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[Tim Holmes]

I am finding it hard to imagine why some people don't realise that
"technical crap" is actually really intimidating.  If my mum were to
see Linux booting, she'd panic and think something was wrong, probably 
not just the first time she witnesses it either.



All these little 'technical' elements, even if they're pragmatically
irrelevant, add up to make users think "this is not for me".  Keeping
it smart and tidy makes them feel they are using something smart and
tidy, even if it's just hiding the technical mumbo jumbo.



The technical intimidation of unadulterated Linux is not a hard concept
to grasp. 


--

charlieg


Maybe a solution would be some sort of a nice splash screen (dare I suggest a hedgehog?) that can be cleared by hitting the escape key - sort of like a lot of the newer motherboards do for the bios posting messages.  And also allow the displays to be selected from the software.  Another option would be the one that Fedora Core has used.  A nice graphical screen, with a clickable switch on it that allows you to see all the boot up stuff.  

IMHO -- the technospeak in linux is one of the biggest blocks to its increasing popularity, that and software installation routines, but that's another story, so don't get me started on that one.  The short version is -- stuffs gotta work - fast and easy

Thanks

TIM