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Re: Why is linux not popular



On Sun, 19 Aug 2001, Boris Gorelik wrote:

> OK, now I can say some bad things:

sure, but why not constructive criticism instead?

like marc and other posters before me said, if you choose a tool, don't
complain but use it wisely. I have no interest in a dumbed-down user
experiance, but it IS in my interest that someone else WILL take the
chalange to build such a GUI on top of my beloved Linux kernel.

Linux was not built to kick out windows, it was an experiment in OS
design and implementation. GNU is, by definition, NOT Unix. it closely
resembles it since it's the conveniant interface to a system the way its
designers started it out, but it was never their intention to make a
Unix clone, they wanted a strong set of OS tools that will be free (as
in speach) and the Unix-resemblance was born out of their habits. the
FSF's philosophy often does not coinside with Unix philosophy, and in
fact I wish they would go longer distances in thinking outside of that
box. more power to them.

back to the subject. ofcourse Linux alone isn't layman friendly, it's a
bloody kernel. GNU/Linux is better (great for my needs) but still far
from laymen-friendly. There is an open market with ample opportunity for
a company to build a GUI and Desktop Metaphore (X or not) and a set of
tools, even make it closed source, on top of Linux. KDE and Gnome are
attempting (not to my satisfaction so far), Caldera threatened with one
and never carried it out, Microsoft has the power and manpower but not
the will, and Apple actually DID such a thing, but picked the "wrong"
kernel.

I do not intend to shove it down newbies' throats anymore, I'm over that
phase. I'll be more than happy if a good Mac-like GUI was built on top
of that kernel, with approachable (read - not MSregistry-messy) backend
where I, a Unix pro with no GUI inclinations, can make sense of if I
come to fix a laman friend's machine.

when the big power-hungry corporations of the world stop obfuscating and
complexifying (yes, I do belive it's a word) their back and front ends
for competition that hurts their clients, peace and harmony and
STABILITY will finally reach the desktop.

It's not user-friendly enough for you? take up NT or MAKE it friendly
for the next generation. period. I'm too lazy, so I use it as is, and I
don't complain.

> 1. Until Linux is not_TRULY_ layman friendly, it has no chance in the
> battle with MS-Windows and even with Mac-OS. I use RH7.1 and (with all my

why do you choose to see it as a battle? did anyone enlist you to the OS
army at 18, put you in green uniform? snap out of it!

GNU/Linux, and linux-il, is not about con... I mean Konquering the
world, it's about technology and a little about the liberal concepts
behind software freedom. a Wise man on a silly sticker once said
"fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity". Be a flower child,
distribute the free love in deb packages, but don't fight to make people
understand, they make their own choices.

> I don't know why, (or maybe I do know), but the Israeli popular computer
> press (like Captain Internet) barely remind Linux. Two years ago, I

because they speak to the lusers, not the computer power users. power
users can read English and the internet and get their own info and
education.

> wrote Captain Internet and asked them to add a column dedicated to linux, but
> they never answered me.

think of it as asking from a vacation magazine to publish an article on
how hard-but-rewarding it is to run your own resort hotel. people open
that magazine to learn about vacations, not on how to work hard running
your own business so you can take a vacation in your back yard every
other week after it starts returning the investment. Sure, it fits me
and you, but not all the readers.

> 2. HEBREW
> I think it would be a good idea if someone release a _READY_ Hebrew enabled

I think it would be great if there was ONE Israeli company or government
agency backing Pango or QT3 efforts for RTL. Fuck, I'd be happy if
anyone in the middle east OTHER than Israel promoted it, but you have
all sorts of Larses and Jurgens who never sat in the Israeli sun doing
the work for you.

if you want something done, do it yourself. IBM put an Israeli team on
Gecko's Hebrew, and I thank them for that, Sun is embracing GtK and
Gnome but not doing much for Pango and StarOffice in the direction of
Hebrew. make it a national need' talk to your MKs and maybe things will
look better, and ask Tzafrir/Hetz/Whoever if testers are needed. but
complaining on the list doesn't help. I suppose the Ivrix mailing lists
are the better place to raise this.

Good luck,
Ira.

-- 
Cinematographer of the revolution
Ira Abramov


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