Linux vs Windows and why win is winning!

[Patrick Thurmond]

Ok, I am going to touch down on a few points I am obviously missing.
1) My intentions are not to remove and flexibility from Linux.
2) I am not trying to beat the learning curve, I am trying to beat M$.
3) Despite all that maybe said, I do agree, Linux in essence is not as difficult as it can appear, 
but the frustration is there and thats what the GUI idea is all about. Making the interface more 
familiar and smooth flowing, you don't need to remove and functionality or flexibility, you just 
need the info to be closer at hand. I agree with the menu improvement idea. I also would like to go 
further and make a GUI that is more point and click for BASIC functionality. Also yes I agree all 
you have to do is read up on something to learn how to use it, but you and I both know that it 
isn't as cut and dry for everyone, most people don't want to learn history or a big speech when 
trying to operate software, they just want to know how to do a few specific things for now and 
learn about the cool stuff later. Thats where the linux documentation goes way overboard. If anyone 
has ever noticed, Windows comes with a searchable help database and a program to read it and all 
other help file!
s. This program doesn't give you alot of in depth info right off the bat unless you dig for it, it 
just shows you how to get the task at hand done, thats it. And as bad as this may sound thats what 
Linux needs for its documentation and the interface for Linux needs to be just as cut and dry. It 
needs to be obvious what each thing does, not having to read through 3 paragraphs of text just to 
find out. Thats where the problem lies, in my busy life I would be lucky to read a page of 
documentation.
4) None of what I suggested goes as far as disabling anything, to basically put things, Linux and 
its interface needs to be more obvious and to the point, OSes shouldn't be riddles 101.
I am suggesting that anyone who wants to dig into this project to offer up their skills and 
knowledge and present some ideas or structures at the next meeting.
-Patrick Thurmond
John Heryer <jheryer at violet.jayhawks.net> wrote: > John, I do think the Linux Learning Curve is 
real and does exist. Windows _IS_
> easier to do for a lot of common tasks, especially something like dial-up
> networking. It was moderately difficult the first time I set up PPP on my
> slackware box. Many of us Linux users like the OS because it is powerful,
> exteremly powerful. Where a young child can master much of the basic user
> parts of Windows, that child probably could not do this with Linux. Since
> windows is simpler, it isn't as flexible and extensible. Linux on the other
> hand can be very complex and the complexity allows for the great flexibility
> for whatever the application. One can think of windows has a hammer -- easy to
> use, useful as tool but not very good for all jobs. Linux is the swiss army
> knife or the leatherman's tool, versitile, can be used for many jobs very well
> and more difficult to use (in simple terms here). This makes it a more powerful
> tool. Just my two honest two cents here...

The reason why people get frustrated with using Linux is because when they
run into a problem, they have no clue how to solve it.
The command `rpm -Uvh mypackage.rpm` is just as intuitive as My
Computer*doubleclick*here>*doubleclick*setup.exe*doubleclick* . Just like Windows, an average
user can install an rpm on a RedHat Linux system, using the command line
if they are told or they read how to do it. (even young children) The
problem does not lie in the operating system, it is in users who jump into
Linux, and get frustrated because A) they have not found the proper
documentation or B) Did not read the proper documentation. Like I said
before, we have memorized trivial facts all of our lives. Hense, the
"learning curve" is mearly the lack of know-how. Linux isn't complicated,
it just requires some basic knowledge to use properly, just like anything
else.

There, now you have four of my cents, don't spend it all in one place. :-)

--
John Heryer
jheryer at jayhawks.net

"It is easy to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to
live after your own; but the great man is he, in the midst of the crowd,
keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson


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