On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 09:26, Scott <scottro@nyc.
> 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...
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