Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: ESR and Apple's irrelevance

Author:Mark A. Hershberger
Posted:8/25/2000; 10:27:13 PM
Topic:ESR and Apple's irrelevance
Msg #:20304 (In response to 20297)
Prev/Next:20303 / 20305

Read the article I pointed to. I just did, and I think Miguel at least recognises the usability problems with Unix.

Further, the ease of installing an OS from scratch is not really an issue. How many W95 or Mac boxes have you bought that required you to partition the disk, format it, etc.? Probably none. In the same way, when Penguin Computing sends us a machine, they don't require us to have to install the OS. Or consider the Qube or TiVO. Both use Linux as the OS, but are simple enough for the average user to use.

I point this out because I think it shows that Linux is not the issue. It can be made so that it is easy to use. The company bundling the computer just has to do it.

That said, very few people are under the illusion that Linux is on par with W95 or the Mac when it comes to ease of use. rms sees the problems, as does esr:

This user-centric approach also helps explain one area where open source software - as Eric readily admitted - suffers horribly: user interface.

From TidBITS.

Mark.

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