quote:
Originally posted by suselinux:
ITS REALLY EASY
as for building from source being hard
if you can spell the words configure, make and install, you've basically got it figured out!
Ok, heres a good one then....
You install your linux distro, but during the configure process you set your resolution out of scan range by accident.
Now, what does a compleat computer newb do when his screen boots up blank?
Here is another one:
In other OS's I double click and install. If your a newb, you need to boot up a terminal (learn a few comands)
cd to your directory
ls-1 to see whats in it
su to root
./configure
make install
install
Now, these archaic commands are a far cry from double click and done. Also, what happens if durink the make process, the Terminal starts scrolling by a huge list of errors due to dependancy issues etc.
Another OS will never have these issues. "But Psyjax! RPM's show nice dialogue boxes explaining what you need!", yes, so now I have a dialogue box telling me I have 10 crypticaly named librarys I need to scour the net for and install. And a common user should know this, or have to deal with this because?
Not to mention poor modem users.
Then their application is finally instaled via RPM. Phew! Let me go use it.... where is it???
Now other OS's put it where you want it, or an Applications folder, and maybe even provide a nifty little icon. In linux, more often than not however, the user has to venture behind /Home/user
to the dreaded 3 letter hell!
Hmmm... is it in /etc, etc/var... no not there. Hmmm likely in the /usr directory... hmmm is it /usr/local or usr/bin ... hmmm
Ahhh!! it must be in her- What the!!! Jezus fucking christ! There have got to be like 8000 porgrams in this folder! And suddenly it occurs to you.... "WHAT THE HELL IS THE BINDARY NAMED!!!!"
Ok.... so, it's taken me quite a bit to learn the ins and outs, and get used to the systems structure. But how on earth, could I sit my grandma down infront of this machine and say: "Use it, you can figure it out!"