I agree that Linux can sometimes be difficult to set up correctly. I would like to add a couple of comments though. Firstly, how easy do you think it would be for a total newbie to setup windows correctly - starting from nothing and no knowledge of what to expect as the end result or the pitfalls. Secondly I think it is a mistake for linux distros to try to emulate windows so much. In particular the graphical install may be pretty but it does away with one of the advantages of linux - that the actual OS is independent of the GUI used with it. I suspect that (windows emulation PR issues aside) it would be easier if the installers in Linux distros separated the different parts of the install. eg. Stage 1: OS and utilities Stage 2: GUI Stage 3: office suite etc.
____________________________________ Giles Nunn - Network Manager Carms Schools ICT Development Centre Tel: +44 01239 710662 Fax: 710985 ____________________________________
On Fri, 27 Oct 2000, Martin Dart wrote:
RE: publicity.
Despite the postings here bemoaning the bad publicity given to Linux, certain facts have to be considered, and the most painful of these is
Linux is a very unfriendly operating system to come to terms with, and intimidates and frustrates the hell out of those who do not have advanced UNIX knowledge!
I have had SuSE 7.0 personal all week now, and on the 2 machines I have tried to set it up on, I still have not fully succeeded. I've had
trouble (gotta be REAL careful which device to install on - hda/hdb, which partition etc...), multiple installation crashes (at the 100% mark where
kernel would not install), mouse configuration trouble (why does choosing the 'Microsoft Intellimouse' option cause it to go haywire when I do in fact have this device? How do I then rectify it when I cannot then use the GUI as the mouse has gone haywire!?), and last night after failing to detect my modem the system unexpectedly rebooted (that happened 2/3 times for no apparent reason). And that's on the better of the 2 machines! The other one still will not run KDE as it complains of the lack of installed servers, does not recognise my video card, and gives me errors that 'routing' has failed. Certainly, I have been a long way short of having a running system within 20 mins of opening the box as SuSE have suggested!
If I were a reviewer evaluating the product, I would have little choice but to slate it, and advise people to choose Microsoft products - I've installed 1 server & 2 workstations with Win2K, implemented a domain, set up
Now I think about it, I think I can empathise with those comments.....when I
install NT I just whizz straight through, setting up DHCP, Gateways,
Protocols etc etc. But I never really thought that making a complete Newbie
do it is the same as myself starting out with Linux.....
Cheers,
Robb Bloomfield
----- Original Message -----
From: Giles Nunn
and connected to the internet in the same time period that Linux has done little more than frustrate and annoy me.
But I will persevere, as I am nothing else if not inquisitive and resilient! It does seem to me however that the Linux community suffers from an overdose of that sorry old computing tale - assuming that everyone else in the world knows as much as you, and despising them if they do not!
Regards,
Martin.