>GNU/Linux is a grown-up's operating system. You're expected to know your way around, or be able to figure it out.<
I'm sorry, but the 'You're dumb or lazy or both' argument will not fly. There is an easily-correctable problem with Linux, and I hope the good people who devote so much time to Linux will see that. There is nothing I have seen in Linux which is any more difficult than other operating systems I have used. The difference is that most of the doc is oriented towards the person who already knows everything. It is just so silly that Linux developers have worked so hard to make the software itself very good, but then leave it in a state where 98 percent of potential Linux users fall in deep hole if they try it. If the point of Linux is to develop a little club of elite members who have this great software, then the Linux development community is doing great. If the point of Linux is to become the dominant OS in the world, and show everybody how free software is superior, then they have some work to do. Once again, this is not meant to be an attack on Linux, or the extremely helpful and friendly Linux people. It is an opinionated observation on how Linux could be improved, from the perspective of somebody who is not dumb or lazy. I think all Linux needs is a help system designed to be as good or better than the Windows Help file. A large index of topics, each one with 6 to 10 page plain-language intro, and lots of typical examples (each with an explanation) of how to do common things. If this could cover all the standard newbie things, and it got installed along with everything else so the user didn't need a browser or email running in order to get help, then Linux would be much more popular. All those people who install it but end up reformating the partition after a week of failure would instead join the community. The question is, what does the Linux community want? -Kevin Stokes
