Message-ID: <32A4C710.48EB@gbrmpa.gov.au> Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 08:34:24 +0800 From: Leath Muller Reply-To: leathm AT gbrmpa DOT gov DOT au Organization: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "A. Kunigelis" CC: djgpp AT delorie DOT com Subject: Re: SVGALIB stuff References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Eh? Pressing 'ANY KEY' is also sometimes hard for a beginner ("I can't > find a key labeled 'any'!"). OK, to be serious Linux is not that hard to > set up *at all* these days! I installed Debian GNU/Linux off 4 floppies > without problems and then downloaded the rest of fancy stuff over the > internet pretty quick. All flavors (RedHat, Slackware, Debian) have > package managers and it's trivial to install/remove packages. E.g. I'd > just do: > $ dpkg --install binutils.deb gcc.deb ... > and there we go... And to remove them: > $ dpkg --purge binutils Yes, but is this going to be obvious to the beginner? I know an average 486/100 owner who I asked to install DJGPP on his machine just to see how he would go.... basically he said: "what is a xxx.zip???". I then gave him my Linux stuff to install of a CD, with an install program, it started to run, and it told him to stick in a floppy - fine. It told him to label the floppies etc - fine. It then told him to reboot with the new floppies - fine. He got to the command prompt and: "What the @$!#!!!" From there, he just got stumped. :) Basically, he didn't like the 'manual' part of the DJGPP install process. If this was automated, it would be even easier than the Linux install currently is under Windows... > Once more: Linux is not a beast! Go on and you'll see Linux is dead set brilliant. But its still a lot harder to learn how to use than DJGPP. This friend of mine knows how to get a dos prompt, and compile something from there (ie: just type 'gcc'). He didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I told him to 'login' to Linux. Even after I logged him into Linux, he couldn't just alt-enter back to his Win95 and do something when he wanted to - thus said Linux sux. How is a normal person ever going to get to learn about dpkg if they don't under- stand the command prompt? You have to remember also that the installer doesn't help you use the program... Linux is for programmer/system operator like people, and people who have experience in Unix. DJGPP is DOS orientated, which is even more familiar to people who use Win95... Leathal.