[Novalug] Community contribution

[greg pryzby]

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I would put the fault at the hardware companies. Really. If they don't
supply a driver, then you are screwed, regardless of the OS.

So until companies (Lenovo and Dell are leading the pack here imho) ship
working computers preloaded, Linux isn't for the masses. Just like if
you want to install Mac OS X on Intel hardware or built a machine from
scratch and tried to install Vista on it. Most OSs aren't ready for
barebones installed by grandparents.

I will say that I have bought machnines and built them since Feb 1993
and never had a hardware issue. The reason is I researched what chipset
specifically was supported and bought hardware that would work out of
the box.

Compiz (or fusion) is cutting edge in Linux and has a limited hardware
(well, it isn't everything and you may need proprietary drivers and some
OSs won't use them) so it isn't easy. Just like early adopters for Vista.

Remember, who builds a machine and installs Vista from CD/DVD? That is
what we are doing with Linux in reality.

Lenovo and Dell (and whatever WalMart and Sears are selling) are getting
us closer. But until you can buy and unbox a machine and turn it on w/
Linux installed and working, we can't fairly compare to Apple or Microsoft.

Just my 2 cents

Jay Hart wrote:
> Yes Ken, a viable choice of something other than MS, but like my little
> problem with my video driver install two week ago, I'd say we still have aways
> to go to get to that viable choice (for mainstream users)...
> 
> I cut my technical teeth running nuclear power plants in the Navy.  I've
> always believed in the right tool for the right job. (as long as the tool is a
> hammer or screwdriver ;)  )
> 
> I've seen my share of badly designed systems, and how much of an additional
> strain they can put on the people trying to maintain them.
> 
> Jay
> 
>> I think you touch on a good point.  The point of Linux was to give people a
>> viable choice, not to "get them away from evil MS".  That has been something
>> that zealot perpetuate and ends up making it to the media channels.
>>
>> Ken
>>
>>
>> On 1/22/08, Theodore Ruegsegger <truegsegger at csc.com> wrote:
>>> Jay wrote:
>>>> WHat I'm saying is that we, as a community, must take the attitube
>>>> and appraoch that has served Apple so well:
>>>> ...
>>>> I think the community is doing better, but there needs to be a shift
>>>> (if it hasn't already occured) from what a developer wants, to what
>>>> the end user wants. And, the interface must be intuitive to use for
>>>> the end user.
>>> Two observations:
>>>
>>> 1. How well has it served Apple, really? How big is Apple's market
>>>   share? Is it significantly greater than that of, say, GNU/Linux?
>>>
>>> 2. You seem to take for granted that getting everyone to give up
>>>   Windows and switch to GNU/Linux is, if not "our" highest priority,
>>>   at least a very high one.
>>>
>>> I have no objection to free-riders joining our ranks, especially since
>>> a few of them will eventually make more useful contributions than
>>> whining and threatening to go back to Windows if they don't get
>>> exactly what they want when they want it. But it's certainly not a
>>> priority for me. I *want* the whiners to go back to Windows and leave
>>> us alone.
>>>
>>> I'm quite happy to focus on those already part of our community.
>>> Certainly we can improve our user interfaces, but let's not declare
>>> failure just because something isn't idiot-proof or requires some
>>> learning.
>>>
>>> Ted

- --
greg pryzby                              greg at pryzby dot org
fingerprint: 8A1A DB90 869F 5DD1 D6E9 EEB6 C156 6B04 849F A86F
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