Linked by John Munsch on Mon 30th Dec 2002 19:05 UTC
Why do it? I am asked this question more often than I expected, even by existing Linux users who I expected to know as well as I the reasons for building a next-generation desktop Linux for the home user. So here are some of my reasons for thinking that we must spend the effort to create a better desktop on Linux than any existing version now has. Editor's Note: Due to a technical glitch, the first segment of this article was ommitted for some readers. If you missed the "why" section, before, you can read it now.
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It is all well and good if the clueless newbies want to stupify their systems. But all this talk of Grand Unified This and That scares me. The idea of having only a few distributions is just dumb, frankly. I happen to use a very obscure distribution, and that is fine. It is how I like it. I don't care if it isn't 'friendly', though others might, in which case they can pick another distribution. The choice of text editor is purely a matter of persional preference. Why limit users to whatever choice the distro cabal happens to prefer? By elemenating choices, you defete much of the point!
It seems that you want to keep the new user ever in the state of newness. This is a bad strategy. Let us face it: The computer is a complex device. The user should not be expected to use it without a little knowledge and intellegence. You don't expect anyone to be able to drive a car with no training, nor do you want to elimitate all but one or two kinds of cars so that people will not be confused by the choice. Why then do you do this with computers, which are much more complex than cars? Let the user learn. Make the user learn. He will be happier and more productive in the end. And whatever you do, don't try to standardize to the extent that you force whatever Joe wants on everybody else.