[Tfug] [stein.les at gmail.com: TCS General Meeting]

[keith smith]

One of the things I see and have stated to others is people have skills.  They do what they do best.

Now should they also need to understand there are a number of computer  options?  Maybe Maybe maybe not.

My wife is good at what she does.  She could care less if she is using unix, dos, or win.  Just show here how to do what she needs to do and she will use the computer in that way to accomplish her mission which incorporates her skills.  She spends 99.5 percent of her efforts on maintaining her skills and .05 percent developing computer skills.

The computer is there to make her more efficient at her core skill, to make her more productive.

I think this is how most people are.  We don't see this because we rub shoulders with others who what what we want.

Keith



bpoag at comcast.net wrote: 
> Forgetting wasted cycles for a moment, there's something else to be said
> for being *intriguing* which Windows is not.  I think if I were going to
> do a demo for a group, one thing I would emphasize is the different
> selection of window managers, and their different philosophies.

Ahhhhh, good lordy you have no idea how refreshing that is to hear--I agree with you 100%. Part what makes Linux awesome, and Windows not, is that you DO have the ability to choose what direction you want to take in how you interact with your system. The popularity of GNOME and KDE has really, really overshadowed this concept.  Theyve made Linux into a Windows wanna-be, instead of a great OS in it's own right.  

As I see it, theres a real danger in having GNOME or KDE become the "face" of Linux without the user first understanding that the face and the OS are independent from one another. It's not a choice between A or B. It's a choice between A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I... whatever suits your tastes.

> I think I'd have a KDE and Gnome desktop to show how the system can work
> similar to Windows for those who want that, and then show things like
> Enlightenment, Fluxbox, Windowmaker (the most visually interesting, in
> my opinion), and even Ratpoison to show the different desktop
> experiences a user can have, for free.

If I had a daughter, I would introduce her to you.

> If I had never seen a Linux desktop and had been staring at effectively
> the same Windows desktop for what is 11 or so years now, I think the
> prospect of being able to not only have a selection of desktops with
> different philosophies, but being able to get those for free, and
> install as many as I wanted to try them out, would interest me greatly.

I would encourage my daughter to date you. 
 
> A lot of the criticism of Linux is over fragmentation - but at least
> some of what is referred to as fragmentation is choice, and it would be
> nice to get that across, because in so doing you hook not only those who
> are not excited about change, but also those who are, who want something
> dramatically different.

I would encourage my daughter to marry you, and have many babies.

> Explaining how the console, X, and window managers interact with each
> other should be of interest to almost any Windows fan, I think.

I'd pay for the honeymoon!

Cheers,
Bowie



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