Re: tlug: A message to the "Old Guard" - was "HTML again"

[Matt Gushee <matt@example.com>]

Dave Gutteridge writes:

 > >Agreed that most of the problem is in presentation.
 > And he went on to say that having someone who is not versed in UNIX make a
 > comment which doesn't ruffle feathers is such a rare event. 

This is an interesting point. Seems to me that part of what's
happening is that Linux started out as a hacker's project ... and the
people who worked with it all had some background ... they were either 
formally educated in computer science, or they were into computers and 
learned to hack by hacking. They came in through the front door, so to 
speak. But then along came the Internet ... it's a little like
throwing open all your doors and shouting "FREE BEER!!" Guess what?
People are coming in the back without wiping their feet. I'm not 
trying to suggest that the "old guard" should have expected this --
how could they have? -- but it does seem, in hindsight, a little
inevitable, and so perhaps the ...

 > "golden age" (my term, perhaps a bit melodramatic) is coming to an end, at
 > least for programmers.

But to get a little more concrete:

It strikes me that part of the problem that new users have stems from
trying to use software packages that are inappropriate for their
needs.

Case in point: sendmail is a great tool -- for system
administrators. For a single-user installation, something simpler would 
probably be more appropriate. But sendmail is the default MTA on
RedHat and, I would imagine, most other distributions. So some poor
Windoze refugee installs Linux on his desktop, can't get his mail
(geez ... it was always easy before ...), panics and starts asking
Dumb Newbie Questions (TM). 

Or: there are a lot of websites telling you where to find all kinds of 
cool software for Linux. They may say "Mnemonic is a free browser for
Linux." Well, actually it's a *project* to create a browser (or at
least that's how a non-developer user would conceive of it). The more
conscientious (newbie-friendly?) websites will warn surfers of the
shoals ahead, but of course not all of them are conscientious. So Joe
Windoze finds a great-looking web page for a
not-yet-ready-for-prime-time app, fails to read the fine print, and
gets in over his head again. Dumb Newbie Question!

Hmm ... this may be one of the feather-ruffling comments referred to
above. I should make clear that I understand that free software is
always a work in progress. And when all Linux users were hackers, I'm
sure it didn't make sense to spend a lot of time writing up
descriptions of a program's purpose or commenting on its
usability. Let 'em read the code and decide for themselves!

Philosophically I admire that stance. But the couch potatoes are here
(maybe I qualify as one of them, since I don't know the C
language). So maybe the least bad way to move forward is for makers of 
Linux websites and distributions to give a little more guidance to new 
users in selecting appropriate software.

</SOAPBOX>

Ooops. Think I just violated the HTML standard ;-)

Matt Gushee
Oshamanbe, Hokkaido
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