel. My major reason for using it - that I think is good enough to pay for! - is the huge, varied, and almost completely freeform roleplaying community that makes its home there, in AOL chatrooms and forums. Also, the medical forums on AOL are very good, well organized, and the feedback that you can get about problems of various drugs and illnesses; I know my father still uses AOL in his cancer research, especially, because there are many easily accessible "Survivor Forums" and new drug research articles. The AOL stock portfolio, as well, is very user-friendly and organized.
When the nerdier people at my school (including to some degree myself) went to national science competitions in backwards places in other states, and the internet connections in the dorms didn't work, the major way for them to ease their/. and email cravings was to sign on through one of our teammates' connections to AOL.
And then there are all the younger teenage Linux users who are forced to use AOL as their connection to the internet because it is more convenient for their entire family. With AOLinux they could switch over the computers in their household to Linux and most likely, their parents would barely notice at first.;)
Hmm... "Linux: The Family OS."
Anyway, while I acknowledge that some of the effects will be winceworthy and... distasteful, to say the least, AOLinux could be what it takes to start weaning some potential new Linux blood step-by-step off of Windows.
I know that almost anything and any information that can be had on AOL can also be found on the real internet (and AOL does, in fact, link to a lot of web content). Truth of the matter is, AOL is, for the non-tech-oriented community, more efficient in a lot of ways. On the one hand, I can see how people who are concerned only with efficiency and not with spending time learning about what they're actually doing "have no right" to use Linux. On the other hand, if Linux is only "The Superior OS for Superior People," then what's the point? Most people will never have the time, energy, brainpower, and dare I say, personality required to be a "power user." And in that case, MS will always hold a definite edge over Linux, regardless of the comparative quality of the products. Linux can be intimidating as hell for the new user, and it seems to me that a lot of people out there are saying, "And that's how we like it..."
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I do confess, I find the idea of AOL for Linux slightly... ah.. discomforting.
/. and email cravings was to sign on through one of our teammates' connections to AOL.
;)
But then again, and I can't say as it really shames me to confess, I use AOL with a BYOISP account. I'm sorry that people think of the content, chat, and groups on AOL as complete drivel. My major reason for using it - that I think is good enough to pay for! - is the huge, varied, and almost completely freeform roleplaying community that makes its home there, in AOL chatrooms and forums. Also, the medical forums on AOL are very good, well organized, and the feedback that you can get about problems of various drugs and illnesses; I know my father still uses AOL in his cancer research, especially, because there are many easily accessible "Survivor Forums" and new drug research articles. The AOL stock portfolio, as well, is very user-friendly and organized.
When the nerdier people at my school (including to some degree myself) went to national science competitions in backwards places in other states, and the internet connections in the dorms didn't work, the major way for them to ease their
And then there are all the younger teenage Linux users who are forced to use AOL as their connection to the internet because it is more convenient for their entire family. With AOLinux they could switch over the computers in their household to Linux and most likely, their parents would barely notice at first.
Hmm... "Linux: The Family OS."
Anyway, while I acknowledge that some of the effects will be winceworthy and... distasteful, to say the least, AOLinux could be what it takes to start weaning some potential new Linux blood step-by-step off of Windows.
I know that almost anything and any information that can be had on AOL can also be found on the real internet (and AOL does, in fact, link to a lot of web content). Truth of the matter is, AOL is, for the non-tech-oriented community, more efficient in a lot of ways. On the one hand, I can see how people who are concerned only with efficiency and not with spending time learning about what they're actually doing "have no right" to use Linux. On the other hand, if Linux is only "The Superior OS for Superior People," then what's the point? Most people will never have the time, energy, brainpower, and dare I say, personality required to be a "power user." And in that case, MS will always hold a definite edge over Linux, regardless of the comparative quality of the products. Linux can be intimidating as hell for the new user, and it seems to me that a lot of people out there are saying, "And that's how we like it..."