first post and it is getting long.
I agree with the gist of what you are saying. Linux has matured and the GUI
is the way most people interact with the computer, but if you ask for help
many old timers will give commandline solutions. They forget what it feels
like to be a newbie.
For me, the command line presents more problems. I am older and I can't
remember all of the commands as well as I used to and my typing is slow to
begin with. Linux gurus contend that the commandline is faster, but for me
the GUI is faster. I don't have to search for the command and syntax in the
man pages. Also I have had much past experience on many OSes and there is
still much in memory that interferes with my learning Linux bash commands. I
learned on the Apple II and then switched to C64, and DOS. I also dabbled in
Unix. By the time that Windows 3.1 came out I was a veteran. Not content
with that I used OS 2 warp and several other OSes not around anymore. Linux
is what have used for ten years, but it is not my first OS.
That is why I try to give GUI solutions wherever possible. Many new users
have baggage that interferes and the GUi is an equalizer. Windows, buttons
and icons are familiar concepts. Even so, i think that users from other OSes
have to embrace the change if they are to be successful. The more they draw
comparisons between what they have left behind the harder it will be to
learn new. The familiar always seems better.
Many Linux users still use Windows or other OSes. They cannot forget, but
they should resist the temptation to think that the Windows or OS/X way is
better or easier. It is only easier because of their familiarity. In some
things one OS is better and in others it may be worse. Not everything about
Windows is bad and not everything about Linux is good. The OSes should be
different because they have different histories and different philosophies.
We should not be surprised that Windows methods do not work in Linux. We
should expect it.
They key for we who try to help new users should be to enable them and that
means giving them what they need rather than what we may want to give them.
As they get their feet them may feel compelled to learn more about what is
under the hood. But for now, they just need to turn on the ignition and get
moving.
Roy
On 26 March 2010 10:37, J <dreadpiratejeff@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 09:26, Scott <scottro@nyc.rr.com> wrote:
> To sum it, it means that even if one doesn't really want to learn how to
> fish, they just want results, such a user now has a place on lists like
> this.
This is the biggest problem I have with a large swath of the older
Linux community. There are still a large number of vocal people who
are living back in the days when you still had to compile most things
from source (And by gummit we LIKED IT!).
My personal opinion is that Linux, several years ago, actually,
reached well beyond saturation level for geeks. In order to survive,
and grow, Linux NEEDS these users... the other 90% of the population.
This is really why I still have Windows systems at all. There are
just some things in Windows that Just Work. (Adobe Lightroom and GOOD
RAW Image handling, for one). I do the experimental thing all day
long. After work, in my free time, the last thing I want to do
anymore is hack more things to make them work. When I'm not working,
I want things to just work, so I can be productive doing OTHER
things...
This has, IMHO, been THE major stumbling block for Linux in the
general marketplace. It's only now being addressed properly, really
(now being within the last 2 - 3 years or so), but to get those other
90% of users, things have to Just Work.
I had dinner and more than a few beers last night with a friend of
mine from Red Hat... He uses a Mac. Why? Because it Just Works.
When he's doing a presentation and plugs in a projector, it just
works. No hacking, no "well, you just need to do this, this and
this." He plugs it in, and there it is.
When he plugs in his phone, his calendar and contacts sync. No fancy
software, it's the little built in apps, that just work... He told me
last night that he is FAR more productive now that he has the Mac than
he ever was on Windows, or Fedora/Red Hat/Whatever.
It's these little things that will win people over, I guess... For an
over-priced Niche market system, Apple does a really good job. Better
than most others, IMHO...
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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