Examination of a Linux Gui, w/color commentary

[Jason Stephenson]

I agree with John Abreau completely on this one. I remember reading a 
joke online about what if people drove their cars the way they operate 
computers.

I am not going to place the blame solely on Microsoft for this, but it 
is my feeling, from working with "non-tech savvy" people all the time, 
that people in general do not even know half as much about running their 
computer as they do about running their car.

Most folks know the rules of the road. They know that their car needs 
certain things--gas, oil, water--in order to operate properly. They also 
know the basic maintenance schedule (oil change every x thousand miles) 
and that it needs basic maintenance.

A computer needs analoguous things in order to operate properly, yet 
most users remain ignorant of the most basic steps required to keep a 
computer running efficiently.

Most people can tell when their car needs servicing or that a funny 
noise from the engine means they should have the car looked at. These 
very same people will suffer with intermittent lock ups on their 
computer for weeks and months before they get so frustrated and complain 
to me that something is wrong with their computer. The problem is that 
the general unreliability of software in the Microsoft world also has 
them trained to ignore minor things, but then those minor things grow 
into something serious before they bring it in.

Largely, it is a matter of user education. After all, we are required to 
get a drivers' license before taking an automobile onto the public 
highways. This is done to ensure that all drivers have a basic 
understanding of the rulse of the road and the operation of a motor 
vehicle. I have occasionally wondered if something similar should not be 
required before hooking a computer onto the Internet.

A perfect example of where user ignorance can cause serious problems for 
others on the 'Net is the latest round of MyDoom viruses. This exploited 
no holes on the OS, but the vacancy between the user's own ears. How 
otherwise very intelligent and capable people can choose to remain so 
willfully ignorant of what has become a basic tool required to do just 
about any job, including their own, is beyond me.

I have even encountered the occasional technophobe, who says they "hate" 
computers. I feel like telling them that if they don't like computers 
there's always their backyard where they can take up dirt farming. 
Computers have become so prevalent in our society in one form or another 
that you cannot escape them.