new users
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| GnuGuy Mar 15, 2008 7:52 PM EDT |
I whole-heartedly agree. Kudos to Paula for her determination. And major kudos to Ken. Certainly one of the best supporters of GNU/Linux (one for you Richard). I've had a very tough time recommending Linux to friends and family because I know there are weak spots in the GUI. Or, perhaps a better descriptive is, disconnects within the user experience. If you know cli, you can get into the details, as you've described and make things work. But there is NO way you can take a typical winDOHs user and get them comfortable with those concepts in a short time. The new user needs to demonstrate the determination that Paula has shown. My guess is that in the not too distant future, there is another Linux convert on their way to giving back to the community after experiencing what it's like to compute free. My one success so far has been with my niece. She's running an install of PCLinuxOS 2007, and doing well figuring out how to use the different apps, etc. Next time I'm up that way, I'll be showing her how to use Synaptic to update her software. After that I'll be holding my breath. 'Cuz I'm old and grumpy, too. If I may plug another page as an fyi... http://boycottnovell.com/credibility-index/ (Credibility Index) I've been promoting that this be done for some time and Roy was nice enough to do it. Like within a half an hour after I suggested it to him. That's enthusiasm. Check it out. Let's make the reviewers and pollsters accountable so they at least might try a bit harder to get their facts straight. If this is wrong, I apologize for being presumptuous. Feel free to delete this last bit and just put up the relevant stuff. |
| tracyanne Mar 16, 2008 1:18 AM EDT |
I wouldn't give Sam Varghese a 5, a 3 maybe or a 2. |
| Scott_Ruecker Mar 16, 2008 4:07 AM EDT |
Ken should get more than a 5. But no one from LXer is on the list.. :-( |
| tracyanne Mar 16, 2008 4:32 AM EDT |
Yeah Carla should be there. |
| Alcibiades Mar 16, 2008 5:17 AM EDT |
Installed Mandriva a couple weeks back for a guy of 73, not very computer oriented. Saw him the other day. He's installed his printer himself. He's downloaded a couple of new apps. He's figured out how to put a link to them on the desktop.... It is really not that hard. You do have to show them some stuff at first install. And you have to be available for the first couple months. But that is really all. The Mandriva control center really helps, its all in one place. As I was leaving, he said to me with a pleased smile that he was finally getting to understand how computers worked, and how to do things with them, as opposed to just pressing buttons. Linux runs faster than XP on his machine, he says. Now, he is not everyone. But give it to guys like him, and they do just fine, and they will probably help their friends. It is not stoppable now. |
| azerthoth Mar 16, 2008 6:06 AM EDT |
Folks the list was made by a person who perpetually wears a tinfoil hat and is more likely than not to link to himself as a source of proof. I take the validity of the list with that in mind. |
| Scott_Ruecker Mar 16, 2008 8:03 AM EDT |
Quoting:Yeah Carla should be there. I completely agree Tracy. |
| GnuGuy Mar 16, 2008 9:41 AM EDT |
Okay, everybody get your favorite beverage. This is going to be a bit long. And Carla, here's where you get to see how I'm old and grumpy, too. I agree. Add her name. That is what the list is for. I'm not at all familiar with the people of the community yet. I still consider myself a newbie in many ways. So I tend to be very timid about voicing my opinion. Until now. I'm so impressed by the community and its philosophy. This initiative has much bigger implications other than cool tech. This is a socio-economic revolution in the making. Anyone that has been monitoring the activities in emerging economies can see that. I've been especially interested in what has been happening in Africa. For me, this effort represents the ideal of human behavior where everyone treats everyone else with respect and consideration recognizing that as we help elevate another's socio-economic status, we increase our overall potential of success (ie, survival). But the one thing that I've encountered over and over again is a need to identify credibility re the challenges against GNU/Linux (one more for Richard). That needs to be addressed and the muck-rakers, fan-boys, and hucksters need to be spotted out. Let the world know who has their info correct and who doesn't. In this case, the truth will keep us free (ie, free as in whatever you want to take it to mean - beer, etc). Over and over again, I've seen Gartner, IDC, etc publish some survey that gets all kinds of visibility across the tech community. Then I seen all these phenomenally well done responses pointing out all the flaws and distortions in their surveys. But these are always scattered about the various forums, etc. There is no one place where we can hold them accountable. If we have one place where some newbie could go to get a sense of the foul BS these guys publish, I believe it will help add to the success of open source and Linux. Perhaps even move along a bit faster if not, at least, identify the liars. Okay. I'm a bit of an idealist. So shoot me down if you'd like. But I'm also experienced in marketing and communications, folks. So take it for what it's worth. If you think that you're actually refuting the bogus crap that comes from the big money guys, then keep on ranting in your isolated areas. But if you want to expose these greedy dirtballs for what they are, then lets not worry about who might be wearing tin-foil hats. Lets pitch in and help each other out. Now go add Carla's name to the list. She's been a 5 for me during my time learning Linux. And she got huge bonus points after she eviscerated that slim-ball misogynist a while back. That still makes me smile. And on Roy's behalf, he's the only one of several people that I suggested this to that actually did it. I didn't see any point to me adding one more blog for just that purpose. (Personally, our voices are so scattered now that it's hard for a newbie to pick up a decent, consistent thread of advice.) Now he's taken the first step, let's see if we can do something with this. |
| tracyanne Mar 16, 2008 12:59 PM EDT |
Quoting:But I'm also experienced in marketing and communications, folks. How experienced? And that being the case should you not also be chatting with Ken (Helios), we definitely need experienced marketing people. |
| helios Mar 16, 2008 2:37 PM EDT |
But I'm also experienced in marketing and communications, folks." Took the woids right out of my mouf... I could use a hand GG...what I'm doing ain't workin...I mean on the scale we need it to work. LIN08 is our ONE BIG SHOT to make this thing happen...I mean, aside from my normal visions of grandure, I am thinking that a project like this can be the pivotal point in history that people will readily identify as...uh, well the pivitol point in the adaptaion and proliferation of linux. Yeah...become a self-proclaimed advocate and you too can use words like proliferation... You yourself identified the problem. ain't none of us got the juice to make the pages of the NYT or Rolling Stone. Here's a project for the chronic insomniac. Go to the online edition of the New York Times and do a word count on "Linux"...do the same thing at Rolling Stone. Record your findings then do the identical search with "Microsoft". Not only will it bear out my point, it will also show you that shills like Rob Enderle and those horse thieves at the Gartner Group are followed around with a microphone jammed up their arses, just waiting for some noxious noise with fumes to be expelled then quoted. All the time, anyone who is legitimately connected to Linux is passed off as a closet lunatic with a nervous twitch in his left eye, driving a 1964 Studebaker. I've already tried to marshall the forces in funding a community-driven ad campaign. We won't go into the depth that project was ignored or ridiculed. Now I've got to be honest here. The people who are going to read this and other things on this site probably represent a significant total of everyone who really gives a crap if Linux is a mainstream system or not. The majority of Linux users cannot or will not see past the needs of their own cpus. You can't fight apathy guyz...it's un-whip-able. We are either going to have to do something absolutely amazing and MAKE the media pay attention, or some lunatic is going to have to climb up on top of a well-known bridge with a sign. There are a dozen or more people who are listened too in the Linux Community. What I am asking you to do is help me persuade them to join in an "all-at-once" news blitz, advertising and talking about the need to push this thing forward. Given the fact that LIN08 is the next big thing, my ego has no problem in suggesting we push first against that project and see if we can't get everyone in "give-a-crap" mode. Given the past response from the "Linux Community", I am prone to go looking for my repelling gear. h |
| GnuGuy Mar 16, 2008 3:38 PM EDT |
H, my friend, you are clearly another damaged old fogey. That's why I enjoy your style so much. You've said exactly what I'm trying to get at. After I finished my grumbling earlier today, I realized there has to be a focal point of some sort for the community that pushes its face right in front of the media. The cred list is a start. This needs to get some play in some way. Every news medium loves to have a point-counterpoint dialog. They believe that it drives circulation/exposure or at least draws interest. And to some degree they're right. There are magazines/newspapers out there that would love to increase their circulation. This could be an interesting addition. Title "You've Seen the Results You Can Buy from Gartner; Now here's the TRUTH" "Before You Buy, Check Their Lie" At any rate, there has to be more focus. The original intention for the list was to provide a measure of survey groups, reviewers, and anaylists. There needs to be a response to their distortions. This community cranks out some awesome stuff when it comes to tech info and understanding. It really needs to be directed toward a more visible offering, not scattered about in the forums. On another subject, the way the list has developed is there are people being included that are sources of advice/tutorials. It strikes me that we need to break things out a bit, so I'll email Roy re that. And I'm not too sure we would want to rate people that are kind enough to offer advice or help. Hey Ken, let's do a spot on Oprah. Maybe she'd give us $1000 in her Big Give project. |
| helios Mar 16, 2008 4:50 PM EDT |
Good points...Carla, are you still "in" with ESR? Maybe a well placed bug in the right ear...hey, you know...I'm just saying... OK, if you will talk to Roy, I will see if my ESR email address still works, I was a bit uh...assertive in my point that he address the Freespire/Windows Live search thingy. He may tell me to GPUAR. "Hey Ken, let's do a spot on Oprah. Maybe she'd give us $1000 in her Big Give project." That would be 400 more than we need for a used transmission for the K4K van...it 'sploded coming back from Fort Worth with a load of newly-purchased monitors. We're dead in the water without it and we've got 5 out of town installs yet this month, one of them this coming Thursday... Oprah...Listen...about that show... h h |
| GnuGuy Mar 16, 2008 5:34 PM EDT |
Now bare with me. Or is it bear with me? Whatever. By ESR you mean Eric Raymond not 'erythrocyte sedimentation rate' or something like that? Just so's I can be a bit more clear with Roy. |
| Scott_Ruecker Mar 16, 2008 6:56 PM EDT |
Ken, if timing is a big issue, just give what you want to have posted and when and I gladly will. |
| ColonelPanik Mar 17, 2008 6:21 AM EDT |
Whole lot of shaking going on! |
| jdixon Mar 17, 2008 10:00 AM EDT |
> That would be 400 more than we need for a used transmission for the K4K van. Ken, my yearly donation (well, the second one so far) should be on it's way later tonight. It won't cover the transmission, but it's a start. I'm only sorry I can't be of more help. |
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