Summit redux

April 25th, 2004

I won't go into all the fuss it took for me to get this page uploaded and linked properly. Let's just say I'm no webmaster, in any sense of the term. Couple that with the fact I'm trying to learn how to use the tools available in Mandrake 9.2, instead of falling back on Dreamweaver in Windows XP, and you're lucky to be reading this at all.

The Linux summit was intended to address the issue of gaining acceptance for Linux on the corporate desktop. But an interesting sub-topic was raised by several speakers; shall we approach this from an anti-Microsoft viewpoint or a pro-Linux one? Will we achieve our aims better by bashing Bill Gates at every turn, or by presenting the positives of Linux? Not being a negative person at heart, I'm more inclined to take the second approach. I'm also convinced that it's a good thing to be honest about the things that still make Linux difficult for those new to the operating system. Linux is almost ready for the prime-time, but not quite yet. For someone who approaches Linux from Windows and is not prepared to make some major adjustments in their way of thinking and performing common tasks, Linux can still be a major disappointment.

One thing I've noticed is a lack of documentation outside of the distribution. I have yet to see a book on how to work with Mandrake, perhaps one of the most popular distributions for those new to Linux. I wish I knew enough to publish such a thing myself. Instead, I'll try to provide links to sites that address that need.