On Thursday 01 March 2001 13:03, Julia Maddocks wrote:
that's really a really great idea for people who have the time, or maybe it's part of their job - I use my PC as a tool, have a job which is unrelated to IT and a family, so I need software that I can use without spending hours learning how to use it.
This samba thing has made me realise that I'm not sure Linux is for people like me, although I am keen to use an alternative OS to the dreaded W98, I don't have the time to put into learning enough about it to use it to do simple tasks.
snip
Julia
-- Julia Maddocks O O O O O O O O O \|/ \|/ \|/ \|/ \|/ \|/ \|/ \|/ \|/ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
Playwork and Childcare Consultant Julia,
I could not agree with you more. I spend most of my waking hours working on Linux. I do it because I believe in it, and because I find it challenging. In the past 3 years Linux has come a very long way toward the ease of use you seek. It isn't there yet, and I get discouraged at times. If linux does not serve your immediate needs I sincerely recommend you use what does. It would be complete folly for people to disrupt their lives simply to use Linux - take it from a fool. {;-)> When I began working with networks and PCs Microsoft was not even a serious player in the networking business. Setting up DOS to connect to a network required playing with autoexec.bat, emm386, config.sys, ODI drivers, memory exclusions and etc. Other companies such as Novell published their protocols so that other vendors could interoperate with them. This made it easy(sic) for Microsoft to connect its computers to a real network operating system. Networking capability was one of the things that made the PC become so popular, and Microsoft so rich. As soon as Microsoft figured out how to build their own network OS, they did so. Unfortunately the stabbed their erstwhile collaborators in the back, and did not openly publish their protocols. Furthermore, they have often adapt technologies which have been created by industry wide cooperation and modify it just enough to make their implementation incomputable with others who are true to the standards. It's better that you do what is best for your life today, and not kill yourself with Linux. All I would ask is that you check back every once in a while to see if things have gotten better. I truly admire the effort you have put into this. Some people in the Linux community think the fact that people such as you give up is some kind of evidence that you are not as good as them. This has been true of the Unix community for as long as there has been a Microsoft. This attitude is called arrogance, and it is the reason Bill Gates is the wealthiest man in history. Here, note the date on this message: http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde&m=90349986314191&w=2 Please remember some of us who spend countless hours working on these systems do so in order to provide you with a system that works the way you want it to. Steve