From: Ian Field (field_ian@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Jun 08 2000 - 19:42:38 MDT
William Kitchen wrote:
> Have you installed any recent releases of the major
> distributions? Mandrake typically installs complete with fully
> functional XF86 and a large collection of apps in about half the
> time of a typical win9x installation, and with only a single
> reboot at the end of the process.
I've heard good things about Mandrake - I last installed SuSE and Redhat
about 4 months ago - and ran into snags...
<snip>
> This, in itself, doesn't make Linux superior. But it does shoot
> holes in the ease-of-installation claims of Windows superiority.
> Such claims never meant much anyway, even back when it was true.
> Casual users almost never install their own OS, and technical
> users aren't much bothered by a little extra installation
> complexity as long as there are other compelling reasons to use
> an OS.
My installation point was just a lead into the complexities faced in using
and maintaining an open source system. These complexities do not present a
viable option for most consumers, who wouldn't understand the difference
between alternate OS builds, shells, etc... ...no matter how many times you
attempted to explain these concepts. When I consider the argument that
open-source OSs are excellent for novices, I try to imagine my mother
recompiling her kernel, then I laugh...
Anyway, we're way off topic here. I'll withdraw any antagonistic statements
I've made. I only wish that we, as a population, could look more
objectively upon the MS situation...
Ian
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