[Sheflug] SuSE -- Oh dear...

["Craig Andrews" <nospam [at] fishbot.org.uk>]

It seems SuSE is having a hard time of it. Check http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/16736.html for info.

Perhaps this will help move the OS back where it belongs? Don't get me wrong, I think it's good that free software as a whole is getting so much industry support, but Linux, and other Unix types, were never designed for a simple desktop environment for peoples own homes. It's a server OS, hackers OS, business OS, but not one which your granny could get used to.

When I started with Linux, I used FVWM2, and most of the software I ran was either on a console or in an x-term, and I loved it. Still today, alot of it is that way for me.

But the man in the street want pick up and play. He wants applications to be there already installed. He wants to be able to get software, off the shelf, installing without thinking about it (never mind getting to grips with the concept of user and root access) and doing it. Usually with some sickly GUI and daft sound effects.

Linux, like Free/Open BSD, is an OS for those who a) are interested in computing, not just using a computer, and b) can/want to learn and do things properly. In the right hands, *nix is a fantastic tool, good at just about everything, able to do ANYTHING you might want of a computer. But thats all it is, a tool. The man in the street wants a friend, some kind of inter-personal relationship. Just take the awful paperclip thing for proof of that!

So, unless we dumb Linux down to the level of Windows 98, thus losing much of it's raw power, turning it essentially into a clone of certain M$ operating systems, the public aren't going to want it. Of course, if it was pre-installed with all the fancy stuff, it would help, but the fact is, you have to do it yourself if you want to do it at all. After 3 years of owning a Win95 computer, my uncle STILL has trouble figuring out the difference between a file and an icon, or memory and hard drive, or a word processor as a generic term and MS Word.

So (sorry about the long going off, I am just a bit fed up, 'sall) in short, you use the tool which does the job. I would never use Win9x, or even NT, because I am too constrained in what I can do. Similarly, an average Joe wouldn't want Linux, because he wouldn't know WHAT to do. 3500 apps (is that how many Debian ships with?) is a LOT of software. 5 is not. Thats what you get if you use Winblows, Word, Excel, IE, Outlook and Solitaire. Not too much to contend with. And not a config file in site.

Anyway, I'm off to vent my spleen elsewhere...

Craig

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