Problems getting Linux into homes.

[root from hell]

On Tue, 2004-04-20 at 17:24, Robin Laing wrote: 
> As a Linux user, I have had issues with different hardware and 
> software in Linux.
> 
> Here is a pro-windows article based on problems of installing Linux 
> and sound card issues.
> 
>    Langa Letter: Linux's Achilles' Heel.
> <http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18901660>
> 
> I will admit that I had no problems installing FC 1 on my new computer 
> and it recognizing the sound card.  I haven't been able to get ALSA 
> working yet though. :(
> 
> As the issues with Video cards and hardware not being supported by 
> manufacturers or allowing their "closed source" drivers from being 
> distributed with Linux will be a stumbling block for Linux in the home.
> 
> -- 
> Robin Laing
First of all, I am absolutely not an expert at Linux, contrary to most
of you, but I do think I have a good perspective on why Linux doesn't
make it into a home-environment that easily.
Just because I don't have a lot experience with it yet.

This is the third time I start out with a Linux-distro. I've been
running it for let's say 3 weeks now. 

One of the problems that made me quit before was the fact that I
couldn't get loose from the "Windows concept". 
The file-system, the file-extensions, trying desperately to install
things, a terminal, root. All of that hit me like a rocket.

I think, that if you want to get Linux into homes - it has to be
simplified. A normal user is ... a "normal" user. One that doesn't know,
one that just wants to read, write and get e-mail, one that browses the
internet, or that installs little programs and never uninstalls them
again. A normal user is a user that breaks a system down. They don't
know any better, and they don't want to get bothered by it either.

If you want to try something new, you go for it. If you don't go for it,
it means you never really wanted it in the 1st place.
3 weeks ago I installed Fedora on my portable... only Fedora. And
planning to keep it that way. It's about the way your mind is set.
Getting to learn Linux is fun, but it isn't always that simple.
You just have to make that click in your mind. The thing most people go
wrong in, *is* comparing it to Windows. 

There are advantages and disadvantages - but in the end it's all about
what you want. What do you want to do with your computer?