Phil Mendelsohn writes: > On Sat, Dec 15, 2001 at 08:25:08PM -0600, Terry Houle wrote: > > > To not discourage our group it would be best just to use GUI and not > > the command line to scare people off. > > Sorry, but I just lost all interest. There's no more reason to stay > away from the command line than there is to stay away from GUIs > entirely. It's a little like teaching people to drive, but not to > make left turns, since 3 rights will do fine and are easier. > > You might look for people that can make it interesting, though. Phil, Your comment is a classic example of the topic of this Newsforge article from a little over a week ago: http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=01/12/05/1259245&mode=thread Making Linux look harder than it is Thursday December 06, 04:34 AM EST [ GNU/Linux ] - By Robin "Roblimo" Miller - Many "gurus" teaching new users about Linux make it look harder than it needs to be, and apparently fail to explain that yes, you can make PowerPoint-style presentations in Linux, you can view Web Pages that use Flash animation and other "glitz" features, and that you can manage all your files though simple "point, click, drag and drop" visual interfaces. Could the biggest problem with Linux usability be that most of the people teaching newbies to use Linux are too smart and know too much? .... Continues .... Isn't the point to get newbies interested -- and converted away from the Microsoft stuff -- to show them that there is an alternative. The point is not to rub their nose in what might be too complicated for them in the beginning. I mean, yeah I learned Linux via the "fundamentalist" approach as well (almost 6 yrs ago now). But if I am to ever convince my parents that they don't need Windows2000 + MS Office + IE just to check their Yahoo! email 3 times per week and maybe type-up a recipe with Word -- then I better damn well NOT force them to use the friggin command-line from the start! :) I understand your point... But I think this attitude may be one factor in what keeps Linux from expanding. :-\ Matt -- For technical support contracts, visit https://order.mysql.com/ __ ___ ___ ____ __ / |/ /_ __/ __/ __ \/ / Mr. Matt Wagner <mwagner at mysql.com> / /|_/ / // /\ \/ /_/ / /__ MySQL AB, Herr Direktor /_/ /_/\_, /___/\___\_\___/ Hopkins, Minnesota USA <___/ www.mysql.com