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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi Travis,
To support those voices against version 8.0, I will say that it is far from perfect. But what is it that you guys want? An A.I. install? You just want to insert the DVD, come back in 30 minutes and log in? Not hardly! Even the beloved Microsoft OSes need user interaction to get them installed, setup, and working (which is kind of a long stretch to say "working").
You seem to be missing the point. It isn't that it needs interaction, it's that it does what it is suppose to do. Generally, speaking, MS OSes install just fine - the end result ain't great, but it *is* click and drool.
The installation is going to have difficulties because every machine is different. I guarantee one could take RedHat, Mandrake, or any other distro and try to install it and get nothing but headaches. (I've done it)
Funny, I ran into way more headaches with SuSE installs then Mandrake installs. And I've actually installed Mandrake on more different types of hardware many more times.
If you really want to talk about the installation, we can do that for a while on another thread, but remember to make sure you've at least read the manual before you tried to install it. Also, if this is a laptop
That shouldn't be necessary. It didn't use to be with SuSE (the last version I've run is 7.1 - 8.0 is in the mail, however), it isn't with Mandrake, nor is it with Windows.
Next someone says what about corrupt software packages on the CDs or DVDs. Well, you could always download them yourself, install and configure them, package them back up, and burn to a CD/DVD to market your own distro of perfection. It isn't enough that you only paid upwards of $80 (US) for this complete OS with more features than the average person could ever use. I think you'd better back off of SuSE for this one too, especially since they have a 7 CD head start.
This is really silly. The majority of a distros job is not programming new software, but packaging up existing software. So if someone complains that important packages are corrupt, isn't that a very valid complaint? Honestly, however, this is something I've seen and heard about for the last three years in the SuSE community. You can't have a such a virtually non-existant beta program and hope to catch bugs. Mandrake, RedHat, Xandros, Microsoft, Apple, etc., don't all have beta programs because the get a kick out of release prerelease software (okay, maybe MS does...).
Then someone says, "Why upgrade/switch to SuSE?" I'll tell you why--to support the next version, and it's successor, and so on. Lest you forget, we're not in this to fight RedHat versus SuSE, but rather a
If the logic behind upgrade is because you should support SuSE or Mandrake or [insert company name here], that is a poor excuse for a reason to upgrade. Sure, I want to help Linux companies, but I feel much more charitable when giving money to the Salvation Army, or things like that. If distros want people to upgrade - thinking people, not click-and-drool Microsofties - then you need to provide a real reason to upgrade. Especially any company targetting the much less charitable IT industry.
scale ability, ability to change, and less expensive. If we don't help the one's with a clear direction for Linux's future in the business world (where the real support money comes from) then we'd better not complain when we have trouble getting things to work.
So when things don't work we should just say "Oh well, who cares"? Why is that? I wouldn't spend a hundred bucks on Microsoft Word, and if several key features were corrupted (really corrupted, not buggy, mind you) just say "Oh well, who cares?" I would demand action of Microsoft, so would you, and so would the media. Linux users are naive if they expect special treatment from other users and the media. As a member of the Linux media, I try hard to accentuate the positives of every product I review. However, I won't - read that again - I won't ignore a problem so that I can accomplish some great crusade against Microsoft. It isn't fair to my readers, nor myself. I would like nothing better then to see Penguins rule the world, so to speak, but ignoring problems to do so is just a case of the ends do not justify the means. -Tim - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy R. Butler tbutler@uninetsolutions.com Universal Networks http://www.uninet.info Christian Portal and Search Tool: http://www.faithtree.com Open Source Migration Guide: http://www.ofb.biz ============= "Christian Web Services Since 1996" ============== -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org iD8DBQE84YluK37Cns9gJ0gRAuamAJ44jG0tdzGecxqrFFBO8dZ7sdPd2gCeNdke og81pIbxmkvb7L5bQWICPps= =iqGZ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----