Ubuntu Drive Visible to OS X?

[Brett Kirksey]

On Thursday 23 September 2004 at 20:46+0200, Johan Kohler wrote:

> Not to be funny (or off-topic...), but I think that the level of knowledge  
> that an average Linux user  possess is better than you might suspect.   Of  
> course, by average user I mean someone who is not seeing linux for the  
> very first time, and has gone through the teething stages ("averaged over  
> time").

What I meant was that if Ubuntu is going to be _the_ Linux to "breakthrough" to the mainstream desktop, then we must keep in mind the knowledge level of the average computer user (regardless of operating system). Although the average computer user has probably never worked on anything except Windows. And the average computer user still has prolbems with downloading and installing the most simple software (e.g. Firefox).

Now, if Ubuntu breaksthrough to the desktop, then these people will become the average Linux user--not the population it is today, which is biased heavily towards computer professionals or extreme hobbiest (i.e. "geeks" [since I am one, I can use that term affectionately]) The average Linux user will become what the average Windows user is today--which most of us would classify as technically inept.

The point is, the more Linux becomes usable, the wider the population that will use it, and the "geek factor" will become lower and lower. Like it or not, the average computer user does not want to raise their level of computer knowledge--they just want to get work done with the least effort possible.

When I think of the average user, I think of my 64 year old dad. Could he install Ubuntu and run it with no assistance? Would he understand what to do if someone told him to compile a kernel module or edit the fstab--with no further instruction other than that? The answer would be no. Now he gets around pretty well on his iBook and iPod. He can handle plugging in his airport express and changing a preference or two in an app, but that's it. If Ubuntu becomes a true desktop alternative operating system for the masses, then he will be the average Linux user. Are you scared? :-)

Brett