Mainstream . . . (LONG)

[Bradley Miller]

At 07:23 AM 1/30/01 -0600, you wrote:
> What Linux lacks for the non expert person is a uniform, idiot-proof system 
> for installing hardware and software.  

As they say . . . build a system only an idiot can use, and only an idiot
will use it.   

Documentation is a real key here people . . . you can point out all the
How-to's and FAQ's, but nothing says to start from 0 and go upward . . . at
least nothing good that I've found.   Like for instance -- did I need to
remove my old Apache install to put in a new install????   If I did want to
do that . . . how would I remove all the old Apache garbage to start from
square one????  When I upgrade a program does it still leave all the old
stuff in there also?   What of the old stuff can I delete?   Yes, RPM's
might help here and there, but I can work a command prompt just like anyone
else, but when your coming off of a "stick a disk in and it works"
mentality, it's hard to adapt to all the questions posed by Linux.   The
things I've read all assume that people know what they're doing and why
they're doing it.   I shouldn't have to interpret instructions.   And the
stuff that I do find that is halfway good, some of it is out of date or not
particularly bug free.   Is it that hard to capture the output from an
install session and copy/paste it into a document for others to read???   

-- Bradley "I'm not giving up my Linux, or anything else" Miller