MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-07-02 |
| FROM | Mike Richardson - NYLXS VICE PRESIDENT
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] letter to Mandrake - edit 1
|
this is much better than the way I wrote it.
On Wed, 2 Jul 2003, Adam Kosmin wrote:
>
>
> My name is Michael L. Richardson, I am currently serving as President of
> NYLXS INC., which has been established to promote Free Software in the
> New York area. Over the years, I have personally enjoyed using several
> versions of your wonderful distribution. However, I can not help but
> take exception to a phrase taken from section IV.11 of the User Guide
> for version 9.1 which states: "notably by avoiding use of the evil
> command line".
>
> Section IV.11 provides an introduction to Mandrake control center and
> describes DrakConf with the following language:
>
> "Mandrake Control Center is Mandrake Linux's main configuration tool. It
> enables the system administrator to configure the hardware and the
> services used for all users. The tools accessible through the Mandrake
> Control Center greatly simplify the use of the system, notably by
> avoiding the use of the evil command line."
>
> As stated earlier, I take exception to the phrase "notably by avoiding
> use of the evil command line" for several reasons. For starters, any
> competent GNU/Linux System Administrator knows that the real power of the
> operating system can be leveraged best from the command line. The
> reasons for this go back to the modular philosophy of UNIX which allows
> small and efficient tools to be strung together to create powerful new
> work flows that are only limited by creativity and ingenuity of the
> user. Furthermore, I believe that a distribution should encourage it's
> users to interact with this powerful interface and not attempt to cater
> to the affects of Microsoft's campaign to dumb it's users down. Most
> GNU/Linux users who have made the transition from Windows are delighted
> to learn about the flexibility and power that is provided by a GNU/Linux
> system and I see no reason to dissuade future generations from
> experiencing the same rewarding feelings of empowerment.
>
> Also worth noting is the lack of an expert mode in the installation
> routine. While I'm happy to see that Mandrake has made great progress in
> the ease-of-use department, it seems that this progress may be coming at
> a price to those of us that are not new to the platform and therefore,
> are looking for flexibility. Especially confusing is the fact that
> although the installation routine offers an expert mode, when clicked,
> no choices are presented. As a result, I can not help but wonder if this
> is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.
> Either Mandrake has decided to abandon the concept of expert mode and
> has failed to remove all fragments, or someone just forgot to actually
> get it to work. Either way, I am anxious to hear your comments on both
> of these issues.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Michael Richardson
>
> NYLXS President
> New York GNU/Linux Scene
>
> --
> # chown -R linux.GNU world
>
> ____________________________
> NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
> Fair Use -
> because it's either fair use or useless....
> NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
>
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
|
|
