Linked by Paul Hankes Drielsma on Tue 15th Apr 2003 06:40 UTC
I can't take anymore comments like "Debian/Gentoo/OpenBSD/etc. are not good/user-friendly because they lack a graphical installer." Searching the web, I couldn't find a comprehensive site describing the good and the bad about graphical installers for various OSes throughout the years, so in this article I hope to debunk a few of the myths on the basis of my own personal and professional experience.
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Um, no, it isn't. Most peope I know can install/build computers and whichever OS they prefer. We're all techs in my circles.
Most of us can sit in front of any machine and generally figure out how to USE it. We do NOT know how to install 18 different flavors of Linux, 2 or more BSDs, Mac OS 9 or X. We can use them just fine.
The vast majority of the people I deal with outside of my friends, do NOT know how to install an OS, nor do they want to. Either the damned thing works, or it doesn't. If it doesn't, they ask around for someone who knows how to fix it.
Think cars. How many of you can install an engine? According to the analogy you want to use, I would have to know how to install the engine, drivetrain, etc. in order to use it. Nope. I buy the damned car assembled. This is the path the VAST majority of people take.
You're missing the point entirely. People do NOT install an OS. They USE an OS. Techs and admins install an OS. A hobbyist will install an OS. If you can't figure out how to do that, you're either using an OS designed for a different crowd, or you don't really want to deal with the odd quirks of that particular OS. No one said installation needs to be easy. It's nice and vastly preferable, but if the system runs well once installed and rarely if ever needs to be reinstalled then it's a moot point. I have NEVER seen anyone buy a boxed set of Linux or BSD in Best Buy that wasn't already spouting tech speak. These people already know what they're doing.
The Joe Six Pack guy everyone keeps talking about when speaking about ease of this or that, apparently never goes into those software aisles. I have never seen this mythical beast at all to be honest. I suspect that's because he can't be bothered. It's so much easier to have someone who WANTS to tinker with the guts of computers deal with all of that for him. He could probably care less how the OS gets on the machine, just as long as it works.