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Turning Linux's Advantages in to Advantages
No, I didn’t write that title wrong. Linux’s key advantages, such as customizability, the repository system, hardware support, and excellent interfaces, are frequently viewed as downsides or deal-breakers to new users. How many times have you seen someone complaining that it is so much easier to install software on Windows or claiming you can’t do anything with Linux without being a hacker? The real problem is that if you make anything different in a meaningful way, many users dismiss it as “worse” than whatever they are used to. Take the example of software installation and updating systems:
This is how you install and update software on Windows:
- Open a web browser.
- Download an executable file from an (often un-verified) source.
- Press next, next, next, next, next, next, next, next, finish.
- Launch your software.
- Wait for each individual piece of software to nag you about the latest update. (“Logitech is going to look for updates…,” “Adobe PDF Reader version 8.4 is available. Please install it now,” “QuickTime needs an update (hey, mind if we sneak Safari in there, too? *wink*)”)
On Linux, on the other hand, it works something like this:
- Open Add/Remove programs.
- Press a check mark and hit apply.
- Launch your software.
- Sit back as your software is automatically updated.
The point here is that, despite the Linux method being better, a lot of people prefer the Windows way, just because that is what they are used to. What about OS X, then? Well, OS X is really just Windows plus some tweaks, all built on a better platform. I am not trying to imply that OS X is a bad system or that Apple has done nothing new, but the changes in OS X are not fundemental changes to the way things work in the OS.
Am I saying we should dumb down Linux and add a big, green start button? No! Features that are being viewed as bugs need to be carefully looked at though. The question is: what can be changed about this feature so that we retain the core advantage but make it simpler to use? For example, in an ideal world, perhaps if you needed an application that was not in the repositories, you could go to a website and press a single button (and enter your password, of course) to add a new repository and install the relevant software.
I am sure that a better solution to that particular problem can be discovered, but the point is that any feature that is sometimes viewed as a problem should have its implementation reconsidered, in an effort to keep the advantages and make the experience more intuitive.
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Instead of looking at it as “one way or the other”, look at it as “one way, but switchable to the other”. I’ve long felt that Linux distros should have “noob” and “guru” modes, when installing the OS, when installing software, when doing lots of things. Noob users would have very dumbed-down, hand-holding wizards to do basic option selection and fire-n-forget methods of attack. Gurus could click on a button to go into advanced mode for further options, command-line additions, etc.
Using Ubuntu as an example, the install is pretty dumbed-down, which is good. However, more advanced users would like to exclude certain packages from the start, or use a customized script for something, whatever. It would be nice to go into an advanced install mode to tailor things before they even install. Having to go through a fresh install and uninstall a bunch of packages you don’t want is annoying.
Likewise, when you setup certain accounts in your Linux distro, they should make it easy to flag what kind of account it is. I’m not talking about “Admin” account. I’m talking “noob/grandmother”, “regular/family”, “power-user/techie”, “admin/god”. Your granny probably never wants to install stuff; she’ll ask you to do that. So, why should her account let her see things like system management info, Synaptic Package Manager, or even the Add/Remove section? It shouldn’t. Your family may need to see the add/remove section. Power users would want to see add/remove and synaptic to install libs. They should make roles for the computer generic, and maybe ask you a wizard-like Q&A about what the role will be doing, so it can figure out what it needs access to. As far as I know, you have to use admin-mode to use command-line to lock down what other users can do, which tends to be beyond most folks (unless you’re a techy command-liner, which even some linux power-users shy away from.)
While the install system in most versions of Linux is easier than the Microsloth system, it does have problems:
1) 5 months after Open Office 3 has been released it is not available as an automatic install for many Linux Distros. New software releases often do not show up in the software installer until a year or more after their release.
2) The various search mechanisms in the installers are poorly designed. In some you can search descriptions, in some you can’t, in most you cannot change where and what you are searching.
3) Many installers show programs that will not install properly on the target system, or show 2-3 versions of the same program with no explanation of the difference (one version might be Gnome and the second KDE, or you could have versions 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 Alpha).
4) Many installers offer confusing options for what they will show, for example it is possible to show library packages – which is useful for a developer, but useless and confusing to anyone else.
If we want Linux to spread, we’ve got to fix problems like this. The reason that Apple sells so much kit, and is gaining market share, is that they’ve simplified the system so that Joe Average can sit down, run it, and it’s practically impossible for him to kill it (unlike Linux and Windows, where Joe Average can wipe the OS and his data with a careless click).
I don’t mean to dumb down Linux. I mean to make it simpler, easier to use, and as fool proof as possible for the average user, who’s main concerns is geting stuff done with little or not hassle, while leaving it flexible and powerful for power users and system admins.
http://0install.net/matrix.html
comparison of all the different systems, pros n cons
I agree entirely with your sentiments and they echo many that I have written in my own blogs.
Linux’s biggest advantage, though, is its diversity. It is our source of strength and innovation. Users are people and we are all different, with different needs. Having things done the same way don’t make sense when you can have freedom of choice. Give lots of choice. The more distros the better. Give lots of ways of doing things and you will satisfy more people in the end. Diversity makes us stand out from Windows and OS/X and it keeps Microsoft at bay. There is no one thing that they can get their hands on or attack.
Keep up the great work. Windows users who see problems with Linux need to see things from the other side and then realize that things are not so bad. In fact, they are downright good once you understand why things are the way they are.
My latest piece is called I Don’t Like Linux Because.. and can be found at http://linuxcanuck.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/i-dont-like-linux-because/ ; you might like to read it as it is similar to your thinking.
Cheers
Hi.
I also believe installing software on linux is easier that other os’s (as long as its in your package manager).
The technology you describe – i.e simply going to a website and clicking a button to install software does already partially exist.
I know to 2 ways where this is used
1. The 1 click install software from opensuse – this can be used to install a single app – i.e smc or the latest kde.
2. The http://www.playdeb.net/ site
- you have install a package – apturl – then you browse to the games sections and just 1 click to install them – the games are generally newer than in standard ubuntu pacakages… – this is beta right now …