uzybear
September 10th, 2007, 07:12 AM
ok, this really is a question rather than a statement; it's my feeling that it doesn't make you "lazy" or "dumb" to not want to know how your pc works, but rather for it to WORK FOR YOU, with as little intervention as possible; in my mind this is the point of software in the first place, for it to work for you, rather than you working for it
thoughts? i guess it's just a bit of a complaint i have, since i see folks railed for not understanding programming languages, or specialized instructions; in my mind, the real ideal of software is for it to be completely intuitive, to just work all the time, to need no prior instruction to use it, for it to do what you need it to do
it seems to me that the great advances in linux in recent years have mostly been that it's become more, dare i say, "user-friendly", that THAT is the real accomplishment that has made people like me, and i'm not a programmer, not even much of a geek, just someone who is impressed by what an open community can do, someone who sees the value in community rather than being tied down to a corporation and their software; folks like myself are starting to see that there is an alternative, and in many ways, it is simply superior to windows
however, i feel that the community is dragged down a bit by the geek-desire to stay "pure"; perhaps avoiding GUI's or implementing applications that are incredibly versatile but not incredibly simple to use; for linux to come out of the geek-basement and into the sunshine of the world of folks that just want it to work, and just don't care how it works; for that to happen a philosophy shift is needed, and a bit of vision; i think perhaps ubuntu understands this, and the change is happening; of course there will always be OS's for purist computer-people; but for us computer-USERS, it's nice to have something that "just works", and it's nice that it is better designed, more stable, runs better on cheaper/older machines, and isn't tied in with a giant corporation's bottom line
just a silly philosophy; tell me why i'm wrong ;)
thoughts? i guess it's just a bit of a complaint i have, since i see folks railed for not understanding programming languages, or specialized instructions; in my mind, the real ideal of software is for it to be completely intuitive, to just work all the time, to need no prior instruction to use it, for it to do what you need it to do
it seems to me that the great advances in linux in recent years have mostly been that it's become more, dare i say, "user-friendly", that THAT is the real accomplishment that has made people like me, and i'm not a programmer, not even much of a geek, just someone who is impressed by what an open community can do, someone who sees the value in community rather than being tied down to a corporation and their software; folks like myself are starting to see that there is an alternative, and in many ways, it is simply superior to windows
however, i feel that the community is dragged down a bit by the geek-desire to stay "pure"; perhaps avoiding GUI's or implementing applications that are incredibly versatile but not incredibly simple to use; for linux to come out of the geek-basement and into the sunshine of the world of folks that just want it to work, and just don't care how it works; for that to happen a philosophy shift is needed, and a bit of vision; i think perhaps ubuntu understands this, and the change is happening; of course there will always be OS's for purist computer-people; but for us computer-USERS, it's nice to have something that "just works", and it's nice that it is better designed, more stable, runs better on cheaper/older machines, and isn't tied in with a giant corporation's bottom line
just a silly philosophy; tell me why i'm wrong ;)