Re: [SLE] Novell reports loss

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To: suse-linux-e@suse.com
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 22:50:53 -0400

On Friday 27 May 2005 21:40, Arie Reynaldi Z wrote:
> > Well if every idiot who can't RTFM and screws up the install would quit
> > spamming SUSE-Linux-E with how "bad" 9.3 is maybe they would do a little
> > better.
>
> Oo, so now it'ss the users fault ? They are actually good parameters
> that people very eager to use suse and they might just another M$
> users who try to swtich to linux beacuse of license problem. Yes, the
> still see linux as windows, they dont know what kind of hardware in
> their PC's, but they want to switch to SuSE. So bare with them if they
> screw in installation or they dont like to RTFM... :)
> And it should be respond positively from developer point of view.
> regards,

I believe there is a middle ground somewhere in here. When I came to Linux
and open source, the pervailing opinion was that OSS was about contributing
to improve the product you are using. People who break the seal on the DVD
box and proceed to install SuSE Linux need to appreciate that they are
working with a different business model than that which prevails in the
software industry.

We need to keep in mind that companies such as NVidia and, even worse, ATI,
put almost all their effort into supporting operating systems made by one
company which holds a virtual monopoly on the desktop market. I reveived 9
DVDs with my new NVidia card. All of them require operating systems made by
that one company.

Sure, when I stuck the NVidia CD in with that companies flagship OS running, I
got all kinds of nify GUI help in installing the drivers. With SuSE, things
were a bit more arcane, and did not work flawlessly. But I got it working.
That means it can work, and work better. I reported my problems to SuSE, and
shared my observation on this list, so that other people could learn from my
experience. And that is the bottom line. It's about sharing, and working
together rather than relying on one invisible master to solve all our
problems.

Imagine what would happen if all the hardware vendors who put their resources
into providing extensions to the monopolistic OS were to provide enhancements
to Linux, and other OSs with a commitment to compatability, and
interoperability.

As regards RTFM, that takes time, and requires that you UTFM (understand).
That takes experience. I've had things go wrong with installs on the
monopolistic OS. When that happens, I have virtually no way of looking
behind the GUI and seeing what is actually going wrong. After several hours
of trial and error, I may discover that I have to give a particular field in
the GUI focus even though it does not require any input. If something goes
wrong with a SuSE setup, I may spend the same number of hours tracing through
hard to follow configuration scripts and find that, for some reason a
particular file is not being replaced, or modified. I can then implement a
workaround, and notify SuSE of the problem.

IMO, when you break the seal on the distribution CD, you are making a
commitment to expend a bit of effort, and do you part to improve the product
for yourself, and for the rest of the world. SuSE doesn't own Linux, and
Novell doesn't own Linux. You own Linux. The "free" in free software does
not mean cost free, it means free as in live free or die.

Find the term Stamp Act here:
http://www.americanrevolution.com/KingGeorge3rd.htm

-- 
Regards,
Steven
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