Re: Explaining Linux

["Foz" <nospam [at] mmu.ac.uk>]

> My friends and I have been talking lately about Linux, and it has 
> lead to some pretty heated debates. Simply put, they have never 
Ahhhh Bill Gates blind little followers....
> used linux, they are used to Windows and see no reason why they 
> should change, and hence anyone else like them. They presume 
> that Linux only has advantages for the technically minded and will 
> be useless to the average user. They accuse Linux of being harder 
> to use, having less software and being less dependable as, since 
No, just something to *learn*, So what is dependable on Windows - 
BSODs?
> its free, there is no accountability like there is with Micro$ofts 
> products.
Nothing is released in the mainstream i.e. the kernal unless it is 
solid, and if a bug is found then it is fixed within days of reporting 
and a update is released. Bugs are ironed out a lot faster with way
> 
> What do the list think of this? There are certainly many advantages 
> to Linux, and many disadvantages, the amount of problems 
> experienced by the members of this list makes this clar, although I 
> do have to say most of the problems are of a nature which would 
> not interest the average computer user. Im thinking of Richards 
> ISDN troubles at the moment.
But could be useful in the future if/when everyone has ISDN or 
something similar, Richard will know what to do and help other 
people with the problems that he has faced.
> 
> How can I explain that when I tell someone about Linux its 
> because I think it may benefit them, if not educationally then 
> financially?
I am at university, I use SuSE 6.3, for £28 is it an 
educational/financial miracle:
* Word Processing - Peoples style change and when writing long 
essays or a thesis, styles change a lot and it requires you to go 
through careful examination after you have spent weeks typing a 
100,000 word thesis, but large files are difficult to handle in any 
word processor, and everything needs to be kept together. So lets 
start with throwing the WP out of the window - and introduce Lyx.
Lyx is a frontend for Latex, you just dump in all the junk of the 
assignment, and let the computer worry about formatting - 
formatting that you get standards in books. The computer can 
handle large documentation, along with drawing out equations, 
tables, charts and lots of other things, in the styles that rules that 
are only found in books. Nice.
* Spreadsheets - Take your pick, Gnumeric, KSiag, SS. Or go an 
extra dimension better than Excel, and use Teapot (I think) a 3d 
spreadsheet.
* Databases - There are a few on with SQL in them and external, 
but I personally have not needed to use them yet.
* Browsers - Netscape, Arena, Lynx to name a few
* CAD packages are in SuSE 6.3, although I don't personally use 
them
* Games - Doom, Doom 2, Quake, Quake II, Quake III, Civilisation, 
etc, etc, etc.
* Development - Nearly every programming language under the sun 
is available for Linux. (I don't know about Modula-3, I haven't seen it 
yet).

Need anymore?

----------------------------------------------------
Paul Aspinall - Manchester Metropolitan Uni
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ATTN: Windows has an intelligent form
of AI - it recognises when you are about 
to save your work and then crash.
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