Making Linux look harder than it is

[thornc]

Nice artlice at The Register!
Any comments??

I tend to agree with almost everyone of his points!!

 

[Hullboy]

Yeah, this is an article I can agree with.

About six months ago, I had one box. I installed Linux on a dual boot. I had problems with my modem. I tried to run before I could walk. In short, I got in a real mess, got intimidated by it all, and went back to windows. I studied for a while, and recently went back. This time I'm enjoying it more, for two reasons.

1. I know more in general about computer hardware and programming

2. The gui's and installs are even better than six months ago, making the install easier.

If you are a newbie, the install has to be good. You can't install your modem from the command line before learing how sed, grep et al work without loosing out somewhere at best, and at worst, having a nightmare.

It's vital for Linux that everyday users feel they can use Linux. That's why MS does well. Linux is open source. If you want that to succeed then sitting on the intelectual high ground will continue to be something you do with a small number of people. If I write something I want it to work perfectly, with little or no user input required that isn't self explanatory. If the user is confused, it's likely I'm not doing my job properly.

Okay, that feels like two cents. Bye

Thanks for the link, thornc

 

[Nothinman]

My friend, the guru, was almost as astounded as the new guy at how easy it was to do a modem setup using GUI tools. But the guru had never done it that way. "I prefer the flexibility and power of the command line," he said.

That's probably the most telling line, I never use KPPP or whatever either because I always setup my modem manually and use Debian's ppp scripts so I wouldn't know how well KPPP works. People ask the "gurus" because they're gurus and then they whine because they get too much information, you don't ask a mechanic to teach you how to drive so why ask a kernel developer how to dial up? Once you get used to doing things by hand there's no reason to look for flashy tools, because doing it manually isn't hard to you.

 

[Sunner]

I agree with some of it and disagree with some.

I must say, KPPP is awfully conviniant for setting up a dial up connection, considderably more so than messing around with initialization scripts and such.
Hence I've allways used KPPP, I see no reason to make it harder than that, since I just don't see the gain in doing it any other way, it's a dial up connection for crying out loud.

OTOH some stuff I allways do in the command line instead of with GUI tools, simply cause it gives me better control.

But in the end, the CLI isn't for everyone, and the GUI isn't for everyone, I prefer to use a GUI, then run a bunch of CLI's from there

 

[n0cmonkey]

When I first used KDE I used the kppp. It was quick, I liked KDE then, and I needed all the help I could get. After I switched to OpenBSD the ppp scripts they had were much easier to work with (with a good how-to). Its all in what you like. I like BSD, you like linux, I like cli, you like gui, I like ppp, you like kppp. Who cares as long as we keep this stuff working.

 

[SinNisTeR]

that was a great article, thanks. I totally agree to what was said.. some people think that using GUI will slow them down... heh.. that foo with the modem musta had his ego fall about 10 points.

 

[Nothinman]

some people think that using GUI will slow them down

It can and does in certain circumstances

 

[Elledan]

<< some people think that using GUI will slow them down

It can and does in certain circumstances >>


I second that.

It's one of the reasons why I like Linux more than Windows: the ability to do everything you can do with the GUI using the CLI and even more.

 

[Sunner]

To me it's a big buffet and I pick whatever I want from the various dishes

In the specific case of KPPP and the PPPd scripts, KPPP simply tasted better