On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 10:02:02 +0100 "Keith Watson" kpwatson@ukfsn.org wrote:
they might prefer to encapsulate or package the work of others in ways that makes it more accessible to non-technically minded people who just want it to work. A sort of 2nd generation Open Source movement if you will. I think this is starting to happen with things like Knoppix, Morphix, Mandrake, etc.
Regards,
Keith
I think thats where I came in to Linux, with KDE beta's I finally felt I could move forward into Linux rather than just have it as a learning environment for C/C++. Now Gnome and KDE have made it to mature(ish) desktops I believe they are passable as desktop systems for non technical users provided they have experienced sysadmins administering the machines.
I must admit prolonged exposure to Linux has turned me into a command line fan.
I still use X though and recommend these GUI's
icewm sylpheed rox-filer gimp nedit mozilla dillo abiword alsaplayer xmms grip gv gqview
but my favorite GUI of all is Xterm, all the power of a terminal but stretchable
I don't use them all very often but they are good when I use them.
Linux is getting very acceptable and many free software projects are now showing serious signs they will take over the desktop.
One of the strengths of Linux is its not exclusively targeted at people who have money to spend on Computers. This means that until very recently I still had a 200MHz CPU as my main box at home, and found my choice of applications growing with time rather than shrinking as they did not support old hardware. The impact of Linux is I predict lowest in our rich first world countries. I am just surprised at the bold European direction Linux is taking, eg NGO's and across Government.
Regards
Owen Synge
PS is that the same Keith I used to work with at Kewill? If so where are you working now?