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Subject: Re: the usual linux versus windows discussions.

Author: Russell Reagan

Date: 11:46:54 10/24/03

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On October 24, 2003 at 10:27:16, Anthony Cozzie wrote:

>When I first installed linux 4
>years ago, I had to hand-edit my XF86Config file.

I had to write my own XF86Config from scratch a few weeks ago to get my display
to go beyond 800x600 (which wasn't all that pretty on a 19 inch monitor). But it
wasn't hard. I had never done it before. I just read the documentation and it
worked without a single problem.

I think the main problem is that people don't want to "waste" even 10 seconds
learning how to do something on their own.

My mom is always amazed that I "know" her tax program better than she does (and
she's an accountant). I really know nothing about it, but she wants to print it
a certain way or whatever, and I know that every program has a way to change the
printer settings basically the same way, and it's almost always in the File
menu, so I go right to it and look around for maybe 5 seconds and find the
option she wants and it works.

At my work I deal with the people using public computers for the internet and
email and writing their resumes, etc. (at a library), and I get the same people
asking me the same simple questions, like how to copy and paste something into
their Word document. If they wanted to learn instead of asking someone else how
to do it each time, they would realize that just about every program has an Edit
menu, and under that menu is Copy and Paste, and then they could use programs
that they've never used before and give people the impression that they know
them.

But people don't want to spend a single second looking through the menus, so why
would anyone want to spend a few minutes to actually read a few PAGES (oh no!)
of documentation, when they can't spare 10 seconds to look under the Edit menu
and find Copy and Paste?



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