On Wed, 2007-01-24 at 14:36 -0500, David VanHorn wrote:
> >
> >
> > Now, is Linux ready for the "normal" user? Nope. It still is something
> > that sometimes needs tweaking at the command line, and that's beyond the
> > majority of the computing public.
> 
> 
> Have you tried Ubuntu?
> I just installed it, and the process was far LESS involved then installing
> XP on the same machine.
> Even my networked color laser was able to be installed with drivers already
> on their disk.
> Apps are installed from a menu, and it's completely seamless.

Yes, most linux distros these days are very seemless from an install and
"staying in the borders" point of view.

However, with every linux distro I've seen, eventually the user is lead
to the command line for something.

Take firefox and Java. Many (most?) distros include firefox, but not
Java. If you want java for firefox you go to Sun's site. There is an
"installer". You download it, and run it, and it "installs" a bunch of
stuff. If your distro is set up correctly you wouldn't have had to do
anything at the command line, yet. 

However, after the files are installed Sun directs the user to the
command line to add a sym link in the plugin directory for you browser
pointing at the java install. Sun COULD have easily added this step to
their install script, but they didn't. So, if you are a new user who
doesn't even KNOW what a command line is, never mind a "symbolic link",
you're completely stuck.

Other examples can get much worse (i.e. having to load kernel modules,
or compiling the app from scratch). Not a big deal for a person used to
linux, a horror to a person new to linux.

THIS is what I mean. The distros have done a WONDERFUL job of keeping
the user in a point and click environment. The problem is there are
still major apps out there that people WILL want that are not so simple.
To people like us it's no big deal, we often prefer the command line,
and like the flexibility, but to your general computer user they'd be
completely stuck and frustrated.

TTYL

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