Fedora 18, future isn't too good as it seems :-<

[Tim]

Allegedly, on or about 02 November 2012, Timothy Murphy sent:
> What is an "end user", as a matter of interest?
> Is it a polite term for "newbie"?

I would say, especially in this conversation, that it's the person who
will be using the computer, rather than those creating the software.

I still think that the goals of this project are out of kilter.  Those
of us who've used it for ages see it as a test bed, because it's forever
being poked, prodded, and changed, and rapidly abandoned.  Others claim
it's not a test bed, yet the evidence points to the contrary.  

And there seems to be a push to make it an OS for the non-techy
end-user; witness the cloning of the Windows/Apple way of doing things
(copying of interface techniques - Fedora *looking*/*working* like an
tablet computer), the removal of almost all configuration options in
Gnome (upsetting the techy users), and it being promoted as an OS to
escape from Windows.  Yet, the bleeding-edginess of it, and the
extremely limited lifespan, makes it not suitable for the non-tech user.

Only the other week I had a friend recommend their friend see me to sort
out their Windows computer, who actually asked if they could have an
alternative to Windows.  That's the first time I've seen a non-techy
computer user ask me that, and I only evangelise Linux to people who I
know are computer geeks.  But it only took me a few moments thought to
conclude that it'd be a very bad idea for me to put them onto Fedora, as
it'd only last about a year, and it was clear from their out-of-date
Windows install that they expect their computer system to last for
several years.  So I put Ubuntu on it for them, dual booting with
Windows, Ubuntu as the default.

I think the Fedora project needs to have a good think about what they're
doing.  If they want it to be a geek thing, like it's been so far,
that's all well and good, but don't pursue conflicting goals (as it
seems to be going, now).  If they want it to be for non-geek users, then
they seriously need to reconsider the way-too-short lifespan of the
releases.

-- 
[tim at localhost ~]$ uname -rsvp
Linux 3.6.3-1.fc17.x86_64 #1 SMP Mon Oct 22 15:32:35 UTC 2012 x86_64

All mail to my mailbox is automatically deleted, there is no point
trying to privately email me, I will only read messages posted to the
public lists.