Binary incompatibility of Linux distributions

[Graham Todd]

On Thu, 14 May 2009 05:12:15 +0200
Odd <iodine at runbox.no> wrote:

> I'm sorry, but you grossly overestimate ordinary users' skills and 
> willingness
> to learn. It's a sad fact, but while it's easy to install from source
> in Linux,
> it's still way too complicated for the unwashed masses. I did my time
> on end-user support, and I have no illusions about their abilities on
> this subject. It may be a 'visible' option, but users are blind.
[snipped]

I think this takes us back to the very nature of Linux, and the
philosophy around which it was created.

Linux is a decentralised operating system in line with the "hackers
ethic", and is deliberately designed to ensure no one person or
organisation can have control of it.

Windows, on the other hand, is a totally centralised operating system,
closed source, and because there is only "one way" it is simpler to use
in some situations.  But that simplicity comes at the cost of your
freedom.

More and more, academic learning is held in digital form, with access
to that learning (essays, dissertations, etc.) only available through
software that is not universally available.  This is the price we pay
when we do not adhere to open standards and cannot check that software
adheres to it.

Some Windows users want the simplicity of Windows on Linux, but Linux
is not simple by design.  It preserves freedom by preserving choice
based on the source code being available.  That means it is going to
need to be compiled before it can be used, and so places a burden on
the user.

The more Linux tries to be "simple" and "like Windows", it is in danger
of losing those freedoms of which we should all be watchful, lest we
lose them.  Many strides have been made to make it easier to use Linux:
on the desktop, by decent package managers, by adherance to standards.
But the fact is that Linux is principally about maintaining liberty in
a centralised corporate world, and users will find it a bit more
complex to learn.

Anybody who does not want to do that, who want simplicity alone, might
just as well look at Windows as their operating system of choice.

-- 

Graham Todd