On 09/13/2010 03:10 PM, Andy wrote:
Amen to that. Powerusers don't want to have to search for something and things have to work out of the box as much as possible. But they don't want to be stuck with what they got, either. It's about balance. And there is still a choice there - if you focus so extremely on 'novices', as Ubuntu does, you DO de-optimize for powerusers, I have little doubts about that. I think openSUSE can affort sitting a bit closer to powerusers - not making things hard but at least making things accessible to them when they need it. openSUSE has always done that - which is why it is so popular with system admins and other experienced computer users. I think we must keep that legacy in honour, even when we try to make sure everyone can use our software. Powerusers are ALSO human, despite what you might have heard ;-)
Please, remember that there is hidden potential within the novice users you can attract to openSUSE.
Andy
This part of the conversation really cuts to the core of what is being called "startegy". The biggest differentiators for OpenSUSE continue to be the centralization of OS control in Yast and the multitude of choices available through OBS! As an illustration, comparing OpenSUSE 11.3 and Fedora Core 13, these are the most essential differences. Package to package, release number to release number, OpenSUSE and Fedora just don't differ that much. (Fedora a little closer to upstream?) I understand that it's a little different comparison with Ubuntu, at least with the elementary mod stuff and Shuttleworth's lawsuit kevlar. When I originally choose to use SuSE a decade ago, the centralization of common administrative tasks in Yast was the biggest factor. At the time, I had already been working with UNIX for over a decade ... hardly a newb ... System stability, ease of administration through Yast, ease of "restricted" format handling, a reasonable set of software choices in the default repositories ... I think these are features that will be appreciated by newbies and experienced *nix folk alike. OBS, and it's twin? "build", are more likely to be appreciated by folk who know what they are doing and want/need something a little outside the "norm" ... the "power user". To my mind, especially when one considers the almost limitless choices offered in OBS, the core OS would be more attractive to most potential users by offering a little less choice if that could be translated into better quality of what is actually released. In summary, I am arguing that a focus on improving the quality of what OpenSUSE already does well and implementing features that have come to be expected by all users (e.g. graceful "restricted" format handling, etc.) is a strategy that targets an extremely wide range of future OpenSUSE users. Whether or not there are some potential trade-offs to be made to get there ... I don't know ... it's implicitly a question here and in my previous posts. ... and I'm still having fun! cwight -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help@opensuse.org