TOC Linux

[JoeHill]

Lennart Sorensen wrote: 

> On Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 04:21:46PM -0400, Robert Brockway wrote:
> > I think this is true to a point however I've seen plenty of examples of  
> > non-technical people surviving just fine without MS-Windows and a mouse.  
> > 30 years ago it was common for the secretaries in some organisations to  
> > use a dumbterm - somehow they survived without a mouse :)  
> 
> Wordperfect 5.1 users rarely had a use for a mouse.  It didn't really
> do much useful with one.  They seemed quite productive.
> 
> > I've personally worked with a hundred completely non-technical data entry 
> > people who tapped away at dumbterms all day long without complaint (I was 
> > a consultant sysadmin on the server).
> >
> > I've also need police officers using an interface to a mainframe system 
> > to enter data.  The mainframe interface was a tn3270 emulator running on 
> > OS/9 Macs.  That entire state-wide police department ran that way for 15 
> > or 20 years just fine.  
> 
> Sounds like a nice reliable and simple system.  The dumber all the
> devices are the better.  Keep all the data and applications on one box
> and you only have one box to secure and maintain.
> 
> > There can be resistance but OTOH if proper training is provided a lot of  
> > people will just see it as part of their job and get on with it.  
> 
> They might whine about the lack of youtube access. :)

That would be everyone where I work. We do nothing but scan books (lift glass,
flip page, drop glass, take picture, etc.), so we watch Surfthechannel and Hulu
all night. I really don't think anyone could do the job without it.

Back on point, I work with about 30 people who are utterly clueless about
anything but Playstation, and they all work on Ubuntu Linux and do their jobs
just fine...mostly ;)

I get annoyed when I see the 'Linux isn't user friendly' tripe, because most
people don't even know what Linux is. As has already been pointed out here, if
the application doesn't work or is hard to use, that is not the fault of the
operating system. If a user can navigate a menu and use a keyboard, it really
doesn't matter what the OS is.

If the user can't manage even that, it's no one's fault but their own.

-- 
J
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