Yeah, by doing a full re-install from CD when something doesn't work.
You can do that with Linux, too. Don't tell me otherwise, I deal with
a lot of end-users, and that's the only thing I've ever seen them do
if something really wasn't working right on an MS box. And if that
doesn't work, they usually reformat the hard disk and do it again.
Face it, in any modern OS there's going to be so much stuff behind the
scenes that an ordinary user will never be able to figure out what's
going if something goes wrong. The difference between Linux/*nix and
W{95,NT} is that with the later even an expert often can't figure it
out, because error messages are useless, there is little if any logging,
you never know what files are modified by config operations, etc., etc.
I think we need to keep working on tools to make day-to-day
administration of Linux easier, but those tools should do so by
exposing and explaining the underlying mechanisms rather than hiding
them like MS does. The problem with *nix has been that the vendors
have created 'admin GUIs' that are half-assed copies of MS control
panels rather than really tackeling the problem of making the process
transparent and understandable. What's difficult about Unix admin
isn't that /etc/passwd is a text file---in the contrary---so making it
a fill-out-form doesn't help much. What's difficult is that there's a
lot to keep track of... so a better approach is good documentation and
organization. I think actually that the Linux file-system standard
has done more for making Linux approachable than most vendors' whole
suite of sys admin GUIs.
Linux is a hacker's OS. If we want it to have broader appeal, the way
should be to turn the users into hackers (by empowering, encouraging,
and educating them... as much as possible automatically so), rather than
trying to turn Linux into a ``one button'' OS. The one-button approach
will prove to be a big lie anyhow. There will always be more people who
don't want to be empowered... well, they are not our target audience...
I don't care if Microsoft separates them from their money. On the other
hand I /do/ want to help anyone who really wants to stop being a sheep,
and make it realistic for them even if they weren't born with a hacker
aptitude.
-- Jurgen Botz, jbotz@mtholyoke.edu "Unix? What's that? Is that like Linux?"