[vox] Debian Frustrations for Non-Geeks

[Scott Ritchie]

On Fri, 2006-09-22 at 10:29 -0700, Bob Scofield wrote:
> Here's why an apt-based, or at least a Debian, system is still frustrating for 
> non-geeks.  When apt updates various programs, or kernels, things sometimes 
> stop working.  And it's a problem if you don't know how to fix them.
> 
> Earlier this year I installed Etch.  Kb3 has never worked on my Etch until 
> today.  Kb3's error messages always said to use the 2.4 kernel if you were 
> having problems.  So today apt updates my kernel to 2.6.17 and magically Kb3 
> works perfectly.  I still think SuSE may be the best recommendation for 
> newbies and bewbies.  (bewbies are newbies who never learn.  It rhymes with 
> boobies.)
> 
> Bob
Why are these non-geeks using alpha software if they're worried about
updating it and having things break?  Etch (aka "unstable") is exactly
the wrong platform to be using if you have that sort of concern - that's
what Debian stable and, more usefully, Ubuntu releases are for.

Heck, I switched to Ubuntu for that exact reason, and I AM a geek.

Thanks,
Scott Ritchie