MJ Ray <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I humbly suggest that long futz times are only necessary these days
> when most of the following combine:
>

Hmm.


>  1. unsupported/hard-to-support hardware (maybe bought for compatibility
> with another even-fussier operating system?);
>

Yes, this is the big offender, however I've never met an Ubuntu first
install that didn't work good on the first try. It's only when you start
tweaking stuff it seems it falls down a little.


>  2. control-freakery ("it must work/look exactly THIS way RIGHT NOW
> without me doing much");
>

Yes, hackers tweak, it's in their nature. They also know the consequences
of hacking and tweaking, so I'm not sure this is bad thing per se. I
personally went Linux *because* I like tweaking and then fixing my messes
(my blog is full of angry anecdotes and stories about just this, some
sillier than others), and there is one difference between (at least) the
Windows world and the Linux world; fixing a broken Linux is tons easier
than fixing a broken Windows, so even if we do talk about stuff getting
broken the fixes are not even comparable.

 3. not good at asking for technical help online or being patient with
> LUGs;
>

Hardly ever used this.


>  4. not willing to find and/or pay local experts;
>

I pay myself all the time.


>  5. not willing to search/read the copious fine manuals or debug logs.
>

The amount of fragmented and irrelevant information out there is inverse
proportional to the time you thought it would take to fix your problem.

 I guess newcomers still have to get used to
> basics like having 5 or more useful mouse buttons instead of 1...
>

With the (reasonably) few mishaps I've had while updating and installing
Ubuntu versions, I'm still a happy hacker that never regretted the move,
even if the journey has been bumpy at times. However, a word of warning
about Ubuntu is that it is moving in a direction that, to me, is completely
wrong, so I'm switching to Mint (with that Gnome 3 layer that makes it
Gnome 2 compatible). Unity is a travesty, and the people who hate it the
most are ... the tweakers and hackers. Just sayin'


Regards,

Alex
-- 
 Project Wrangler, SOA, Information Alchemist, UX, RESTafarian, Topic Maps
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