Re: SEUL: linux for the masses

[Brian Wiens <wiens@cyberus.ca>]

Doug Loss wrote:

> This probably isn't an appropriate forum for a philosophical debate, but
> I just want to reply to a couple of Brian's thoughts.
>

-- <snip> --

> However, what I got from the Burgess paper wasn't just the need for such
> an interface.  I heard him to say that that had to be the One True Way
> of Linux.  One consistent interface; no CLI; no unix-like commands
> showing.  All of those sounded like demands, not suggestions.  I didn't
> join the Linux community to have my options limited by someone else's
> ideas of what I should want.  Linux should never become a
> one-size-fits-all OS.  It has the potential to work for everyone in the
> manner they want it to--that's the direction we should go.  KDE, GNOME,
> GNUStep, whatever; if you want a consistent UI (and who doesn't?) there
> are choices available that are approaching just that.  And that's _my_
> point--choices.
>

The list has been fairly quiet lately so I figured that the deep-think would not
be inappropriate.  However, I'll try to limit my counter-posts to this one
(difficult now that I'm on holidays :-) ).

I think that we're preaching to the choir.  I was probably being more generous to
Burgess than his paper merited.  I still agree (as I believe you do) with him
about a simplified UI, else neither of us would be on this list.  The creation of
a "standard" Linux (a la LSI, they are dead, aren't they?) would mark the death of
the bazaar and the departure of many of the best and brightest developers in the
Linux movement.

Finally (for this post and thread?), the issue of world domination is something
that _I_ assumed was a joke until I saw the vehemence displayed by many posters in
the local LUG mailing list (oclug) and read some of the interviews with Linus.  It
_would_ be great validation but the humour probably needs to be explained to some
of the brethern who tend to drift towards a Mac-like religious fervour.

This topic interests me and I would be interested in continuing it in private if
this is the wrong forum (no flames, vigourous intellectual debate should not
trigger emotional responses :-) ).  I would like to understand this whole topic
better and the members of SEUL are some of the best placed to comment on the issue
of the average user.

Thanks,

Brian Wiens