Why are .thunderbird and .evolution hidden ?

[Craig White]

On Fri, 2010-02-26 at 19:49 -0500, Marcel Rieux wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 7:24 PM, Craig White <craigwhite at azapple.com> wrote:
> > On Fri, 2010-02-26 at 18:27 -0500, Marcel Rieux wrote:
> >> On Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 8:05 AM, Patrick O'Callaghan
> >> <pocallaghan at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Like many good ideas, I'd say that this one has very little chance of
> >> > becoming standard practice, given that each Linux app decides for itself
> >> > where to put its config files
> >>
> >> As I told Ed, there is more than config files in .evolution and
> >> .thunderbird: there is data!
> > ----
> > imagine that...
> >
> > and there is data in ~/.kde, ~/.mozilla and many other '.' directories.
> > That is a long held tradition and certainly not relegated to the 2
> > applications you are referring to.
> 
> Possible. Those are the ones that are causing me problems.
> 
> > the Mac user with eyes closed should be using a Mac.
> 
> This is the kind of reasoning that brings Mac's market share to around
> 5% worldwide, close to 10% in the US, whereas Linux, also with a *NIX
> based OS, has been hovering around 1% worldwide FOR YEARS.
> 
> So, when you call TV stations to inquire why they don't support Linux,
> they answer: "We support Windows because 94% of our users use it. Hey,
> we even support Mas with 5%. But Linux, with 1%... Are you really
> serious? Should we lose your time on irrelevant matters?"
> 
> In the end, you'll end up browsing the web with the equivalent of Lynx.
> 
> Your opinion I've heard a thousand of times.  It's really no use to
> repeat it. It's a loser's definition that claims that making things
> voluntarily harder for newbies is the way to go. Linux, as we know,
> can't go wrong.
> 
> Thanks for your contribution, Craig! You make lots of sense.
----
again the myopic vision...

Market penetration:

- cannot be adequately established for Linux because so few computers
are actually sold with Linux on them. The one thing you can somewhat
measure is web browser usage where the statistics aren't as clear cut as
you want to believe. See...

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

- the mission for Linux is to provide the best possible software and not
to get market saturation. The saturation is already beginning in so many
different ways already but you don't see it with your limited view.
Countless devices are being driven by Linux and not just the desktop
computer. But the goal is to provide better software, not market
penetration.

- the issue with TV stations isn't really about Linux or Macs or Windows
at all, it is that they are using proprietary technologies which inflate
their audience's costs because of the licensing fees collected by the
companies that make those technologies. That they are blind or
indifferent to the impact of those costs is sad but perhaps you should
spend your time and energy trying to educate them on the hidden costs
and the barriers of access they create when they blindly use the
technologies that seem so widely adopted and easy to implement.

- there's the point of view that keeping config files and data hidden
from view actually makes things easier for 'newbies' as you call them.
The very premise you are citing is entirely disputable. Back up the
entire $HOME directory - backup is done. What could possibly be any
easier for a newbie than that?

Craig


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