30 Jun
2004
30 Jun
'04
10:10 a.m.
Slackware and desktop? You should then specify who is
supposed
to do the necessary administration tasks. If it is some non-clued
end user (say, your grandmother), then IMHO slackware definitely
won't do for a desktop. If it's for a company desktop, it won't
do either, because it's going to be hard if not impossible to
get external support for slackware (hint: PHBs won't even look
at a standard SuSE or RedHat/Fedora, it has to be an "Enterprise
Desktop" version).
There remains a sort of middle ground of clued "power users"
who can have fun with it by themselves. You and I may fit the
bill, but we're exceptions there. If these same people have the
time and inclination to do the tasks for others (hint: I sure
don't, at best I'll do it for close family), then maybe a very
few more people might be converted, but... I'll grant you the
small IT company with a clued admin who could manage the small
park for the whole company.
Most end users (grand mother included) do not do any administration,
even on Windows machines. They buy complete PCs with Windows
preinstalled without ever reinstalling Windows.
I have already seen this. There are people who buy a new PC after 3
years, because their old PC has got too slow. Not slow compared to new
technology or too slow with new demanding software. No, it has got much
slower than it was 3 years ago with the same software in absolute terms.
We all know that this is because of the aging Windows installation with
filesystem fragmentation, dead registry entries and unused DLLs. These
people do not know that they can reinstall Windows because they have
never installed it. They think that the processor becomes *tired* after
3 years!!!. Like an old car engine with a high kilometrage!
Let's be honest: No Linux distro is suited for those people. Only
preinstalled Linux PCs might be an answer, especially because Linux
installations normally do not get slower after years of usage.
Patrick Kaell