What a load of crap. Ever try making MS software work with non MS software.

Hi,

I also read the article and while I agree with your initial assesment; "things to which I'm accustomed - like using the command line - are not at all intuitive to the Windows user." I disagree with the rest.

We should not be thinking that, "Making Linux ubiquitous on the desktop will be a matter of coming up with a simpler, more accessible mental model of a computer for the end user." Because that is precisely the type of thinking, make it for the lowest common denominator (one that doesn't understand or want to learn), that Microsoft employs and has itself created a lot of problems with security, configuration, the registry, dll hell, malware, etc.

The "tendency among Linux evangelists to try to "fix" a neophyte's problems" is exactly what is needed. It shows computer users that they can fix their own problems. We shouldn't forget that Linux is free and it is not entirely unreasonble to think that people who want to use something that they don't have to pay for might have to learn how to use it.

As far as "Making Linux ubiquitous on the desktop," I'm not sure this is the goal of the people who are writing the code or doing the distributions. And eventually linux use on the desktop will increase more because of economics forces, DRM issues, malware, viruses, performance rather than building a dummied down version to entice them.

After reading through a lot of the comments here I a striking similarity between Terry Childs and Randall Schwartz. For those too young to know: http://news.cnet.com/Intel-hacker-sentence-expunged/2100-7350_3-6164113.html

While the cases are not exactly the same, the community response was. Most admins thought that he was right and that he did not do anything wrong and that he would eventually win in court. He didn't.

Thirteen years later his conviction for hacking into the company's systems expunged, but that is a big chunk of time to pay.

Anyhow ... his milage may differ, but I won't bet on it.

It's easy to say something funny like ... I buy Nike shoes way too small to fit my feet. Claim Nike stopped me from going to work. Profit! What bothers me the most about the story is that the computer was more than equipped to do the job, she wasn't. There is plenty of information on how to use Ubuntu. Hell, there was probably a Ubuntu user group on campus. Did she ask Dell or the college's tech support how to hook it to the Internet? If all she wanted was to have Windows on it then she should have bought one that way. I'm sure that when she purchased it Dell did not hide the fact that it had Ubuntu on it. This is not a linux problem.