Newsforge: Making Linux look harder than it is

[Brian Farnell]

You know I couldn't agree more, its more than a little intimidiating at
first to newbies, those guis can be a life saver at first, and you DO
learn your way a command line after a while.  Here is a common thing you
see on #linuxhelp or any newbie book, for that matter 'bring up
/etc/whateverconfig under emacs or vi.  Odds are this poor kid is trying
to change one word in a config file, or maybe just look at it.  Even if
you are without X, why not at least tell them about mcedit which is on
most systems?

Here is the biggest reason for GUIs and easy stuff though:
Its not the guy who can't learn it
Its not the guy who never used command lines
Its not the guy who never used Unix at all
Its my dad:  Programmed on punch cards, made a living on freelance
software design for a while, hates windows, yet I can't suggest linux or
BSD for him, why?
He works 10 hours a day and spends the rest of the time with my younger
brothers scout troop or softball leagues.
He would love Linux or BSD, but doesn't have 6 hours to figure out how
to get a soundcard running in Linux 10 minutes after his first install.

Anyway, among some there is an assumption that GUIs and the like are for
people who are too lazy or stupid to learn, but I've got a stack of
punchcards and a handbuilt, dad-designed computer on in a steel case
with circuit boards I watched being made from the mid 70s to prove them wrong,
 and I think we should do more as a community to 'share the wealth'.
Regards,
Brian

>
 
> Yes, the success of linux depends on the ability of those who "know" to be
> able to explain its ways to those who do not.  Knowing the gui helps because
> the "newbies" are the masses of people entirely too busy to impress
> themselves or a select few with command line jockeying.  We all know that
> this is an essential skill set for sysadmins, but the masses we would all
> like to see adopt linux have no interest in this.  It' why they use windows
> instead of dos.  Too often those in the linux community try to impress
> others or mask insecurities by showing how much they know.  What a way to
> intimidate new users.  Real knowledge exists when you can impart it to the
> less informed.  This is the challenge.
> 
> scott
> 
> success without humility is just an indulgence in arrogance.
> 
> 
> > From: Warren Togami <warren at togami.com>
> > Reply-To: "Linux & Unix Advocates & Users" <luau at maile.hi.net>
> > Date: 06 Dec 2001 23:26:47 -1000
> > To: "Linux & Unix Advocates & Users" <luau at maile.hi.net>
> > Subject: [luau] Newsforge: Making Linux look harder than it is
> > 
> > http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=01/12/05/1259245&mode=thread
> > 
> > "Many "gurus" teaching new users about Linux make it look harder than it
> > needs to be, and apparently fail to explain that yes, you can make
> > PowerPoint-style presentations in Linux, you can view Web Pages that use
> > Flash animation and other "glitz" features, and that you can manage all
> > your files though simple "point, click, drag and drop" visual
> > interfaces. Could the biggest problem with Linux usability be that most
> > of the people teaching newbies to use Linux are too smart and know too
> > much?"
> > 
> > I agree with this guy.  Gurus should not only know the "powerful and
> > flexible" commandline way, but the easy GUI ways of doing things in
> > order to help newbies get started with Linux.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
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