LINUX 4 THE REST OF US?

The computer trade press as well as the various Linux publications have been milling around the desktop for years, and to read all the coverage, Linux is finally ready for 'prime time' and ready to storm the desktop.

The user interface has been fine tuned via shells like KDA to be almost palatable to novices as long as everything is running smoothly.

To the extent that there is an 'ideal' to aspire to in this area, it would be the latest incarnation of Apple Mac. What we have here is the best user interface around, sitting on top of a Unix variant (the Mach kernel) , the latter being for all intents and purposes vitrtually invisible to the user. The Mac shows that providing a great UI for Unix like system is possible.

Linux is not at parity with this ideal by a long shot, but it seems to be getting closer each year.

However, there are still three areas that I ask about just about every five years or so, that still seem to represent obstacles for novice users.

WIN MODEMS
If your computer happens to have what's called a 'win modem', is there a way that Linux can use this kind of hardware/software configuration? If not then connecting to the Internet is OUT.

The answer is NOT: 'buy an external modem'!!

MULTIFUNCTION PRINTERS
If you happen to have a printer that also serves as a fax and a scanner, are there Linux drivers for such machines? If not, then you're out of luck as far as HARD COPY is concerned.

The answer is NOT: 'buy a plain vanilla printer'!!

INSTALLING NEW SOFTWARE
If you happen to have some new software which requires a more recent incarnation of the KERNEL than what you happen to be using at the time, then even if you are a 'novice', you have to contemplate things like updating the KERNEL and using a command line compiler to do this.

The answer is NOT: 'learn to use a compiler as well as a scripting language like tcl or perl'!!

If there is still equivocation on the part of Linux advocates regarding even ONE of these three areas, then Linux is not yet ready for the desktop or 'novice' users.

* SOME DIALOGUES CONCERNING LINUX (02-07-03)
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt8.html#PART8FEB05

* HOW CHEAP IS 'FREE' LINUX? (09-05-03)[658]
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt9.html#PART9SEP09

* PROBABLE SOURCE OF MYDOOM VIRUS (02-04-04)
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedp10.html#PART10FEB01

* THE DOJ MICROSOFT and THE CONSUMER
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt2.html#PART2033

* CORPORATE WELFARE QUEENS BUYING MICROSOFT VERDICT
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt2.html#PART2053

* MORE ON THE MERITS OF THE MICROSOFT TRIAL
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt2.html#PART2054
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt2.html#PART2056
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt2.html#PART2059
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt2.html#PART2062
http://members.fortunecity.com/veritas1/aopedpt2.html#PART2075