Debian testing install

[Alma J Wetzker]

ded wrote:
> <rant mode on>
> 
> I'd like to state in advance, I'm not posting this to cause a flame
> war...I'm just a bit miffed as to the direction my former distribution
> of choice is headed. I always took a bit of pride that Debian was
> traditionally a bit of a difficult install, you really did have to
> know a bit about your computer and linux to get it all working and
> we all could say with a bit of pride "I run Debian". Much the same
> way one could say, "I run Slack".
> 
> Well this afternoon I had a bit of spare time, and I decided with a
> new Debian release on the horizion I would download the testing
> netinstall cd and have a look-see.
> 
> Frans, Joey and the rest of the installer team have done a good
> job...everything was detected and set up correctly. But, when I got
> to the desktop there was this irritating orangish looking icon
> telling me that there were updates? WTF is that all about? I'm used
> to opening a terminal, selecting my repository sources and firing up
> aptitude and going merrily on my way. What's with the hand holding?
> Has everything in linux got to become a click and drool interface?
> Is it beyond new users to say I want a better system, but I know
> going in it's going to be a bit more difficult...there's going to be
> a learning cure and then spend a bit of time reading and learning?
> It really does seem to me that a majority of the distributions (even
> those like Debian, who aren't a for pay, commercial distro) are
> pandering to Windows users. In essence it seems to be to have
> become, "I'd like to use linux...but you've got to make it look like
> windows, walk like windows and smell like windows." There's even a
> new thread on the Fedora list where someone is suggesting
> implementing YasT2 for Fedora <smacks forehead>. Been there, done
> that with Debian. Spare me.
> 
> If linux gets to the point that it's used by a bunch of people who
> can't format a hdd on their own or even figure out how to install a
> tarball, mplayer, codecs, etc....maybe we should start working on
> another project.
> 
> To launch an old argument, but hopefully amongst friends so that
> it's just a discussion, does anyone else feel that linux is being
> dumbed down to an unacceptable level?
> 
> <rant mode off>
> 
> Sorry, had to get it off my chest :)

It depends on what you want to use a computer for.  I tend to be a
tinkerer and I like to find out how things work.  That does not apply to
everything.  I used to fix cars until they got so complicated that I
need much specialized and expensive equipment to do anything.  I like
tinkering with radios, but the frequencies I can use are so high that I
also need much specialized and expensive equipment.  For cars and
radios, I use what is produced and don't tinker much with the hardware.
 Most people are not even interested in doing as much as I am with those
two devices, give them a cell phone (radio) and a car that works, and
they mostly don't care.  Is that bad?

Computers are much the same way, (I think.)  Most people can profitably
use a computer application, but they never need to understand how TCP/IP
is structured to use the web.  Why should they need to know?  Right now,
I am in school.  I need my computer to Just Work (tm).  Much as I like
playing with the OS and apps, I don't have the spare energy or
brainpower right now to do so.  Should that mean that I am not allowed
to use a computer until I do have the time to really learn it?

As a former manager, I think of a computer as a productivity tool.
Anything that must be learned that does not help with the job is bad.
That is where the large market is.  That is where M$ does so well.  If
linux is going to be about for the long haul, that is a space that it
needs to enter.  Does that mean it needs to be "dumbed down"?  Perhaps.
 I prefer:

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.

Just a thought.

    -- Alma