Re: My rant, sorry

[Allix Primus <alleve idirect com>]

You have made some good points, but if Linux were windows, I wouldn't use it .
I was intimidated by linux at first, like everyone else, but looking back at how
much i've learned (through reading, and hacking around), I wouldn't want to
give up that knowledge just to have another windows. And I don't think other
experienced linux users would. And just out of curiosity , what programming 
language have you learned ? I plan on learning C and a bit of bash
programming :)


On Sun, 24 Oct 1999, Greg Grossmeier wrote:
> sorry to clog your connection already receiving 200+ messages a day.  But I 
> have a few things to say on Linux, the people of Linux, and what Linux is 
> about.
> 
> First of all, IMHO, anyone who knows enough about Linux to offer help on 
> this or any other list, is in their own right, a genius.  The reason for 
> this is that you get so many questions asking the same thing, at least 3 
> times.  And, I don't know how you do it, but you remain calm in your 
> responses but also politely add "read the archives at [I forget 
> where].com"  This shows that most of the Linux community has the maturity 
> to deal well with others, especially others who are not as well informed, 
> ie: ME!
> 
> Now, Linux.  I believe that Linux is a stunning example of what the human 
> race can accomplish together in obtaining a singular goal, a "perfect" 
> operating system (oh yeah, and killing Microsoft products).  Even though 
> nothing can be "perfect", Linux is well on its way there.  It is reliable, 
> secure (if you know what you are doing), and stable (kinda similar to 
> reliable, but I needed to have another word there).  Linux also shows the 
> world that open-source DOES work.  If you get many people to write tools 
> for their own needs, you then have tools to satisfy everyone's needs.  This 
> however is not the case in the Microsoft-controlled world.  Users have to 
> wait until ol' billy boy thinks he needs to ad that, or, someone finds a 
> bug (which isn't that hard to do) and in turn MAKES billy bob fix it, ie: 
> L0pht.
> 
> But Linux does have some short comings.  For example, I think of my self as 
> a pretty intelligent person, quick learner, and computer geek.  But I was 
> raised on Windows, by fault of my family.  But for my family, windows is 
> perfect.  For me on the other hand, it is not.  But that is not where I am 
> trying to go right now.  What I am trying to get out is that even though I 
> am an intellectual person, I a GUI operating system rather than a 
> command-line one.  I know that if someone knows what they are doing a 
> command-line OS can be quicker, but, well, we all are not sure what we are 
> doing at some point or another, requiring a little help.  In Windows, when 
> ever you are presented with a choice, you are given all possible 
> choices.  However in Linux, to know your choices you must read man pages, 
> witch can be very intimidating for a first time Windows-Widow.  What I 
> would prefer is to have all choices presented to me for every decision I 
> make, but also the opportunity to add more choices as I see fit.  Which 
> would mean, you guessed it, open source.  Just think how much better 
> Windows would be if it were open-source.  All of you (you as in "the Linux 
> community") working together to mold all of the strengths of each system 
> (remember the movie "Blade"??).  There would be bumps, but they are 
> surmountable.  These bumps would only encourage the developers and thinkers 
> to come up with new and unique ways to solve problems.  It would be a great 
> time for all computer geeks in the world.  We would at once unite.
> 
> Now I know that most of you think that this will never happen, you are 
> probably right, but what I want to see is the possibility of this, and the 
> idea of what it COULD be like.
> 
> But the whole reason I brought up this topic is because of my own selfish 
> reasons, I want to use Linux.  I did have RH 5.2 installed on my computer, 
> but then I decided to upgrade my windows 95 to 98 with a clean install, so, 
> I wipe my hard drive and have not reinstalled it since.  I want to, really 
> I do, mainly so I can use my new found programming skills in a productive 
> way, but also so I can say that I learned how to use Linux.  It is a major 
> accomplishment, no matter who you are talking to.  But the only thing 
> scaring me away from reinstalling Linux is, well, the absence of 
> well-written documentation, stuff written on my computer level, and the 
> absence of clear choices.  I guess what I am trying to say here is that I 
> would like a more user friendly version of Linux, more like (ARGH, I hate 
> to say it) Windows.  Something with just little bit more of the 
> "holding-your-hand" type of interface.
> 
> Well, I could stop writing now, because I know that with my last couple of 
> statements I have made mortal enemies on this list, but I won't.  I will 
> however stop for tonight.  I will add more later on.
> 
> ~greg~
> 
> 
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