APPLEVISION Monitor

From: Doc <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
Date: Mon May 6 19:56:42 2002

On Mon, 6 May 2002, Richard Erlacher wrote:

> That may be true, though I have questions about the relative usefulness of
> *nix, VMS, etc, in the current computing environment. However, until I can
> rely on being able to take the typical drug-impaired, femto-brained, at best
> quasi-literate, high school graduate and setting him down in front of a *nix
> box, when he's never even heard of *nix or VMS or whatever, and reasonably
> expect to get at least half-a-day's work out of each day he spends at that
> box, beginning with the first day, knowing that he can't read and extract
> information from the process, I'll stick with Windows, thank you very much.
> Even a moron can manage that under Windows.

  Um, no.
  I have done software support in a Windows environment, and I have done
training of both adults and children in both Linux and Windows.
  Chris's crack about finding the new document after writing it, in
Windows, was dead on. My stint as "the computer guy" in a Windows shop
was in a University of Texas research lab. Not exactly morons I was
working with. Most people think Windows is easier because that's what
they were trained in _first_. The Linux/Unix curve is steeper for them
because of the UNlearning curve.
  Dick, no offense, but if you haven't used Unix since '82, or Linux
since about 2000, you don't _have_ a valid viewpoint concerning ease of
use. PTSD is not a reasonable argument in this case.
  RedHat is not my favorite distribution for my own personal use, but I
have to say that it is a much easier install than a comparable Windows
setup. Effectively, on 99% of current (less than 6 yrs and more than 3
months old) hardware, it's a matter of clicking on the default choice.
  After the _first_ reboot, everything from browsers to WYSIWYG word
processors are ready to use. You never have to even _see_ a commandline
unless you want. Spreadsheet (Excel-compatible, no less) apps, address
books, games, the whole 9 yards. I see 11 and 12 year old kids sit
down for the first time, ask where's the menus, and do homework, all the
time.

        Doc
Received on Mon May 06 2002 - 19:56:42 BST