[Nottingham] Better than Windows? was: Response on awareness day

[Tim Emanuel]

On 11/3/05, Andrew White <andy at milky.org.uk> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > Linux is not ready for the average desktop. It's f**king close, but it's
> not
> > ready. Now that eBuyer et al have started selling Linux PC's by the
> shedload,
> > maybe things will change.
>
> I hear that a lot, but nobody has ever taken the time to explain why
> and justify it.
>
> Just as people are on this list for various different reasons, people
> use a desktop in different ways.
>
> I've been using linux as a desktop for ten years. Am I missing something?

 Yes. The fact that you're above average. I think it's not so much that
Linux isn't ready for the average desktop, more that it isn't ready for the
average desktop user. Although I think that using a well-configured Linux
desktop is far more rewarding than using Windows, there is no denying that
it takes effort that most PC users either don't know how, or simply don't
want to put in.
 Suppose someone wants to add a wireless network card to their PC: in an
ideal world it they would like to simply install it into the PC, and have it
work*. In this world, they have to install drivers, which if they have a
Windows PC will be included on a CD in the box. People don't want to have to
go searching for drivers, they will take what they see as the easiest route
which currently means Windows, as a rule.
 Tim.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/nottingham/attachments/20051103/232932e9/attachment.html