Linked by Preston Liam Whels on Wed 16th Apr 2003 18:07 UTC
Put yourself in his/her shoes. You're a budding young technical writer and the one word you hear popping up in almost every tech-related conversation is, you guessed it, Linux. Now look in the mirror and try to tell yourself you're more than a writer. After all, you write about technology because it not only interests you, but you're accurate and fair enough to tell it like it is. Maybe not.
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"If you are not willing to learn to navigate a new operating system, then why would you want to switch to it?"
In a word - CHOICE. I want to be able to have a choice of OS for my hardware (which means no, I do not want to buy and cannot afford to buy a Mac).
"I am personally getting sick and tired of new users who want everything to work 'just like in windows' but don't want to invest the time in learning how to achieve that or at least realize that Linux *is not* windows, and works differently. Those people who just want a Windows clone should just stay with the original."
Good thing it isn't all about you, then, isn't it?
I also think many of us who switch or contemplate switching to Linux hope it is not like Windows. After all, if I wanted BSODs and restrictive licensing, I'd stay with Windows, wouldn't I?
I don't have a problem with Linux being different. I just wish some things didn't seem so arcane and confusing to me. (Translation != I want Linux to be the same as Windows.)
I also have a problem with those who suggest newcomers RTFM. (Despite what others say, I still encounter this response all too often.) Sometimes, the FM is on the web, which doesn't help if we're having trouble configuring our modem or our ppp connection. Beyond that, some of the FMs are so sparse to be almost worthless.
Man pages are sometimes no better, written as they seem to be for those who already know what it is they are looking for or are trying to do. Either they are so verbose the new user is lost under an avalanche of verbiage or they are so sparse as to be cryptic with the code only available to those who are already secret decoder ring wearing members of the brotherhood.
I have no problem with the idea of having to learn some things about my new OS. But I shouldn't have to learn the equivalent of another four-years of college, and whatever I do need to know should be presented in a clear, easy to understand manner.
Despite all of these things, I intend to continue using and, hopefully, learning Linux. It does not yet do everything or have everything I want from my OS, but it does give me much of what I want and offer the one thing I value above all: freedom of choice of OS on my PC.