[Gllug] Knoppix and similar

[Rich Walker]

"FORSTER, David" <david.forster at mfi.co.uk> writes:

> On Fri, Sep 17, 2004 Jim Bailey wrote:
>> > > As someone currently teaching Debian to the technically incompetent I
> am
>> > > not impressed with Linux usability as a desktop and even less
> impressed
>> > > with Debian docs/site.
>> > 
>> > Ask for a refund :)
>> 
>> Typical of the ghetto mentality endemic in Linux,  It is a testiment to
>> my students commitment to Software Libre that they haven't installed
>> Windows and started leeching warez.

Did you try using 

http://www.blagblagblag.org/docs/

which might fit the bill?

>> 
>> Peace Jim
>
> In fairness, the existence of the emoticon in that email suggests that the
> comment was meant in good humour. Indeed, I and my colleagues found it quite
> funny.
>
> IMHO, Debian is probably not the best choice of distribution to teach to a
> "technically incompetent" user, especially if desktop usability is one of
> your main requirements. Coming to Linux from a Windows

I suggest we're missing a point here.

Debian is designed, in some sense, for OEM installation, followed by
auto-management. No other distro has this property - users can be told
how to "apt-get install X" to add packages, and a cron job can pull
security updates and do "apt-get dist-upgrade" with reasonable hope the
machine won't ever break.

Asking anyone to install an OS on hardware is ... a bad idea. *Every* OS
I've ever seen has been a b'r to install on fresh hardware. True, for
some versions of some distributions of Linux, it is possible to put a
weight on the "RETURN" key, and end up with a working system, but even
that is rare.


Now, if you want to complain about the desktop provided, I will bow out
and leave the debate to continue. Frankly, it's well known that there
have been no reliable intuitive systems since Zap, Draw and Techwriter
on RiscOS3 went out of fashion, and I have no interest in opening up
that debate (ducks, covers)

cheers, Rich.


> development/administration background I found Debian difficult to get to
> grips with. Perhaps a different, more user/newbie oriented distribution such
> as Mandrake or SUSE would be better to start with?
>
> Regards,
> David.
>
>
>
>
>
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rich walker         |  Shadow Robot Company | rw at shadow.org.uk
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