[H-GEN] HP officejet 6310 and suse10.1

[andrew laidlaw]

Dear Anthony,

I do agree with you, all the way down the line.  It would be better if car owners universally took an interest in what is under the  hood.  Everything you've said, when said to me, is good.  I also feel strongly that the world should work from the basis of insisting upon understanding whatever it is that it is doing.  

But the damn world just isn't like that in practice and I'm wanting to shift context into the space that is occupied in practice by the next level of users.  I'm attempting to reflect how I hear them responding ubiquitously to linux's image in general.  It is a problem that can't be overstated, and I want to argue that the time is mete to address it head on.

This discussion wouldn't even be relevant if the overall system underpinning linux (as opposed to merely the product, which is already widely known to be good) wasn't so much closer to "complete" than I'd anticipated finding.  It's not yet idiot proof, but that will inevitably come.  

So I'm talking about what is implied by a genuine optimism regarding the prospects for linux.

After years of finding them pushing back on the "political" dimension, I'm finding that the wider user base is finally getting angry enough to take action, because the results of the MS dominance are now there for everyone to see.  

At this point, when the linux technology is for all intents and purposes ready for ordinary mortals, the (valid up until now) argument that the community needs those folk who can get inerested, involved and contribute directly but does not need (to modify itself to embrace) basic users  (who just suck up everyone's time) starts needing to be inverted.  

Linux wants (or, IMO, should want) to pick up that next tier of users because everytime someone goes into Harvey Norman/Officeworks/Retravision etc etc to ask for a linux product/support, it has an effect.  Make no mistake about it:  MS will be out there pressuring the retail chain to not engage with Linux.   Once it becomes possible (and perfecting the likes of Yast2 will soon enough make it so) to support the next tier, the nett impact of picking one of them up becomes positive whether they actively contribute or not.  Only the emergence of a real user base will drive (for example) the modem manufacturers to write GNU softmodems.  

It often enough happens that the very elements critical to an early success can later come to limit it, and in this case perception seems to be one of the main factors inhibiting growth of the linux user base.  The very ideals that we technically minded folk hold up as positive (fair enough because the linux history has shown how well it works) also happen to create negative perceptions in the minds of the very people who need to be convinced in order for the technology to advance to the next level.


I don't want to single you out - there's just nothing wrong with the comments you are making.    I could have picked up on any of a dozen threads here or at other forums/groups in order to make these points, which I appreciate are probably going to be unwelcome to many Unix / Linux insiders.

Best regards..... andrew.


 		
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