Productive Linux
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One criticism of Linux is that ordinary people are, on the whole, too ignorant about technology to use anything except Windows. This is just wrong.
It's wrong because Windows isn't easy to use and it's wrong because there just aren't that many people who can't adapt to a new user interface.
More and more people are using computers during their everyday lives, so the average knowledge of computer users is increasing. This means there are more and more power users.
It also means that more can be asked of computer users and less technology needs to be aimed at the most inexperienced users.
We've come a long way since the first PC first appeared. Then computers were mysterious boxes that only geeks used. Nowadays millions of people use computers every day.
Of these people, there is a vast pool who are moderately sophisticated.
As proof of this, I can point to how difficult many powerful applications, such as Photoshop or Illustrator, are. None the less many non-technical people become experts. However, the real proof of the increasing sophistication of computer users is the number of expert Excel users.
To use a spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel, to its full capability is difficult, not in the least because it requires knowledge of a scripting language. Yet, millions manage it. It is these users to whom the more sophisticated and subtle aspects of Linux can appeal. It is these people, who can really appreciate higher levels of computing power.
Linux offers these people power on every level. It offers these people true freedom. That's why open source needs to be brought to them.
Red Hat Certified Technician & Engineer (RHCT and RHCE) Training Guide and Administrator's Reference
JohnMC:
I've had a simular thought and is the reason why I created
linuxmadeeasy.org
It's designed to help these people learn how to use Linux (not from tutorials, but actually teaching these users basic constructs of Linux (and Unix for that matter), to help them Use the CLI and more importantly the GUI)
Stumble It!
Digg it
Reddit
The 'problem' if there can be such a thing is the transition phase of a user. For example, we use nothing but Linux in this household. My wife and daughter are newbies. I have set up Kubuntu for them and placed all the Open Office product suite, Thunderbird mail, Firefox, etc right on the desktop. So long as they can just point and click the world is grand.
Its when some users want to delve deeper. Use CLI magic, Bash, all those tools that take Linux from a pretty face Windows like world to a great system. That jump is not just another rung of the ladder, but 5 or 20 rungs. What's worse there is no guide to let them climb. 'I need to know Bash'. First hundle -- How do I get to the CLI? What's the difference between $ and # on the screen. The list goes on and on.
Very quickly that budding basic user becomes discouraged. That's when we tend to lose them and they go back to Windows. We [the royal Linux We] have to develop a means for these new users to make that transition quickly and easily.
Posted by JohnMc on 2008-10-10 15:28:36.