I always laugh when I listen to politicians pontificate about how everything in their party is perfect, and those in the party opposing...well, according to them, they pretty much suck.
No really...it does bring me a laugh when I hear one politician, speaking of an opposing party member.
"My esteemed colleague from across the Aisle..."
"My well-meaning opponent and friend is mistaken..."
When what they would like to say is:
"That pay-to-play shyster who opposes me is a..."
"If Senator Slashmeister spent more time at roll call and less wearing his wifes...
Well, you get the idea. No one says what they mean when countering or responding to an argument within the same environment. It's all smiles and back-slaps until one does turn their back...
So when I say that I want to address something my "esteemed Colleague" Dietrich Schmitz published earlier, I do mean I hold Dietrich in the highest of regard. My respect for him is great. And while he may have made some good points, regarding "The Linux Desktop Mess".....there's more to the story.
A lot more.
See, many of us have taken on the task of introducing others to Desktop Linux.And while we do a great job for the most part, our follow through isn't the best. Introducing Linux to someone is just the first step. It took me almost 5 months to clean up the damage I did by handing out Linux Live CD's and just walking away, wishing them the best of luck in the process.
No, the introduction is easy. It's helping them understand what they are doing that's tough and more time consuming than many of us are willing to pledge. It goes from being the introducer to being an Advocate. Indulge me just for a minute here:
Advocate:
1: one that pleads the cause of another; specifically : one that pleads the cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court.
2: one that defends or maintains a cause or proposal.
3: one that supports or promotes the interests of another.
I would make a conservative guess that 80 percent of us are sufficient introducers, but as advocates....we fall down. Truth be told from my perspective, I don't think 70 percent of the people who sit down at a computer on a regular basis knows what they are really doing. They tend to be mouse clickers...extremely uncomfortable outside of the few tasks they know how to do well.
Those people, in my mind; are the last ones we should introduce to Linux.
"But, but Ken, we're supposed to be talking about The Linux Desktop Mess."
Yes we are, because largely, we hold some responsibility for making that mess.
How often do we ask those we introduce...What exactly do you use your computer for? What are your requirements for work? How many people will be using the computer?
And those are just the surface questions we need to ask a possible Desktop Linux candidate. As loath as I am to do so...let me trot out ye ol' car analogy just for a minute. Yeah, I know...I'm sorry.
A good car salesman is going to ask you those questions. The last thing he wants in an unhappy customer.
But in referring to Desktop Linux, rarely is there money changing hands. The person introducing someone to Linux doesn't have a professional or social contract with that person. We simply hand them a disk with some quick verbal instructions and go on our merry way.
And after the recipient of that Live CD fails to get it to boot, or cannot get a piece of software to work. The attitude is largely universal.
"Man, Linux Sucks."
I spent a good part of my day two days ago, installing Desktop Linux on a friend's laptop. He wanted to explore Linux on his own time and in an installed environment. Since my personal distro of choice is in a bit of a transition period now, I chose Linux Mint 14 Cinnamon for his Desktop.
He loved it. The more he used the Desktop Linux side of the partition, the more comfortable he felt.
Until he needed to sync his Drive storage with his computer.
See, I didn't know that was going to be important to him. I just assumed that Mint was a strong contender on the Desktop and it would suit his needs.
Well surprise, surprise...the Nautilus Fork in Cinnamon, Nemo; isn't well supported by Insync. For those that don't know, Insync is the application the open source community wrote because Google is too busy to write a native client for Drive. Actually, I tip my hat again for Dietrich, because his use of Insync as an example prompted me to write this.
So yeah...the company that had it's road to riches paved by Linux, now treats it like so much a round tuit.
Around to it...get it? Ok, sorry...
But a Drive client of any kind was important to my buddy. Nautilus IS supported but that meant that he had to install it. Nemo is the head file manager and is the center of the Desktop. Installing Nautilus did give him the tools he needed to sync Drive, but it screwed up his system a bit. I'm researching our options with Cinnamon Mint to see if it can be straightened out. Maybe a clean install, or possibly another distro that still uses Nautilus.
We all have our preferences for a Linux distro. Some of us are fiercely loyal to that group and ideal. We offer it to New Linux Desktop Users because it's the one we know and trust.
That is until we find that distro unable to meet the user's needs.
Dietrich is right. The Linux Desktop IS a mess. Personally, I think they missed our best chance to make Linux a known entity in the market. Canonical was in a position to market Ubuntu as early as three years ago. One centralized distro, one package manager to serve them all, even a built in tech support group in the forums.
But it never happened. Little did we know that the powers that be had different plans for Ubuntu.
But it never happened. Little did we know that the powers that be had different plans for Ubuntu.
But here we sit...what new users we have retained, joined the ranks of us who already use Desktop Linux daily. More importantly are the numbers you don't see...
Those that have given up in disgust and went back to their Windows or Macs.
Because as many of us realize...
Once someone pronounces that Linux sucks...they rarely come back.
-- Ken Starks
-- Ken Starks
