[nzlug] Dell are sooo pwn3d

[Craig Box]

Oh, for <insert deity>'s sake...

Why do you only ever pop up to rag on popular stuff, and suggest
unreasonable alternatives?  Not everyone has the patience, ability or
support of someone who advertises "Dr" in front of their name.

> While Ubuntu is a distro which many newbies initially experiment 
> with (because the CDs are given away freely) 

People were using it before Ship-It, because the smart people who suggests
it is a good idea, suggest that distro.  Possibly because they don't want to
have to spend hours talking people through "simple configuration issues".

People like products.  People advocate and evangelist products.  People
queue for hours for products Apple make, regardless of what they are.
People buy iPods, even if their needs could be served by a Creative or a
Zune.

"GNU/Linux" is a product construction kit.  You can use it to build embedded
systems, systems for old machines, desktop distros for new machines, servers
OSes, whatever you like.  You can advocate the use of things built from the
kit all you like, but people like products.  They don't want to know what
the OS is and some don't even care about the freedom.

> No doubt there are even more people who have tried Ubuntu,
> gave up, and won't go near _any_ Linux distro in the near future.

I know, lets give them Slackware and or OpenBSD and watch them just
magically make their computer a functional Windows alternative.  (If you
prefer, let's set this task 2 years ago.) 

> 1. It should be more stable than Windows (not a difficult feat for 
> any distro)
> 2. It should make current Windows users feel at home as soon as 
> possible,
> 3. It should be as representative of "orthodox" Linux as possible.

You want to build a new Windows, yet you want to make it orthodox.  This is
a paradox.  Windows doesn't give you choice, "orthodox" Linux (which used to
be called UNIX) does, and it lets you do smart-user things like maximise
windows just horizontally or vertically. 

Ubuntu isn't a generic version of Linux.  It's a product that I'm happy to
recommend.  Products that are good turn customers into advocates.  People
like products.

I'm biting.  I'm feeding the troll.  Sorry, I'll try not to do it again.
But Linux isn't what people want.  Products based on Linux are.  Now, please
go back to ragging on me for having just bought an iPod.

Craig