"Linux is just Red Hat"

[Vincent Trouilliez]

> There shouldn't be need for these new Linux users to learn much more of
> their operating system than just how to start it and how to shut it
> down.
> ... But why not to make it easy for the rest of us who just want
> to get things done with their computer and then concentrate to other
> good things that fill their days.

> Ari (Vince would know something funny to put here :-)

Hello Ari,

Well, I am very sorry...but I can't think of any particularly funny
comment on this particular post.....yet ! ;-)

All I can sat is that I agree 100.00% with you.
Fundamentally, an OS is supposed to be an underlying layer that hides
all the low level H/W problems and helps applications to use the
features of a given computer.
So, ideally, people should even know that there is an OS, they should
only see their applications. 
I think we get confused, because in the case of our desktop computers,
the "system administrator" and the 'user', happen to be the same person,
and the 'server' and the 'workstation' happen to also be the same
physical machine, in a same room. So everything is mixed.
But if you had say the server in one room, then half a dozen Ubuntu
workstation all over a large house, one for each member of the family
etc, you would find it natural (I thinl) to only do 'dirty low level
stuff' on the server only, and not expect your kids and wife to ever
enter the server room to mess with it. At the same time, you would find
it natural that all the workstation that your family uses, should be
doing nothing but run a few end user apps, web vrowser or whatever, and
should not be 'fiddled' with in any way, but just set up once and for
all and just run the apps that have been meant for the end user.
So I think our problem is really that we have one machine where all
aspects of a Linux system are melted down. So we are mixing everything.

So I agree, if we make Ubuntu it's so that people, USERS (not system
administrators), can....Well, use it !
This means that they should not have the slightest thing to do to get
their OS working. Obviously this isn't possible, as you must at least
put the CD in the drive... but that means that every new release of
Ubuntu should be able to do more and more things automagically, and that
there should be more and more very high level, graphical tools to
configure the system, for the (as rare as possible) cases where people
will have to work on the system themselves.

This, in no, way, restricts power users, as we are just talking
front-ends here, and power users can always open a terminal and do what
ever low level stuff they like.

I am very new to Linux and enjoy tinkering with it and learn. But, once
I am done expereimenting what I want to experiment, I will just leave it
alone. Because, as you said, I, like most people, just need a working
and stable system so that I can work with it, not 'on it', and spend
time on my other passions. I don't picture myself reading this list for
very long for example. The traffic is way too high, and I currently
spend many hours just reading it, posting, or replying to people either
on or off the list. I am on one other list, related to my main passion,
and this has top priority. 
Again, as you said, Linux is just an OS, it's nice that you can tinker
and leanr with it, but you decide to spend more time on other things you
enjoy in life, it should not require you to keep working on it to have
it going. The main objectives for Ubuntu should be easy of use and
stability, and nothing else...


I am sorry this didn't sound very funny, I will try and do better in
some other post ;o)


Vince.