Fedora Core 1 critical article

[CougTek]

Saw this one at OSNews. It describes fairly well my frustrations most of the time I play on Linux and especially with beta versions :

My disappointment started when I tried to upgrade Gaim 0.71 to 0.72. The third party Shrike RPM wouldn't work because of pspell dependancy problems. Downloading pspell and compiling it manually wouldn't work either as libpspell-modules were nowhere to be found in the newly compiled archive. So I decided to download the source of Gaim and compile it myself. All went fine with Gaim's compilation except the MSN plugin wouldn't load because gnuTLS that provides SSL to Gaim was not installed. I got to gnuTLS' FTP site downloaded the source, only to ask me for libcrypt. Downloaded the source of libcrypt, only to ask me for the source of GnuPG. I downloaded the gnupg, compiled fine, went back to libcrypt, only to bail out badly with severe compiling errors. This is a simple user scenario that should have not happened, no matter whose fault really is. Now think what a newbie user coming from Windows-land would think about this whole --literally-- usability fiasco.

Although I haven't had major problems so far with my installation of Fedora Core 1, similar stories happened when I was testing earlier release candidates. I haven't played much with the final release and I doubt the developpers have fixed all the obnoxious errata I stumbled on prior to the official Core 1.

Still, the more I use Linux, the less I swear about it. Now that I know that I need to get the nForce driver separately because the installer is clueless about the nForce chipset, installation is much easier. But I won't call Linux a very user-friendly OS as long as you'll need to perform some research just to configure relatively mainstream and common hardware devices. I don't care if it doesn't recognize the latest digital camera model, but a chipset that's been around for more than a year, that's less acceptable.

 

[Mercutio]

I think in part you have the expectation that Linux is going to just work out of the box someday, because that's the way things are with Windows. Having started with pre-1.0 kernels and the days of CAREFUL research before installing anything (the same research was needed for OS/2 and NT3.1 at the time, so I'm not out of line here), I'm continually amazed at what I *don't* have to worry about nowadays.

I hold out hope for a Linux desktop I could hand out to my grandmother someday, but realistically, I know that I'm going to have to spend some time making whatever Linux I choose to use functional for my needs, something that, well, no one has ever said is easy.

 

[CougTek]

I think in part you have the expectation that Linux is going to just work out of the box someday, because that's the way things are with Windows.

IMO, Linux folks can forget the 20% market share they told was their target in a few years if their OS doesn't work out of the box someday. Most admins are too lazy to spend time to fix something that just doesn't simply "work" by clicking next-yes-yes-next-ok-yes-next-next-reboot. The average users are exponentially worst. If I've stared, clueless, at my CRT screen the first time I tried to double-clic on a tar.gz or rpm files inside Konqueror and wondered why nothing happened, can you imagine that miss manucure-want-to-chat-on-work-hours or mister Greg-car-seller-want-to-install-RealPlayer-plugin will do?

Linux needs click N'run and click N'install. Linux won't grow significantly until the bash/ isn't more needed than Windows' cmd.exe. People, the maintream/techno-dumb mass I mean, just won't switch otherwise.

 

[Buck]

Indeed Coug, and if those endusers can't operate the software as you described, I won't be able to sell them on using it. Alas, Windows is still the OS of choice for most people.

 

[Buck]

Here is a snippit from the Under-the Brim Red Hat newsletter I received today:

Enterprise Linux or Fedora Project: Which is right for you?

If you're a business, government, or are just looking for a stable, supported Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the clear choice.

If you're a developer or technology enthusiast, the Fedora Project, a proving ground for new Linux and open source technology, could be the right choice for you.

Here is the link they include.

 

[Mercutio]

OTOH, the extra $1000 you make as the VAR who delivers a transparent domain-model authentication and file server that leads to saving your customer $10,000 in CALs and license fees is more than worth the hours you put in learning how to do it.

Especially when you can do it over and over again.

 

[blakerwry]

I'm really impressed with Fedora. I just wish it came with Apt-get