Mandrake Update Problem

[Bill Davidson]

On Sun, 02 Jun 2002 20:46:32 -0600
Tyler Regas <tyler at pdahandyman.com> wrote:

> I honestly think that most Linux advocates believe that if it becomes
> easy to use it will fall into the maw of M$ and be swallowed up whole.
> Nothing could be further from the truth. Linux has proven its
> marketability with distributions like Mandrake that favor the desktop
> user and distros like RH that favor the admin. Why can't Linux be for
> everyone? Let M$ keep building OS clones and calling one a server
> while the other is a desktop. They're not fooling anyone.

I didn't mean to sound like a cli preacher. I guess I did though. What I
meant was that people should be aware that it's there and know how to
use it for simple tasks, not know how to write crazy shell scripts. Of
course I meant that for the home user that has to administer their own
system. 
> Bill, how many savvy desktop users do you know? Does anyone know of a
> majority of users in an enterprise environment that can delete and
> re-install a driver in Windows? How many calls a week has anyone on a
> helpdesk gotten for help on adjusting contrast and brightness
> following a department-wide monitor upgrade? How many a day?

These people shouldn't run linux unless someone else installs it for
them, as well as does all the administrating. Some people are afraid of
technology. They know how to use an application, but can't install it or
configure it. These people aren't the people that need to be reached,
it's the people that do all their dirty work.

> Believe it or not, there are millions of people out there that just
> want to browse the web, write a letter, and keep track of their
> checkbooks. For one's employed by any one of our countries (US)
> mega-corporations, there are scores of users that don't even get their
> own desk, much less the chance to fiddle around when a problem occurs.

Yes. But all these people need to know are the locations of the icons
used to launch their applications.

> I'd hate to even try to estimate the number of secretaries and
> executive assistants there are in this world. How many of them do you
> think would even spend 20 seconds trying to tweak their USB mouse
> driver to make it use all four buttons and the wheel? Zero! They call
> someone. A person like the members of this list. Then they pay us.
> 
> This likely sounds cheesy, but don't fear the advent of the user
> friendly Linux distro. Welcome it a make a few more bucks off of it :)

Oh, I don't fear the user friendly distro. If I did, I wouldn't use
Mandrake. :) I think I might have made it seem that I fancy myself as
some kind of guru, but I am quite the newbie. I like the ease of
Mandrake's install(configured everything except my sound card). And I
like the gui tools. But I also know the value of the cli, even though
I'm not yet able to fully appreciate it's power and flexibility.

I'll now say that I wish you well with your book. I think it'll be a
good project in spite of some of what I've said. I do think you can do
almost everything without a cli, but sometimes those wizards don't
always work as advertised.

Bill

Bill