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Weblog:   To push desktop Linux, radical shift may be required
Subject:   Too much choice ?
Date:   2003-11-13 22:05:57
From:   anonymous2
Response to: Too much choice ?

Isn't that kind of backwards though? I mean, your so called "Joe Punter" wouldn't know what Gnome or KDE are. He would select the defaults. This means that when you log into Red Hat 9, it's Gnome. For SuSE, it's KDE.


Does Joe User know he is using KDE or Gnome? No. In fact, on a default installation of SuSE, you don't have to select your desktop environment.


Also consider that "Joe Punter" can't even install Windows, let alone Linux, and it makes that less of a difference.


Why do these distro's come with Gnome and KDE? Because the majority of people using them want these choices. Also, consider that most distro's now customize Gnome and KDE to the point that they both look and feel the same to a point.


Anyways, Joe Punter isn't going to install Linux anyways. He is going to go to Walmart or Future Shop or CompuSmart and buy a computer. This computer will come with an OS, and he will use this OS. When he has questions, he will call up his friend that "knows computers".


Gnome or KDE options really have nothing to do with Linux adoption.
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  • Too much choice ?
    2003-11-14 00:09:54  anonymous2 [Reply | View]

    I disagree. But the decision whether Gnome od KDE options matters depends upon where you can expect the fastest Linux adoption to take place: Is this really the Walmart Computer Shopper without any experience or is it the experienced Windows user who is used to tweak things a little bit.

    In my opinion, we can expect the Windows users to be the faster adopters because 1.) their adoption is independent from third parties (like Walmart) and 2.) they should be able to deal with Linux usage shortcomings and 3.) they already suffered from Windows shortcomings.

    If that's true, then please take a look at inofficial Windows support boards and how they discuss and solve problems. Very often, its as easy as "Install software <xyz> and you can do <ABC>" or "Go Start -> Whatever -> Wherever, and select Option <123>".

    Due to the diversity on Linux, similar suggestions in Linux support boards are seldom because often they depend on the distribution and the desktop one uses. This slows down adoption because under certain circumstances, the Linux diversity is too much even for an experienced windows user to deal with.

    The only counterexamples are kernel, bash and some GNU tools. Maybe that is also the reason why Linux support in most cases needs to fall back on commandline usage.

    However, this does not mean it prevents adoption completly. But next time you find a hardware or software vendor who is unwilling to support Linux, remember that this is partially our own fault as a community.
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