On Wed, 2002-11-20 at 17:57, Keith Winston wrote: > Let's be honest here. With a default Windows XP install or retail > pre-install, you can't listen to MP3s, use flash or java or realplayer > or quicktime because most PCs don't come with those pre-installed and > configured. If Dell doesn't install it, then it installs automatically when you need it. > The people that choose Red Hat (or any Linux distro), and if you use > Linux, it is by choice, not because it was forced on you or came > pre-installed on your PC, then you probably want your system to NOT do a > lot of things that Windows does automatically. I agree. I was referring to the original poster's "most Windows users." I think those people would rather have ease of use than control. > Things like automatically install browser plug-ins with 100 deep > registry entries if you happen to click the wrong link, automatically > execute malicious viruses and code while browsing or reading your > e-mail, pay for an anti-virus program and take the performance hit and > pay for a subscription to keep you anti-virus files up to date (McAfee > and Symantec do this now). They don't want to be forced to "activate" > their OS, and their office package, and promise never to move it to > another computer. They don't want to pay twice or three times for every > software package they use if they happen to have more than one > computer. They don't want to hack the registry to prevent the MSN > Messenger program from loading at boot, or to attempt to uninstall it. > They don't want to agree to allow MS to install programs and make > changes to their computer in the future, at the whim of MS, which may or > may not result in a non-working system and lost data. They might not > want to pay $1000 for a set of development tools, and pay for the new > version every 18 months. They probably don't want to spend thousands on > server programs like SQL databases, mail servers, backup programs, > intrusion detection, and on and on. Amen to all that. > I'm not saying that people that use Windows want all those things, but > that goes with the environment. Windows and Linux are two completely > different worlds. I believe the people that choose the Linux way gain > much more than they lose in the transition. Will Linux ever overtake > Windows for the casual computer user, who knows. But as more people > become computer savvy, they will be more likely to choose Linux. Linux is better, but the masses want ease of use, and they want their proprietary formats and their DVDs. Red Hat Linux in its current form is not for them. -- John -- Psyche-list mailing list Psyche-list@redhat.com https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/psyche-list
