Article: "Fixing linux" - opinions?

[KwangErn Liew]

On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 2:55 PM, P.B. <pb at fsfe.org> wrote:
> KwangErn Liew wrote:
>> Linux is just a kernel. Everything on top of it are meshed into an OS
>> though having different ways to really allow different solutions
>> (flavours) for individuals and organisations.
>>
> We know this.
> However, for most people out there the whole OS and everything that's
> not Mac or Windows is "Linux".   :)

Unfortunate yes, and I even have a hard time explaining Linux and its
distributions. Not even mentioning about what WM and DE are and a
whole lot of other things.

I learnt that we should rather spin it the other way around, and
categorise different use cases and built distros just for those groups
of people. It's not an easy feat and I don't think anyone has solved
that well enough just yet. Ubuntu is getting there, but still has alot
of issues to sort out.


>> I find that the article is not really providing good grounds on what's
>> _really_ wrong with Linux. It sounds like the article is saying,
>> "different methods (flavours) is wrong." Is he implying that the Linux
>> kernel and related OS should be a one-size-fits-all?
>>
> Not sure, but the reason why I've mentioned this article here is, that
> it proves certain "impressions" people get from using GNU/Linux.

We have to change that - somehow.

> It's sad but true that people often don't see what's better, but only
> complain about what's cumbersome for them (which is often due to lack of
> knowhow). But there *is* a reason why people often get this impression
> and I think it's important to be aware of this.

Agreed.


KwangErn