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* On Sun Jun-12-2005 at 01:33:02 PM -0700, Zac Medico said: |
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> Athul Acharya wrote: |
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[...] |
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> > I mean lets face it, a distro that's largely DIY is hardly a good |
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> > first Linux, but an excellent second Linux and indeed thats the very |
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> > reason why I use Gentoo. Let Redhat/Fedora/Mandrake do the initial |
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> > user grab, that's what they're good at. |
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> |
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> OTOH, most computer users are unable to or uninterested in |
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> installing/configuring an OS. All they need is someone to setup |
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> Gentoo for them and they can basically use it like they would an MS |
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> Windows "appliance". |
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|
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[Sorry, I've gone OT with this...] |
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|
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I have a friend who is clueless when it comes to computers. I've set up |
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Gentoo for him -- after Mandrake, of all distros, was a pain to get |
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working with his pc -- and he's just stoked that he doesn't have to |
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worry about websites ruining his PC with ads and spyware. I have to |
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maintain it, but Gentoo makes that a breeze since I can log in from home |
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and update as necessary. |
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|
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Gentoo draws a line between user and admin, while most OSs try to get |
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rid of this line. I think it's an important line to have for now. There |
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may not be as much danger in using a computer as driving a vehicle, but |
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it's still a machine which requires knowledge to safely operate well. |
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Most users simply aren't willing to learn what they should know since |
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they only see the computer as a means to an end. I don't think there's |
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anything wrong with that, but I sympathize with users who suffer through |
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needless OS problems just because they are in the habit of clicking OK |
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to the 100 message boxes they see pop up daily. Even if that message box |
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is really just a web page with a graphical link that runs some ActiveX |
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code... |
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|
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I got sidetracked; my main point was that Gentoo is a great OS for even |
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the most careless user, as long as there is an admin to keep the system |
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running safely and smoothly. |
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|
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Many thanks to the Gentoo devs, who have made this solid distro a |
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pleasure to run for everyone from server admins to PDA users. |
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|
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(Note: I don't have Gentoo running on my PDA yet... but as soon as I can |
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boot the kernel that'll be my next goal) |
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|
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-- |
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Sami Samhuri |