Ubuntu is for everyone, not only for newbies (was: Delay auto-updates of software to reduce downtime)

[Alexander Jacob Tsykin]

On Friday 22 September 2006 21:47, Jeff Waugh wrote:
> <quote who="Alexander Jacob Tsykin">
>
> > Ultimately, somebody with Linux expertise is not really going to need
> > what Ubuntu offers in terms of ease of use features.
>
> "Ease of use" is not just for new users. Consider the number of extremely
> experienced developers and technologists who have been popularising the Mac
> OS X platform. They're not enjoying it because it's the ultimate in hard
> core geekery. They're using it because it doesn't punch them in the face
> and they have better things to do with their time than "install codecs" and
> fix uncooperative apps that eat each other's audio.
>
> Experts need usable systems too. Consider the impact of usability over the
> lifetime of a user, rather than the first ten minutes [1].
>
> - Jeff
>
Howeve,r they can use almost any system. Easy to use systems make their lives 
easier, but they don't need it the way newbies do. That is why I say that 
Ubuntu seems to be mainly targetted at new users. This does not mean that it 
has nothing to offer others, like myself, but it does mean that it is not 
necessarily aimed at them.

When you think of what a computer expert wants from his OS, you rate something 
like standards compliance quite highly, because he might need it. While he 
might appreciate ease of use features, it is not the only thing he will be 
looking for. By contrast, for the new user, it is. The operating system must 
have certain basic capabilities and be easy to use. That's it.

Sasha