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> This leads me to my biggest problem with Fedora. On one hand, it is > a great introduction to Linux. It installs easily, works well and is > attractive. On the other hand, it plays right into the hands of > Linux's biggest critics, which is the mistaken notion that it is > unfinished and most things don't work. You are given a browser with > no plugins, so if you jump online excitedly with your new system, > there are a lot of things that won't work. You load your favorite > mp3s, then find out you cannot play them. God forbid you have a dvd > drive. You notice the red exclamation point telling you there are > updates available, but up2date freezes leaving you unable to get > them. I know there are fairly simple solutions to these complaints, > but the fact remains that not everyone who tries Fedora will know > how to do it. They will just feel disappointed by a system that lets > them down, deciding that this Linux thing is not ready for prime > time. A program that would set up unofficial repositories with a few > clicks would take care of this, along with some prominent > documentation telling you how to get the things you need. I could > not find any real documentation at the Fedora site, except for > RedHat 9. This may be due to my lack of time to search for it, but > if it exists, it should be clear where it is at.
As Fedora does not include multimedia tools that people are used to in Windows, it could be a problem. Licensing issues aside, new users coming from the Windows world will be quickly frustrated due to this.
A simple method to upgrade to a full multimedia package needs to be looked at. Even in business, multimedia is now required to view various advertising or product information packages. This must not be via searches and multiple WWW sites but a single site with possibly a single click. A WWW link on the desktop to an offshore (outside US if required) to a setup/install script for multimedia access.
It should be as easy as "yum install multimedia".
I know that we all have our own favorite packages for Multimedia but Linux is known for having more than one package that can do the same job.
Linux is moving more and more into the main stream. Start thinking of the lowest common denominator and try making FC work for these people.
I think the problem is the direction of Linux. Admit it: Linux is best as a stripped down OS running on servers. But right now, everyone is trying to make it "easy to use" and "just like Window$" At some point, there needs to be a split.
The server market and the home user market to completely different. In my server room, I want stable, single-purpose machines. A web server should serve web pages; a MySQL server should serve data. But at home, I want a box where I can do everything. Listen to music, surf the web, play a game. Sounds like I need 2 different OSes.
I like what Red Hat is doing with RHEL and Fedora, but they don't do much for the average home user. I hear that Mandrake has filled this gap quite well, but I haven't looked into it myself.
All that to say you need the right OS for the job. And if it ends up being window$ or MacOS, so be it.... NAH! :)
