--- "STYMA, ROBERT E (ROBERT)" <stymar@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > If they are not supposed to be watching the videos > on the school > > computers, then block them at the firewall as our > business > > does. When > > they cannot watch them on Windows it won't make > any difference. > > > I think the point is that if Linux is to make a > bigger dent in the > Windows desktop, more things have to "just work". > In a similar experiment > to the one which started this thread, I slowly > converted a non-technical > family with three computers from windows to Linux > and recorded the > issues which came up. > (http://www.swlink.net/~styma/LinuxForTheMasses.shtml) > The current distributions of Linux still need a > technical person > to get things working. The technical person would > still have no clue > as to how to get these things working. Many of them > require a fair > amount of research on the web. I understand the > reasons mp3's and > wmv's don't play right out of the box, but to get > "Joe Sixpack" using > Linux requires an update process simple enough for > "Joe Sixpack" to > use to get this functionality working. > > If making Linux really simple is not working out, > another model might > be to have pay subscriptions to remote maintenance > services. The FC3 > and FC4 boxes I maintain for my friends I can access > remotely via > SSH and VNC. On a Windows box, if tech support > cannot talk you through > the problem, the user ends up taking the box in and > paying big bucks. > ssh, /etc/hosts.allow, and iptables could provide a > very effective support > mechanism. On my friends boxes, I am the only one > with the root password, > not that they would understand what root was anyway. > > Just my 2 cents worth. My point is that Linux needs > to be simple in > addition to being better. > Agreed, but like the quote from Euclid "There is no royal path in Mathematics", I would also compare this to linux "There is no royal path to Linux". Make it Fedora, Mandrake, Mepis, Debian, Knoppix, Kanotix, etc., There is a learning curve and actually, the more you learn the better and more technical you become. I have switched some of my friends to Linux, but actually they do not care how things work, they just want to hear mp3's and watch videos. With Mplayer + mplayer plugin, we have been very successful with the exception of yahoo music. However, I tell my friends and my students to just listen to streaming video from shoutcast.com, and bypass yahoo music and yahoo music videos. Best Regards, Antonio > > Bob Styma > > -- > fedora-list mailing list > fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe: > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list > __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com
