Redhat

[zscoundrel]

I did not comment on this thread when the first smoldering post went out 
because - well - it was a silly point of contention.

Being upset with RedHat because there is a learning curve it silly. 
They are not courting the newby.  They are trying to lower the learning 
curve and I applaud them for this.  Unfortunately there will always be 
whining because the learning curve for ALL computing is fairly steep.

For instance, the dreaded Microsoft did NOT start out in hot pursuit of 
the rank and file 'newbie'.  They first targeted computer hobbyists, 
small businesses and technical types.  They didn't really even try for 
total market control until they had a simple GUI and more or less (for 
the time) intuitive GUI.

By the way, that took what, 10 years from the first DOS on an IBM PC to 
'doze 3.1.  Before that, you had better be pretty knowledgeable and 
willing to dig deep into the OS (and BASIC!) to get anything done that 
didn't come from Redmond.

Earlier I said the point was silly, and this is why.  He is more or less 
BLAMING RedHat because he is not yet able run a game.  Sure it may be a 
bit difficult to do this particular thing on that particular platform as 
quickly as he would like.  But that is only part of the silliness.

What would he think if RedHat came out and said "No, we don't want you 
to be able to run that game on our software."  M$ does this all the time 
and nobody says ANYTHING about it.  All RedHat did was not support a 
particular combination of software and hardware as FAST as he would like.

I use RedHat for my desktop and love it.  Some times things require a 
little more work to get them configured than I would like, but the fact 
that I CAN configure more than just the desktop background and icon 
arrangement makes any difficulties more than worth while.

numa at thenuma.com wrote:
> 
> 
> I am not suggesting that users like us give up anything.  A fundamental
> flaw of many linux advocates is that they think the world is a Zero-Sum
> game.  The existence of Linux toasters does not exclude from this world
> Linux swiss army knives.
> 
> Part of my biggest beef with the Microsoft camp is that for the
> end-user, the product continues to be priced quite high, and is becoming
> less capable.  For example look at the limitations present within XP
> home vs XP pro.
> 
> RedHat in my opinion tries to straddle the fence.  They don't have a
> "toaster" product because the cost to create one and to support the
> bazillions of users is astronomical, however, they do "try" to sell to
> newbies.  This is where this whole thread started was a "relative"
> newbie encountering the same typical things we all encounter with Linux.
>  I totally understand his sentiments, and I would also feel ripped off.
> 
>   Enter, Lindows.  Look at the software repository crap that Lindows
> has,
> does anyone in this LUG like Linudows?  Nope, of course not.  Do any of
> us appove of this idiotic "I use X as Root" mentality?  Nope, of course
> not.  But, it has a market.  Lindows would not be appropriate as a
> server, or as a Desktop for me.  Personally, I think Lindows is a POS.
> But hey, it's there.
> 
> Personally, I can't blame RedHat for not pursuing this market.  As you
> said yourself, zero margin.
> 
> Mandrake tried for a closer to newbie experience, and well... they are
> having financial problems.
> 
> I don't have a solution.
> 
> Besides, there will be a time when your OS doesn't matter.  Let us not
> make the same mistake as MS, and miss the forest for the trees.
> Confused, well, MS almost missed the internet boat.  Web Services, Grid
> Computing, WIRELESS, all of these things point to an OS independent
> world.
> 
> In other words, all anyone needs is a web browser.
> 
> Who controls the Web Browser right now?
> 
> Oh, yeah.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>>Quoting numa at thenuma.com:
>>
>>
>>>I agree.  it does suck.  No question.  That's not to say windows is
>>>better.  Simply that people have gotten used to windows sucking.  To
>>>revolutionize the desktop, away from a court recognized monopoly,
>>>linux
>>>has to be DRASTICALLY easier.  Like a toaster.
>>
>>Why would we do that?  Why would we give up the power and flexibility
>>that are the essence of Linux just so idiots could use it?  Let
>>Microsoft HAVE the idiots.  Let Microsoft make the zero-margin
>>toasters.
>>
>>
>>
>>---------------------------------------------------
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> 
> 
> 
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> 

-- 
A marble traveling at 22,000 miles per hour would strike with as
much force as a 400-pound safe traveling at just 60 miles per hour.