Linked by Thom "Slakje" Holwerda on Sun 27th Jul 2003 19:04 UTC
Misinterpreted. I think that is about the best word around to describe the reactions to my previous article. Whether it has been misinterpreted due to people only reading what they want to read, due to an unclear choice of words on my behalf, or other factors, I am going to try it again. I will try to explain my position, again. Now, more stable, the code has been rewritten from scratch!
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I don't think that you can ever make the process of installing and configuring an OS "newbie friendly" to the casual Windows user, no matter how easy you make it. The *process* of messing with your computer and installing different OS's itself is so intimidating that most people won't try it. When you think of it, most people don't even install Windows, they purchase computers with Windows pre-installed. They don't re-install it for years, and if something goes wrong they pay a tech guy to fix it which usually involves the re-installation of Windows.
And herein lies the problem with trying to make the installation and configuration of Linux "newbie friendly" - it's pointless. only more technically inclined users will try something like installing a different OS. That was kinda of topic right?
Fine, I have this to say: the state of Linux config files is a mess - every program has a different syntax for it's config files in /etc, just to configure your system you need to learn three dozen different syntax rules. Hell the larger programs have a different syntax for every one of their config files (X comes to mind), and to make matters worse, many apps now have XML based config files (fontconfig, gnome, gtk+, xfce4) which is a terrible way to configure your system. That's the number one problem I think - a lack of consistency and that needs to be resolved if one expects widespread adoption of Linux.