Re: Linux users who like Windows - back on topic?
After I installed Red Hat Linux on my pc, I discovered that my modem is
actually a WinModem, which doesn't work on Linux.
A WinModem is one that equires an installed and running copy of Windows to work.Of course it can't be expected to work.Some Linux drivers for WinModems exist,but they're not always reliable.
Based on my Linux experience (which I admit is still limited) I feel like
Linux is still too difficult for the average non-geek user. Many
applications are very poorly documented.
I'm sure that you had a frustrating time with your modem, but you can't generalize from a single experience. I've installed Linux about seven or eight times on four or five different machines. I've never had any hardware conflicts, and, in every case, I had the complete system setup, everything from the firewall to the desktop wallpaper, in under two hours.In about half the installs, I was done in forty-five minutes. Of course, it would be equally wrong to generalize from my experience and say that nobody should have any problems, but I mention my experience to show that mileage can vary considerably.
On the flip side, I've had problem several times getting printers and sound cards to work properly under Windows. However, although I have little fondness for Windows, I attribute my problems to bad luck, not to a general problem with Windows. Given all the variety of hardware available, it's simply unrealistic to expect that any operating system is going to work out of the box with every possible system.
Far from considering Linux too geeky, I contend that anyone who can hold down a job as an intermediate tech-writer should be able to install a current version with Linux with minimal trouble.If you've ever installed Windows, you should definitely be able to do it.
As a matter of fact, if I can indulge in a shameless plug here, I've written a guide to exploring Linux for the Techwr-l site, which, the last I heard, should be published some time before the end of this year (Sorry, DR - that sharp pain in your side is just my prodding elbow).
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield
"Looking back at the long years
All that happened this way and that
I think I liked most the rice and the salt."
- Kim Stanley Robinson, "The Years of Rice and Salt"
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