30 Jun
2004
30 Jun
'04
11:45 a.m.
Hi,
On Wed, 30 Jun 2004, Patrick Kaell wrote:
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.
Hmm... they *do* want to use that printer/scanner/copier or digital
camera they buy. Getting those to work with their computer is an
administrative task. They do it on Windows.
On some Linux distributions, that's also a matter of a very few
mouseclicks. Not so on many others - to which I'd count, say,
slackware, gentoo, debian.
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!
That sort of user exists, no doubt. But most users will still
ask some relative or friend first before going out to buy some
new computer. Let's also be honest and say that the problem
you're talking about is being cured (at least partially) with
the NT based systems, as the roots of much evil lay in DOS/Win9x.
If we're already bashing Windows slowness, let's not forget that
other cause: virus/worm/trojan infections, and their pseudo-cure
$Big_Vendor antivirus software.
[insert rant about necessity of a mandatory Internet usage license]
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.
Well, the last times I've installed, say, Redmont Windows XP
vs the "Nuernberger Windows", it was the latter that won - easily.
And both on very new hardware, which is notoriously hard for Linux.
I found WinXP to be much more difficult and time consuming to get
running properly (i.e. install drivers, service pack, patches etc.)
than with a SuSE Linux install - the latter including a hell of a
lot more applications.
Many people manage to get Windows installed (hopefully without
catching the latest worm-du-jour within 50 seconds of their first
connection to Internet and before windows update can do it's job),
there's IMHO no reason they shouldn't be able to do the same with
certain Linux distros.
As for the pre-installed Linux, you can get some. Dell has some
workstations with a Linux option, and Mr. Van den Berg from HP
Luxembourg told me that very soon those Mandrake HP Laptops should
also become available around here very soon. Server offerings have
been existing longer. I'd be surprised if there weren't more end-user
compatible offers available.
Also, LiLux still has the offer of Linux installations standing
AFAIK - IIRC anybody can come by with his/her PC at a LiLux meeting
and get an installation done (preferrably with some early warning,
but anyway...). Maybe we should mention that fact somewhere on our
website [Pascal, are you reading this? :-)]
Of course, if extremely clueless/stupid people at $Webbanking or
$ISP or $Whatever will blame anything on Linux, that's not
exactly going to help...
Greets Eric