Debian: contempt for "end user" values has to stop!"

[David Gerard]

2009/8/20 Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com>:

> I've been owning and using computers since about 1983, with some prior
> experience over the couple of years before that. I have learned more
> operating systems than I can remember; I have mastered literally
> dozens of totally different platforms. I was a competent expert on
> half a dozen before I ever met ancients like CP/M or VAX/VMS. I was
> confident enough in about a dozen different text editors to train
> people professionally; I have learned 4 or 5 programming languages.
> I am tired of it. After more than a quarter of a century, the wretched
> devices /still/ don't work right and still require endless coaxing and
> fiddling. I don't /want/ to learn any more languages, tools, or
> anything else.


Yes. Computers are still stupid and annoying and still don't work
right. All software sucks and all hardware sucks.


> To maliciously mutate an old saying, Mohammed has been coming to the
> mountain for a generation and his feet are tired. It's time for the
> mountain to come to Mohammed.


At this point I say "get a Mac" and you point out all the ways those
suck too ;-p


> Linux will never displace Windows so long as there are 200 versions of
> it battling for people's attention. Then along came Ubuntu, one good
> solid polished free distro. Everyone rallies around Ubuntu, pretty
> much, so along come the splitters and divide Ubuntu up into 200 rival
> metadistros.


There's no way to stop this happening, so those who care about
replacing Windows will have to work out how to do so more organically.

When people have the choice of tools they like, you won't get them to
use tools they don't like in an effort to displace an even worse tool.

It's not clear to me why people think this is even possible, let alone
desirable. Computers are stupid and annoying enough, no-one's going to
use something they find more stupid and annoying when they don't have
to.

(e.g. Personally, I used Kubuntu for ages because GNOME felt like I
was straightjacketed. But I'm using straight GNOME on 9.04 and it's
actually pretty okay. YMMV. Give people choices and they'll use them.)


- d.