----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Rutherford
I'm tempted to agree with you, Kuldip.
I've also spent a week reaching many of the same conclusions. But how long did it take us to get used to NT? Can you, or I , remember? We've lived with Windows for so long now, it's hard to recall the many hours in 1993 spent on 3.1, in 1995/6 on 95 and more recently on NT. And, of course, only yesterday Microsoft presented us with a new challenge!
I think I'll give Linux a bit more time and effort. Of course, these UNIX techies have no idea of the pressure we are under in a school environment! Just because it's free doesn't mean it's going to catch on in the education (secondary and primary) world; time is money, just as much these days in schools as it is in commerce.
Regards
Peter Rutherford, Worthing ----- Original Message ----- From: Admin
To: Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 3:52 PM Subject: [suse-linux-uk-schools] What dose Linux have to offer I've spent a week or so messing around with Linux and I have reached the following conclusions.
1. Desktop looks good has some nice functions. 2. It's more resource hungry than windows (not less as the hype clams) 3. A step backwards when it comes to application and service install and setup. 4. Poorly documented. 5. Seems to offer nothing over windows expect the price tag, (which isn't much if you already have a network) and commercial companies will still have to charge for applications.
To conclude I think my time would be better spent developing my NT skills at present and waiting until linux advances into a more user friendly operating system.
Kuldip Singh.
I'd like to contribute to this discussion by saying a bit about my own history. I was a teacher as well: I gave up being a deputy head at Christmas to come and work at SuSE. I first got interested in Linux between 2 and 3 years ago when we decided to use it to run a small network at the Hellenic College of London. I can assure Kudlip and anyone else that one week after first installing Linux I knew virtually nothing. Two years later I knew enough to get a job here. Think back to when you started using computers at all. For different people that will be at different times historically: in my case apart from a brief interlude with an Apple II in about 1984, it was with DOS 6 and Windows 3.1. How much did I know after a week? - again the answer is virtually nothing. However at the time I didn't think I was learning about or evaluating Windows, I thought I was learning about using a computer ... There is a big distinction between these perceptions. It is very easy to stick to what is familiar - `to keep hold of nurse, for fear of finding someone worse' (Hilaire Belloc). But I promise you that to persist with Linux will pay dividends both in terms of your own personal satisfacton with what you are doing and in your appreciation of the power and usefulness of the system as a whole (and its usefulness in your institution to do what you need done). One thing that is special about Linux is that when you learn something, you really learn and understand it. Nothing is hidden from you: you can dig as deep as you want into how it works and you never meet a brick wall. -- Roger Whittaker SuSE Linux Ltd The Kinetic Centre Theobald Street Borehamwood Herts WD6 4PJ ---------------------- 020 8387 1482 ---------------------- roger@suse-linux.co.uk ----------------------
participants (2)
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Peter Rutherford
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Roger Whittaker