Re: [tlug] Self-introduction

[Raymond Wan <rwan.kyoto@example.com>]

On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 4:40 PM, Bruno Raoult <braoult@example.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 9:48 AM, Stephen J. Turnbull <stephen@example.com>
> wrote:
>> Linux for the personal computer does not offer "zero-configuration"
>> installation, and probably never will.
>
>
> Well, I will disagree: An old guy here wanted to switch from Windows, and
> came to my home for me to install the system.
> He wanted for some reasons the "Mint" distrib. My job was to boot on CD, and
> enter his name and my wifi password.
>
> I was a little afraid of his printer, as he did not have it. Later he told
> me that he just plugged it, and it worked (scanner included).
>
> Today, many distributions are really "zero-configuration". My Ubuntu is
> (except when I upgrade, coz' my own changes), that Mint was too.


Hmmmmm, I guess I disagree with your disagreement.  :-)

I'm running Ubuntu and it's good enough for me to do what I need to
do.  But none of scanner, printer, nor webcam work.  And one thing
that I do need for work -- the VPN -- has never worked well under
Linux.  That's sort of like a coin toss:  50/50.  Yes, I could fix all
of them and the reason is I'm too lazy...  But no, they definitely
don't work out of the box.

Linux lets you look under the hood and see how things are working but
for most people who use a computer, they aren't interested in that.
It is a tool for their job and spending hours looking at configuration
files, Google, and even mailing lists is time they could have spent
doing something else.

Things with Linux are definitely better than 10 years ago.  But not
yet the "zero configuration" that Microsoft Windows "promises".

Microsoft Windows still has heaps more books and expertise out there
(including the IT support at your workplace, unless you work at a
Google or a university computer science department).  And if you
bought your computer as a set with a printer, you could (possibly)
call the store you bought it from and they might listen to you for 5
minutes.  If you started off by saying you installed Linux, you'll
hear the sales clerk hanging up very soon after.

IMHO, even though I think Linux is great, I think we do a "disservice"
to Linux by trying to oversell it if we say that it's as easy to setup
and use as Microsoft.  Someone who listens to us might be misled.  It
really isn't there yet.  It will, but right now...not quite.

And for that reason, I still dual boot my machine if I need to use the
VPN or scanner.  Given the low costs of hard disk drives, the
additional space occupied by Windows (which I paid for already,
*sigh*) is small compared to the time I would need to spend to get the
VPN working.  Especially given that my workplace gives VPN setup
instructions for Windows and Mac OS, but not Linux (not
surprisingly!).

Ray