[CS-FSLUG] A new distro model for the real-world desktop

[Timothy Butler]

>
> 	It requires the user to know how to do it. If you know how, it is  
> super simple. But, this project seems to be focused on desktop users.
>
> 	If I download an application for the Mac, it pops open a disk image  
> (or, if I have physical media, that pops open) and typically the  
> folder has a big colorful sign that with an arrow. On the one end of  
> the arrow is the program, on the other is a link to the applications  
> folder. The user drags the app, following the arrow, and bang. It  
> works.
>
> 	No need to run any programs or know any commands. At all.


	I know as Ed says it sounds a bit weird at first. But, while every  
user I've gotten to try Linux has fled it after awhile because they  
didn't find stuff like synaptic easy (even though it seems easy enough  
to me), every user -- including those that tried both -- that I've put  
on a Mac adapted relatively quickly to the "Mac way" and loves the Mac.

	That's why Mac OS X is the only successful UNIX on the desktop for  
average users. (Ironically, it is certified UNIX(R) unlike Linux.)  
And, while it may not favor the "techie" way of doing things often, I  
think that alone merits good reason to pay attention to its methods  
when considering how to make Linux a better desktop platform. Doing it  
the way it has always been done hasn't gotten us anywhere, as Jonathan  
noted.

	The beauty of the Mac way is its simplicity and consistency. Once a  
user learns how to do basic stuff on the Mac, the concepts work  
throughout almost all apps, so the amount of learning curve specific  
to this or that app is significantly lower than average. The fact that  
most tasks can be done without a command line, yet without 20 or 30  
clicks, helps avoid users saying, "couldn't this be made simpler?"

	Training users on the Mac becomes a process of teaching concepts,  
rather than specifics. (I.e. drag and drop for moving files,  
installing programs, attaching documents to e-mail, etc., etc. rather  
than apt-get for this, a menu for that.)

	-Tim

---
Timothy R. Butler | "Philosophy  always  requires  something  more,
Editor, OfB.biz   | requires the eternal,  the true, in contrast to
tbutler at ofb.biz   | which even the fullest existence as such is but
timothybutler.us  | a happy moment."
                                                -- Søren Kierkegaard