Hoary Bootsplash

[baza]

Travis Newman wrote:

>
>> True, GNU/Linux is not to poach Windows users. But. If Linux looked,
>> 'nicer', more people would use it. I know that's shallow, but reading 
>> some
>> non-linux PC magazines the issue of look and feel is raised. Also, a 
>> while
>> ago I sold my notebook PC, which was running Warty. The person 
>> re-installed
>> Windows on it (after paying for the huge amount XP costs). When I 
>> asked her
>> why, it was the,'intimidating look' that put her off.
>>
>> A simple bit of eye candy would make Linux more accessible HAS to be 
>> a good
>> thing?
>>
>> baza
>>
> I think this misses the point of MOST free/ open source development. 
> Not many people really care how many people use their software, they 
> only care that it's high-quality and efficient.
>
>
> That being said, I think that making Ubuntu or Linux more accessible 
> GRAPHICALLY is the least of worries. The person you said reinstalled 
> Windows XP because of the look and feel would most likely have 
> reinstalled Windows XP regardless, because if she thinks the LOOK is 
> intimidating, what would she have done when she tried to play mp3's, 
> dvds, or other proprietary formats, or set up shares, etc etc.
> Basically, I think way too much attention is paid to making Linux LOOK 
> easier, and not enough to making it WORK easier.
>
> And, all that being said, I don't think ANY accessibility is worth 
> risking stability/speed/efficiency/security.
>
> Travis
>
I totally take your point about making GNU/Linux easier to use. I made 
the point about eye candy because someone else raised it. But you are 
right, having to faff about editing config files, installing libdvdcss, 
etc... etc... just to get a system that does what I want is a pain.

I think this comes from the same dynamic as the look and feel debate. 
That is, there is a bit of a whiff of elitism in the people who develop 
GNU/Linux, for them GUI's are for wimps. Yeah, I know about the complex 
nature of GNU/Linux makes it -very- hard to make all the configuration 
via GUI or 'wizards'. But, while this is in part true, the sort of 
things that most people want, MP3, Java, Flash, DVD, Home Networks, 
etc... etc.. -can- be done via GUI. A good example is changing the 
horrid mouse pointer in Hoary, it can be done, I've done it. But I had 
to get down and dirty with the terminal to do it. Is a 'pointer theme' 
that hard to code??.

Baza