It seems that, in the push for "Linux on the desktop", everyone assumes that every distribution should be aimed at the "newbie" Linux user. From my perspective, this is the wrong approach.
The strength of the distribution approach is that each can be a tool that is used in different situations. I can use Mandrake or RedHat for my desktop and Slack or Debian for my servers. That puts the responsibility for user friendliness on people who WANT to specialize in it, while putting the responsibility for speed/performance/stability/etc on those who want to deal with those issues.
It's all a matter of what the developers decide is important to their retaining user base. After all, if there's one thing we should learn from Microsoft, it's that it's very difficult to be all things to all people, and a product that tries to do everything does very little well. That's no way to win popularity.
I'll use the age-old cliche of my toolbox. I know that to tighten a bolt, I use a wrench. I know that I need a hammer to handle a nail. In the same respect, I know that Mandrake and RedHat have put together very newbie-friendly distributions. On the other hand, I know that if I need a minimalist or tightly controlled install, I know that I can turn to Debian or Slackware.
I guess all I'm saying is that it's a very difficult thing to try to go from expert-oriented to newbie-oriented, and it's not necessarily a step that SHOULD be taken in all regards. Consider your user base and type of tool they consider your product to be, whether you'll lose the ability to use it for that purpose (and therefore lose that user base), and whether the risk and sacrifice is really a good idea overall. Consider that there is a lot of time and money ahead of you in the new market you'll be joining, and that you'll be sacrificing all of the time you've already spent getting to where you are in the market you're now leaving.
Maybe the secret to world domination is diversification. Windows' approach is unification, which gives them an AWEFUL large set of tasks to master in a single product. Things that you and I know should never really go together - like solitaire on a router. Pick a market and dominate it. If the distributions all pick different markets and dominate them, then the umbrella - Linux - will dominate all markets.
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It seems that, in the push for "Linux on the desktop", everyone assumes that every distribution should be aimed at the "newbie" Linux user. From my perspective, this is the wrong approach.
The strength of the distribution approach is that each can be a tool that is used in different situations. I can use Mandrake or RedHat for my desktop and Slack or Debian for my servers. That puts the responsibility for user friendliness on people who WANT to specialize in it, while putting the responsibility for speed/performance/stability/etc on those who want to deal with those issues.
It's all a matter of what the developers decide is important to their retaining user base. After all, if there's one thing we should learn from Microsoft, it's that it's very difficult to be all things to all people, and a product that tries to do everything does very little well. That's no way to win popularity.
I'll use the age-old cliche of my toolbox. I know that to tighten a bolt, I use a wrench. I know that I need a hammer to handle a nail. In the same respect, I know that Mandrake and RedHat have put together very newbie-friendly distributions. On the other hand, I know that if I need a minimalist or tightly controlled install, I know that I can turn to Debian or Slackware.
I guess all I'm saying is that it's a very difficult thing to try to go from expert-oriented to newbie-oriented, and it's not necessarily a step that SHOULD be taken in all regards. Consider your user base and type of tool they consider your product to be, whether you'll lose the ability to use it for that purpose (and therefore lose that user base), and whether the risk and sacrifice is really a good idea overall. Consider that there is a lot of time and money ahead of you in the new market you'll be joining, and that you'll be sacrificing all of the time you've already spent getting to where you are in the market you're now leaving.
Maybe the secret to world domination is diversification. Windows' approach is unification, which gives them an AWEFUL large set of tasks to master in a single product. Things that you and I know should never really go together - like solitaire on a router. Pick a market and dominate it. If the distributions all pick different markets and dominate them, then the umbrella - Linux - will dominate all markets.