[Tfug] ubuntu

Wed Apr 23 17:01:43 MST 2008

In the sense of technical prowess required, I have also found that linux is
getting easier to istall and use, something which is really commendable. I
haven't been able to get my Verizon card working, but I understand that some
have. I just don't have time to figure that out right now. The efforts in this
regard really benfit the greater global computer-using community. Perhaps, the
day may not be so long off when Microsoft will close its doors.

The complexity to which I was referring is the whole package: software, soft
infrastructure, hard infrastructure, etc: the entire kit and kaboodle. This is
where the whole thing should "just work".

The promise of linux is one of an efficient and easy to use system of social
organization which can be useful - vital once established - in so many ways.
This is not something that Microsoft will ever implement, but the linux
community can.

I am sitting in a room watching people walk by, and realizing that very few of
them have seen linux. They may know that it is out there, but for the 
most part
these people just use what is given to them.

Hypothetically, for instance:
1. this girl likes to dance
2. that guy is only interested in making money
3. a professor who wants to grade some papers and get it over with
4. a kid on a skateboard
5. a woman who want to be respected
6. a dog owner with a frisbee
7. a girl talking on a cell-phone to a friend
8. and on and on

These people will use linux only when it "just works"; that is, when it can do
everything they want it to do, without having to think about formatting,
connectivity issues, using a terminal to get some function to work, or
whatever. Linux has actually been close to this mark for some time without
completely crossing the line. It is these people, these mere users, who would
implement any substantial social organizational system improvements.

The promise of linux has to do with the venue of social organization it can
provide. I don't believe that you can have a duopoly in this regard. The
contest between open source and Microsoft is to the death, and it must occur.
Microsoft cannot fully win, but it can fully lose. Linux cannot fully 
lose, but
it can fully win. I think Bill Gates realizes this:

http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/04/23/bill-gates-the-gpl-which-we-disagree-with

However, were linux to ever fully win this contest, of neccessity, it 
would have
to be officially community supported.

Anyway, whatever. I gotta do some work.

Quoting Andrew Ayre <andy at britishideas.com>:

> Huh? What does the proliferation and decentralization of information on
> the internet have to do with linux? I guess I missed something...
>
> How can you say that linux is becoming more complex? I remember the
> first time I tried it about 10 years ago (RedHat 6.x) and fighting for
> two weeks to stop the desktop from wobbling and flickering before giving
> up. Today I recommend it to family and friends that are not technically
> inclined.
>
> Which websites specifically are making you bewildered? Note that IMO
> websites are not always a replacement for a good book on a topic.
>
> sitkaa at email.arizona.edu wrote:
>> Which only makes the point again that linux is evolving into greater
>> complexity,
>> not greater ease. Looking over these numerous websites with their 
>> dialect and
>> allusions is more than just convoluted, it is bewildering. Again, 
>> this thread
>> started with a question, "Why aren't more people using linux?", and 
>> the answer
>> is here. So is the solution.
>
>> Quoting Andrew Ayre <andy at britishideas.com>:
>>
>>> Evidence of what Claude described is everywhere on the internet. For
>>> example the multitude of PC "how to" sites, individual blogs, multiple
>>> news sites, etc. These are all tied together with search engines and
>>> rich hyperlinks. For example blog postings referring to other blog
>>> postings, slashdot, digg, etc.
>>>
>>> Andy
>>>
>>> sitkaa at email.arizona.edu wrote:
>>>>> the age of the centralized information/publication repository has passed.
>>>> Perhaps I am too old school, but that is hard to wrap my mind around.
>>>>
>>>> How can you develop a system, no matter how distributed, that
>>>> doesn't have an
>>>> organizational theme, and expect it to work easily/efficiently?
>>>>
>>>> Last night here at the U. a bunch of people with bicycles gathered
>>>> and milled
>>>> about. I asked someone who organized this event, to which the reply
>>>> that no one
>>>> did. It just happened. And it continues to happen every Tuesday night
>>>> at 8ish. I
>>>> hung around awhile to observe the process. Someone eventually shouted
>>>> out to the
>>>> crowd that had a path that they were going, and to follow them. The crowd
>>>> followed this person who took the lead.
>>>>
>>>> I think that a central organizational theme is needed, no matter how
>>>> loose the
>>>> association, if decisions are to be made. For instance, (Mr. Linus?)
>>>> acts as a
>>>> benevolent dictator. The real question (for me) is how to organize
>>>> the themes.
>>>> I don't have the technical know how to lead such a project, but I think it
>>>> would be useful, even if outdated in modality.
>>> --
>>> Andy
>>> PGP Key ID: 0xDC1B5864
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
> --
> Andy
> PGP Key ID: 0xDC1B5864
>
> _______________________________________________
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