[Survey] Is GNU/Linux ready for the home user's desktop?

[Stiffler]

There are several "easy" to install distros out now. For example: Mandrake, SuSE, and LindowsOS. Please post your comments and/or feelings on this matter.

Jon

[Peter Motyka]

The linux desktop issue has been a long debated topic in the linux community.  They way I look at it, until my Mother can use it... it is not a viable desktop option for the general public.  There are still too many options and the defaults never seem to be quite right, requiring tweeking.

Peter

[Peter Motyka]

Quoted from Slashdot.org, seems appropriate.

"Looks like major Aussie telco Telstra are looking at deploying Linux as the new Standard Operating Environment across their 45,000 desktop LAN workstations." An anonymous reader offers evidence that Telstra isn't alone; apparently, many other Australian businesses are considering a similar switch.

http://slashdot.org/articles/02/08/21/0154231.shtml?tid=163

[Stiffler]

I tend to agree with most of the comments for that Slashdot post. One peson said that people are lazy. They know Windows, so they are going to stick with it. There is a big learning curve for most Linux distros. That is one thing LindowsOS is tring to fix. They did a survey and found out that most users thought that is easy like Windows. However, I do not think that it will replace Windows and become the idiot friendly OS that Windows is. It just might be that Linux will remain the OS for the curious, people that hate MS, and knowledgable Computer users. :-( Maybe that will change in the future!?!

This was a good poll to start out with. A nice one were it brings out the comments of very opionated people like me.

Please forgive my bad spelling and grammer.

Jon

[Michael Kennedy]

Here's my take on Linux on the desktop.  I think that they actually have to take a page from Microsoft on one (and only one) respect.  When you purchase Windows XP Home edition you aren't allowed to do a lot of things that their Server Editions do.  I can go to Mandrake's site, download 3 CDs and have the capability of installing Apache, mySQL, and a whole host of other things that a typical user won't need.  I honestly think they need a one CD "package" (or anti-package) that does not have Apache, SSH, mySQL, etc.  That way they keep it simple.  They put X, Gimp, IRC apps, IM apps, CD Burning software, etc, but no server apps (unless necessary for normal functions) or other non-Windows standard applications.  Of course, if they download Apache and install, that's completely up to them- I'm not saying limit what they can install post-install, just during install.  That's an idea that needs a bit of work, but I think would be a good step toward a desktop version.

On a side note, I have an idea for a learning distro that would do wonders for learning.  A lot of the desktop environments are made to look like Windows does now, so why not make it look and act almost completely like Windows?  Make it look as close as possible (while avoiding getting sued) and then gradually stop holding the user's hand and then evolve into a typical Gnome or KDE desktop.  Add a "Control Panel" then take it away slowly and replace it with the normal configuration tools.  "My Computer" literally shows a c:\ drive then begins to reveal the normal Linux filesystem setup.  Also, you could tell it to advance itself in some areas you're proficient in (i.e. the filesystem setup), but remain in "evolutionary stage" for other areas.

It's an idea.  I think with some work it'd be a pretty successful idea, too.  I hope my 2am ramblings make sense to you guys, too.   :-D

[Stiffler]

There are several distros that do just what you are saying. Gentoo Linux, for example, installs the absolute bare bones. Then you pick and choose what you want to intall from a list of software. However, the software is not on the cd. It gets downloaded from the Gentoo servers. Therefore, you get the lastest version of each software that you want. :-)

Jon

Here's my take on Linux on the desktop. I think that they actually have to take a page from Microsoft on one (and only one) respect. When you purchase Windows XP Home edition you aren't allowed to do a lot of things that their Server Editions do. I can go to Mandrake's site, download 3 CDs and have the capability of installing Apache, mySQL, and a whole host of other things that a typical user won't need. I honestly think they need a one CD "package" (or anti-package) that does not have Apache, SSH, mySQL, etc. That way they keep it simple. They put X, Gimp, IRC apps, IM apps, CD Burning software, etc, but no server apps (unless necessary for normal functions) or other non-Windows standard applications.

[Michael Kennedy]

I heard of Gentoo, but never stopped to see exactly what made it different than the older distros.  I'm going to check it out a bit and see how closely it matches what I'm thinking would be a good step for a good Linux desktop OS.

[William Grim]

The major problem with Gentoo is that it's not intuitive to beginners.  It's a great distro, but it's definately not for beginners that are not interested in learning how Linux runs.