[ILUG] ilug not ilag ... was [way OT] Word 2003 problems...

[Niall O Broin]

On 12 Jul 2005, at 18:55, Éibhear wrote:

> There are many types of users that can come to this list with 
> legitimate
> questions. The user, brand new to GNU/Linux, who's having difficulty
> accessing a USB thumb drive is an example. This is something that "just
> works" on Windows and Mac OS X, but I've seen few Linux distros get it
> right all the time. [Mandrake is the best with this, in my view.]

That may have been truer in the past but USB memory sticks just work on 
most current distributions I have tried. I might also add that I have 
had problems with invisible memory sticks on OS-X AND Windows XP at 
times.

> Your manifesto for ILUG is more exclusionary than the regular "can we
> close ILUG to prevent spammers" calls. It borders on elitist. It would 
> be
> a pity if a majority of ILUG subscribers agree with you. I, for sure,
> would take my 11 years' extensive *use* of UNIX and Linux experience 
> away
> with me. I would not like to be a member of a group that would scorn my
> contribution, little though it may be at times.

I think you misunderstood Paul. He did try to clarify what he meant. 
His point is that Linux distributions have matured to the extent now 
that they just work OOB for most people (whereas years ago, there was a 
level of expertise needed to do something as sophisticated as get a 
graphical user interface running on the hardware you had [mind you, 
that's still NOT a solved problem, but lets not go there] ) so Paul's 
point was that those who come to ILUG are not just users but admins, in 
that they want to do a little more than just "use" their boxes.



Niall