4 Linux Distros Compared To Win XP, Mac OS X 729
Morf writes "The Australian Consumers? Association has evaluated Xandros, Linspire, Mandrake Discovery and SUSE personal and compared them to Mac OS X and Windows XP in its latest Computer CHOICE magazine. The article is very much focused on "mums and dads", and concludes Linux is just about ready for consumers, although installing new software could pose some problems for those who aren't really computer savvy. The report is available free for a short time."
Hope again (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Did the reviewer even try out the OS's? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Did the reviewer even try out the OS's? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Did the reviewer even try out the OS's? (Score:2, Insightful)
Don't shoot the messenger you idiot.
We have tested... (Score:5, Insightful)
1. a snickers
2. a jam of pure honey
3. an apple
4. a carrot
We found out that snickers is the best food because:
1. it comes in a nice wrapping
2. has many calories and can give you an energetic boost
3. its taste is supreme to others
Some people say you need vitamines, you should not spoil your teeth etc. But for an end-user what matters is the ease of use! And the snickers is the ultimate winner here.
Although an apple and a carrot keep quite close they have a long way to go.
best regards
michal
Re:Did the reviewer even try out the OS's? (Score:3, Insightful)
Told him to google it and figure it out on his own. I mean - all the info is there in the HOWTO's. I think he's just lazy.
He told me to come back over and re-install Windows XP Home or he was writing me out of the will.
I am sure they did (Score:4, Insightful)
The pages are outdated, archaic and written in a way that takes too much time to find out anything useful and of course teh few existign exampels vaailable in Unix and Linux documentation are totally irrelevant.
I do not want to read a cool example of how to use a potato as a galvanic element in order to create a serial connection to a tomato - I want to find out how to use my serial modem to connect to Internet.
Most people don't want to read gibberish, or manuals at all. If Linux can't be made as easy to use as Linux, at least the instructions should be made usable.
When I build together a IKEA furniture I rarely look at the instructions, and when I do it is for a quick reference. I do not wish to read a 10 page book describing the philosophy behind the use of screwdrivers and cool things you can do with a screwdriver, like using it as a throwing knife on the cardboards that the furniture came wrapped in.
The elitistic attitudes and documentation does nothing but harm Linux and delays its introduction to the mass market. And it doesn't make you that cool either to point out the 'man' command.
man how do I connect to to Internet?
No such page.
Interesting quote (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I installed Ubuntu on my Dad's computer (Score:5, Insightful)
I installed Ubuntu on my gf's grandmother's laptop, a Toshiba Tecra A2. Setup was a breeze. It detected everything right down to the wireless eth card.
I also stuck a "My Documents" shortcut on the Desktop so the other Windows people woulnd't get lost and in addition made it boot straight into her profile with no password.
That was a few weeks ago, and I saw her the other day quite happily looking at photos of the grandkids and playing a mpeg clip with mplayer. Keep in mind she's 80 odd and has never used a computer before. She wanted to play some games also, so I stuck shortcuts on the desktop to Solitaire and minesweeper.
After using Ubuntu, my gf's dad now wants it on his computer because he says "Windows XP is too hard to use" and he "really likes it how everything makes sense on Ubuntu". Hmmm a logical desktop OS where everything Just Works(tm) is the exact reason I use Ubuntu on my desktop.
Is Ubuntu ready for the desktop? You bet your ass it is.
PS If anyone's interested you can read the blog entry here [cr0n.net]
Re:Hope again (Score:2, Insightful)
A man page usable by grandmas is a waste of disk space for me, and conversely, a man page I need is utterly incomprehensible for the grandma.
There is no way to fix this except by having two completely separate sets of documentation. This could by possibly done by putting the files next to each other, but I quite fail to imagine any good way of integrating that into a single distribution.
Re:"Consumers?"? (Score:3, Insightful)
Someone tell the Australians that the rest of the English speaking world avoids apostrophes in titles and proper nouns.
Re:Did the reviewer even try out the OS's? (Score:3, Insightful)
--
Just as an illustration, try "man find". It took me years to figure out that "find . -name {file_name}" would find all files matching {file_name} below the current directory - which I imagine is the usage of 99% of users.
Check out the description of the tool:
"find searches the directory tree rooted at each given file name by evaluating the given expression from left to right, according to the rules of precedence (see section OPERATORS), until the outcome is known (the left hand side is false for and operations, true for or), at which point find moves on to the next file name."
Do you imagine that most users would know what on earth that meant? Why not at least prepend it with "This tool enables you to find files"? Then give one or two examples of common usage? _Then_ by all means bombard them with the myriad of possible parameters.
Australian Consumers? (Score:5, Insightful)
They may not be as enthusastic as your average slashdotter but the fact that they even did this comparison means Linux is getting consideration by people who are very quality sensitive. Also retirees who like to fiddle with PC's and photo's but don't have heaps of cash will read it next year in the doctors waiting room.
Ironic (Score:2, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Installing software: the bad way (Score:1, Insightful)
Clicking on the software you want to install in the graphical software management tool that comes with every distro targeted at "normal" users is soooooooooo terribly hard, isn't it?
I mean searching the web for the software you want, downloading it, uncompressing it, running the installer and then having the application write its files to some arbitrary places in your filesystem is simply so much more convenient.
And don't get me started about updates. Having a single update manager that updates _all_ of the software installed on your system is just pure hell, whereas keeping track of every bugfix and security update for all the software you installed by hand and by searching the web is just so much more convenient.
You're right, linux is hell on earth.
No live CD? (Score:4, Insightful)
(MacOS9 used to include a livecd, infact the installer involved booting to a full macos desktop from which you ran the installer)
Re:Hope again (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:An amazingly bad artcicle (Score:5, Insightful)
There is an icon on the desktop, it says "get software"
You click on it and there is a list of hundreds of pieces of software. Each software has a description along side it. SOme have pictures too. Most are free, some you have to pay for.
When you want something you just click on install and it does, the icon shows up in your menu when you are done.
This is far easier then anything else including mac and windows. All the software that is compatible with your system is in one place. It's right at your desktop. 99% of it is free. It installs with one click.
None of this hunt the web sites, download something, unzip it, install it, click a licence agreement. Just click and install no problems with dependencies or anything.
How much easier could it possibly be?
Re:I disagree (Score:2, Insightful)
I did not say that, but rather that we must be skeptical of both sides, not only the side which we (collectively) dislike, i.e., MS. Truth is, I don't know. My post was supposed to get people to think about who this association represents (besides the "consumers") but sadly it has been moderated negatively.
No! (Score:3, Insightful)
I know there are going to be posts saying that everything is fine on my system etc., etc., but the fact is everything should work on almost any common system. In case of XP all you have to do is run an exe files and you can watch videos etc.,. Yes it is insecure, virus are a problem blah blah, but the mindset of the avg user is that "Its okay if there is a virus, it is expected behavior" but its not okay if my xyz media file does not work, or my xyz camera phone does not connect. Moving people to firefox from IE is a very very trivial thing. Moving an entire OS is something totally different.
What does linux need? Well independence from scripting. The user should not have to edit any config file, and helpful support forums. Scaring away and abusing a newbie asking stupid questions isnt going to win any users. Remeber you were a newbie once. As far as the eye candy and user desktop environment is concerned, it is okay.Re:WTF (Score:2, Insightful)
You don't need to convince geeks to use Linux or OSX, its the mums and dads, everyday people, that need to see that there are other viable options out there, and a comparison like this is a good way to build such awareness.
Surely this sort of publicity is worth a mention on slashdot.
Re:Interesting quote (Score:3, Insightful)
J.
They *obviously* have no idea (Score:2, Insightful)
"We'd also like to see inbuilt antivirus software in all operating systems -- the tested operating systems don't currently include a virus checker."
I might as well read an article on the relative merits of the Eurofighter written by a polish tractor mechanic.
Re:We have tested... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I installed Ubuntu on my Dad's computer (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I installed Ubuntu on my Dad's computer (Score:3, Insightful)
Try to hand a WinXP install CD to a non-geek and watch him suffer.
While I'd agree that windows being bad is no excuse for linux in general being bad also I'd simply dispute the fact that installing linux is that hard for non-geeks. Ubuntu is in fact a good example for this. Granted, it doesn't come with a nice looking graphical installer, but the install is pretty straight forward and all you have to do is click yes a few times and you'll end up with a working system.
Too much choice (Score:4, Insightful)
'Mums and dads" want to go to Target, pick up Hallmark Card Studio, and Blues Clues for the kids, pop in the CD when they get home and have it all install and work automatically. They can get that with Windows.
There's too much choice in the Linux world for "mums and dads" to deal with: which distro, which user interface? People don't like choice, unless is about a topic they're really interested in. And "mums and dads" aren't interested in their computer's OS; they just want things to work. You pick out a name-brand PC (depends on which store you go to and what the salesman tells you) with Windows XP Home on it; you know that you can pick up any game or program and it'll just work, no major decision-making required.
Back when the choice included IBM PC, Macintosh, Apple ][, Commodore 64, Atari, I knew a LOT of people who complained that there were too many kinds to choose from. Why, oh why couldn't there be just ONE type of computer that'll run any program I buy? Now they've got what they wanted and they're happy, even with the virus/spyware problems. Linux, however, is all about choice.
Re:No! (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah, right, like I've never had to go to support forums while I still was using windows - and even more now when my friends call me and ask what to do when something goes wrong in XP. And instead of editing well commented text config files I have to edit this bloody registry.
And are you sure MacOS X is that much better? I was considering buying a Mac Mini and an iBook, but when I went to the shop to play with MacOS X a bit, I've noticed that finder is not localised (I am Polish). As the shop was crowded I decided not to wait to ask shop assistants but returned home to do some googling. O my goodness!! There is a plenty of Mac forums all crowded with users having problems!! And sometimes not trivial ones ("How do I eject CD?") but much more troubling (like safari spitting some weird errors or keyboard layout returning to US English again and again instead of just sticking to chosen Polish, or Software Update being fucked by localisation and so on and so on). So support forums and bugs are not just the Linux thing.
And by the way, I have dual booting Win-Lin machine and it was Windows XP that had problems with my perfectly ordinary GeForce card, not linux, no hardware acceleration, and no, download from nvidia didn't help, I had to... guess what? Browse support forums!
but its not okay if my xyz media file does not work
Yet another thing: compare pleasure of using Xine or Mplayer happily playing any known video format (albeit not-so legally sometimes
Wow, that was a long one
Raf
P.S. And no, probably I am not going to by an iBook, cause if I pay 1000 Euro I expect it to work perfectly in my local language, like KDE happily has been doing since 1.x releases
Re:Too much choice - DEVO said it best... (Score:3, Insightful)
There is such a thing as having too many options and I think you've hit this on the head. People have too much to think about than configure computers. Most of us here have difficulty understanding that since this is the very thing we enjoy doing!
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Hope again (Score:4, Insightful)
I need usable man pages. I need all that complex docs. I'm not a wizard who already knows everything by heart. I want documentation, not dumbed-down text asking me if the computer is turned on.
What those Joe Schmoe users need, is a clickable interface with anything that could make them shoot themselves in the foot carefully hidden. What I need, is a system that allows me to shoot my own foot if I tell it so. A system that doesn't try to pamper me, but does what I say -- without standing in my way. It needs to provide some examples and documentation that is not completely opaque -- and that documentation would be too dumbed down for those more skilled than me.
In general, my goals are opposite to the goals of Grandma Jill. I, being selfish, can't stand if I get hurt due to someone trying to make it easier for grandmas.
I, a technical user, need a system fit for technical users.
Grandmas need a system that's dumbed down.
It's hard to have both in a single system, so any compromise will hurt both sides.
Re:Linux has been ready for a long time now (Score:4, Insightful)
That is not where the problem lies. The additional problems in ascending order of size are --
1 -- (for the non-geek mum/dad user) getting used to the CLI
2 -- (for quite a lot of others too) figuring out what to do if
apt-get install programx
coughs over a dependency issue and shows up with screeds of error messages.
I'd be quite interested to read your simple advice to get over problem 2!
-wb-
Administration shouldn't be major for the desktop (Score:5, Insightful)
I really don't think that users being able to administer their systems should be considered a serious problem when considering linux on the desktop.
In recent months I've come to believe that Linux, and many other unix-like systems for that matter, are not only ready for the desktop and have been for some time, they're near perfect for it. The major catch (apart from that whole software compatability thing, perhaps) is that they're only perfect when someone who knows what they're doing is adminstrating the system.
I administer my own home linux system, and I like it that way absolutely, but I wouldn't reccommend it to any of my friends. Sure, I could get them set up and rurning, but every so often they'd want to change something and would need help.
At my university, we run a department network of NetBSD machines, and they're administered brilliantly to the point where new students who are used to Windows can get started in using them for many things without a lot of problems. The security's locked down to a reasonable extent so it's hard for any badly written software the seriously break any of the workstations, but if we want something changed then there's a responsive team of administrators who'll look at providing what's needed. Most importantly, the workstations are reliable and they're looked after by experts who know everything that's on them inside out. Just like my home machine, unixes very rarely break or collapse if they're administrated well.
My point is that Linux is very ready for the desktop, but people shouldn't be expected to administer their own systems. Luckily, though, Linux has several other very handy things going for it:
What surprises me is that nobody yet seems to have seriously jumped into a potentially great business opportunity of offering remote linux administrations for home users. Essentially it'd be linux by subscription, ironically enough.
I really do know lots of people who use Windows because they're afraid of everything else, and they only even try to administer it and understand the issues because they have no other option. Really they'd rather concentrate on actually doing things with their PC, and would often be happy to pay someone else to administer it if the price were reasonable.
The business would be in providing a remote service which, once a customer's home PC had been set up in an appropriately standard configuration, would offer the service of administering the PC remotely. For instance, if the customer wants new software, they phone up and ask for it. An admin logs in, installs the package, and sets up any appropriate configuration. Perhaps every so often, administrators come along and upgrade whatever software is installed, probably (usually) keeping the configurations within bounds that are known to work on a large scale. Perhaps they even provide conversion services for things like Word files, in cases when something like OpenOffice simply won't handle it properly.
On occasion
OSX Installation (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In breif summary (Score:5, Insightful)
On the flip side, on all systems, having the firewall enabled often hinders legitimate uses of the system, such as dcc send/chat on irc, or p2p apps etc, so having the firewall enabled by default on osx would actually cause problems while not providing any benefit.
Re:I installed Ubuntu on my Dad's computer (Score:3, Insightful)
Worse still, XP will not work with some older hardware. For instance, I have an Adaptec SCSI card that will blue-screen XP, but runs flawlessly in Linux, I can even install Linux from a disk controlled by this card. Under XP I can't even install the OS, the mere presence of the card in the computer makes the XP install CD reboot endlessly.
pwned in 30 days! (Score:3, Insightful)
My friend just got a Windows machine for X-Mas as is now asking me why his computer is getting slower and what's this bargains.exe process he can't seem to get rid of.
How can they keep saying that Windows is ready for the desktop when this stuff happens after 1 month of use. Windows is not ready for the Aunt Tilley's.
Re:Did the reviewer even try out the OS's? (Score:3, Insightful)
Forget the help files. People want an OS that doesn't NEED help files. I'll agree that the review had some glossed over areas that suggested their testing wasn't very rigorous. I've been exclusively using Xandros for my small business for over two years (it's very good), and noticed the following issues with the review of Xandros: Apparently, the other OS candidates must have been as poorly reviewed, because Xandros still beat all the Linux distros overall and was a very close second to XP and OS X. It received the highest marks for the ease of installation.
My own personal recommendation? If you're sick of Windows BS and want a secure OS that's still easy to use, try Xandros. It's great, and it's getting a lot better. It's THE Linux OS for Windows refugees.
You'll love being able to go to Xandros Networks and install a lot of different software with a couple of mouse clicks. None of the hassles, EULAs and rebooting of Windows. And the package manager automatically tracks all library dependancies. When you uninstall an application, it won't ask you if another program is using a DLL. There's no registry to corrupt either, so there's no Registry Rot. Your Xandros system will remain fast and stable.
In a world where hardware and software is created to work with Windows, Microsoft has a huge advantage. They are the de facto standard. Xandros manages to be easier to use on this unfair playing field, which indicates exactly how much these guys have the Right Stuff. Do yourself and the world a favor and buy a copy of Xandros [xandros.com] and let's get away from Windows spam spewing zombies and spyware.
Re:An amazingly bad artcicle (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes to people who have been using linux for over 10 years like myself the process is very quick I know where to look and what to look for and how to manage different windows managers. But for a newbie this is a incredible process that is way to much work. And most of them will just go screw it I will just use windows and face problems with bugs, crashes, viruses and spyware because I rather take my chances and be able to install the apps I want.
Re:Riddled with inacuracies (Score:5, Insightful)
"Mac OS X could have more comprehensive help files and we'd like to see the inbuilt firewall switched on by default."
Anyone who thinks a default client-based firewall is anything but an admission that the OS developers couldn't figure out how to make any network services secure by default simply has NO BUSINESS even commenting on security issues.
I suppose that excludes most of the pundits online and in magazines, but that's always been true, all the way back to Jerry Pournelle (after his friend Maclean died, anyway).
Zero Sum Game (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem is they don't have what they wanted and especially not at the cost they want. Typing "M$" is old and busted but it came about for a reason.
Use your own analogy to really hear what any user really wants: Why oh why couldn't there just be ONE type of DVD player that'll play any DVD I buy?
It sounds absurd doesn't it? It sounds just as absurd as Joe Six Pack buying ANY computer off the shelf and being able to load Mircosoft Office and the iLife Suite on that same off the shelf computer with no compatibility issues whatsover.
Think about that for a second and if you aren't still LYAO, read the rest.
It doesn't matter that those may not be the best choices for the consumer or that Star Office is a perfect foil for Microsoft Office. It's about giving consumers what they want.
That's why you don't see people running to Linux in droves. Because it does no better at bridging the gap for what people REALLY want to do on their PC's.
Give people what they want and they will buy from you in droves. What the average person sees, and they're not far wrong either, is a glorified geek pissing contest between Microsoft, Apple, Linux and any other OS out there if they're even aware that there are others.
What they don't see is anyone really giving a damn about what they want and how they want to work. It may not be true, but perception is everything.
Until that changes, no one wins.
Okay, so what is their point? (Score:3, Insightful)
We installed each of the Linux distributions side-by-side with Windows XP
We installed Windows XP and Mac OS X without partitioning the hard drive. Both operating systems include partitioning software that deletes your existing operating system and data.
So basically they installed MacOS and WinXP on a entire hard drive and then did a dual boot setup with Linux. They mention how certain versions of Linux will partition the hard drive and certain versions won't. They however don't give the same break to Linux. Try installing Linux on it's own hard drive. Windows and Mac software are more than capable to delete the exisiting software, well hell I can do that also with Linux.
Xandros was the only Linux distribution that didn't come with a LiveCD. Windows XP and Mac OS X aren't available on LiveCDs
Yet this is the only place they mention that live cd issue. Why is it not in the bad column under the bullet points for WinXP and Mac.
Easy-to-access software updates and security patches and fixes can save you time and hassle. Mac OS X and Windows XP automatically check for new updates and patches at specific times as long as you're connected to the internet. You can change the default settings if you wish. None of the Linux distributions offer automatic updates, but you can either download patches and updates from each manufacturers' website, or by using Linspire Click-N-Run or Xandros Networks. SuSE Linux and Mandrakelinux offer to look for updates during installation.
That is so you don't just throw a patch in there and have it create more problems. I still remember WinNT sp6 and the Lotus Notes issue and several others.
Unlike Windows XP, the Linux distributions and Mac OS X also let you restrict a program, such as ICQ, to a single user account. Additionally, in Linux and Mac OS X, the administrator is the only account with access to universal settings and files.
This is a good thing remember that.
Windows XP was the only operating system that couldn't recognise and open an imported Excel file -- the included office software is very basic so you need to install Microsoft Office or another more advanced program.
Even Linux distro's require Open Office or other software to be installed to read an Excel file the difference is that you can usually install them right after you install the OS. It may be included in the box set on one of the CDs or you can download it. Either way you don't have to go out and spend more than you paid for the operating system.
The difficulties with installing new software using a linux-based operating system arise when you want to install software from elsewhere.
I won't disagree here, extracting tarballs, unpacking an RPM, trying to have apt-get install a program can be a bit of a bear. Making sure you have all your dependincies. The difference is that if something goes wrong you can at least look into it. If the .exe doesn't install properly you are pretty much screwed. Now with FreeBSD you can install your programs from the ports tree with "make install distclean" or a package from the cd or ftp sites with "pkg_add -r foo". The dependincies will get installed automatically.
I understand the joe average user need. The thing is if joe average has worked with windows before coming to linux they will find things they don't understand and are very likely to get frustrated. The same applies in reverse take a *nix user who hasn't been with windows ever or since windows 95 and throw them into that enviroment. Watch them pull out their hair. While Linux (distros), OSX, and WinXP are operating systems they are very different and trying to find similarites isn't always going to be fair. If you have only ever driven an automatic car, driving a car with a manual tr
Re:Hope again (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Hope again (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Hope again (Score:5, Insightful)
You, my friend, need to find a good technical writer.
It's called inverted pyramid writing and goes something like this:
You simply provide a sidebar nagivation in the summary page that takes you to the level you want.
The "dumb down" argument is nothing more than the desperate flailings of ego trying to still prove to the world that it is justified.
Re:I installed Ubuntu on my Dad's computer (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I installed Ubuntu on my Dad's computer (Score:3, Insightful)
In direct opposition to TFA, but nevertheless completely correct.
Complete crap (Score:3, Insightful)
You can't restrict applications to only one user account.
and basically the complaint that Excel isn't bundled with Windows but the other distributions of Linux/OSX have OpenOffice or something bundled with it that can read an Excel document. Microsoft always gets blasted for *bundling* apps (ooo...ooo... the beeg eval monopoly!) -and at the same time- blasted for not bundling apps (ooo...ooo... basic functionality left out!).
That "report" is nothing more than propaganda to further someone's agenda. It's garbage.
Re:Documentation (Score:3, Insightful)
Given the writing quality of a lot of Slashdot posts, I'd prefer they stayed far, far away from the end-user documentation.
"Mommy? Why does the computer always spell 'lose' with an extra O?"
Grandmas don't use man pages (Score:2, Insightful)
Most Linux systems that would be used by "Grandma" would likely be set up in a way that is very simple to use, by someone that *does* know how to read a man page. All they need is a button to access the WWW, a button to access email, and a button to access solitaire (lol), with everything else locked down and out of sight. This is easy to do. For the most part (in my experience), older people that are inexperienced with computers are quite scared to mess with anything they don't understand, because it might "blow up" their "cpu". They do not admin systems, they USE them, and usually in very limited amounts (yes, there are exceptions). I still don't why some people say how hard it is to use Linux. How is it harder than using windows? You click on a "button" and the program runs. Wow, really takes a genius to do that hehe. Now setting up and admining a system is different. I would no more hand the task of installing and configuring Linux to my mom than I would have her try to install and configure windows. She could do neither. People that aren't tech savvy simply buy pre-configged machines. Linux or windows, really doesn't matter, *using* either one should be a trivial matter for anyone that wishes to do so.
Personally I have no problem whatsoever that Linux may be harder to install than windows, as it tends to scare off those that would not be able to properly config the machine for security (haven't we all seen instances of someone being an ignoramus running root?). This is a two sided blade though, as those same people don't think twice about installing windows ("Oh look, a '98 cd." click-click-next wizard users), although in general they *still* don't know how to properly secure their machine, hence millons of owned zombie machines freely roaming the net.
Disclaimer: This is not a bash at windows users, it's an observation of *clueless* windows users.
Re:Interesting quote (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:An amazingly bad artcicle (Score:3, Insightful)
Hundreds? There are more pieces of software than that. What are the chances of this Xandros having all the programs that run on it in the world in one place? The odds are 0. Also this doesn't account for software that comes on CD, or only in source, or a newer version has been released but isn't in the Xandros depository. What if you don't have a direct link to the Internet, but can download to one computer and move it to another via disk/keydrive, can this be done as easily as moving a
Also how easily does it download? If the download is broken can it be resumed? Does it happen automatically? What if the software is already on your computer, can you install it without even knowing that a command line exists?
No dependencies? So the libraries are statically linked, i.e. massive downloads and massive memory usage? Or are all the dependencies that have ever been made, and ever will be made, already on the system?
What happens when your depository is down? Can you not install software anymore? When you download a software from a third-party site, does it install easily?
There are a lot of questions regarding software installation, and there is no magic solution, least of all one which depends on single source for all your software.
Re:Linux has been ready for a long time now (Score:3, Insightful)
Installing new software is a common task? I would have assumed most people, once past the initial setup of a system, spend their time USING software, not installing it.
But the point stands. In OS X, installing new software is usually just as easy as copying it to the Applications folder. Why do Linux and Windows make it so much more complicated?
Re:Too much choice (Score:2, Insightful)
1. Insert floppy in floppy drive
2. Click on "Start"
3. Click on "Run"
4. Type "A:\SETUP.EXE"
5. Follow the instructions on the screen
Or even worse, when software came on CD and wouldn't autorun - then they had to figure out which drive letter represented their CD-ROM drive!!
Yet they seemed capable of doing it, back then. What has changed, exactly? Are forward-slashes somehow harder to understand than backslashes?
Re:Too much choice (Score:2, Insightful)
People are still capable of using the "run" menu option if the instructions tell them what to do, but they won't be happy about it. And the example you gave is still a lot easier for non-computer-types than what usually has to be done in order to install software on Linux that didn't already come with the distro, or as part of an online update.
I know a lot of people who aren't into computers all that much, but need to deal with them; I've seen this firsthand. They don't care how it works, as long as it does.