In reply to Rob Exile Ward:
> (In reply to ben b) 'still too rough for general non-geek usage ' For goodness sake, people have been saying that about Linux for 22 years - if it isn't smooth now, after all these years, what do you suppose is going to happen anytime soon to change anything??!
Nothing - which is why I think it is still too rough for general non-geek usage. I don't think it will get dramatically better, ever: it's fantastic for the people who want/need it, but not a solution for someone who just wants to turn their laptop on and it work, easily, with minimal maintenance..
So for someone with a new laptop who has been told Mint is a nice distro, it goes like this:
Google Linux Mint
Go to home page
Look at top: The choices seem to be:
Linux Mint 15 KDE,
Linux Mint 15Xfce,
Linux Mint 15 Olivia,
LMDE 201303 - The best of Mint with Cinammon and MATE.
Read on confused to the top announcement: "The Medibuntu repository was discontinued and is no longer available. As a consequence, you might see error messages in the Update Manager, Package Manager and Software Manager. The solution is to remove Medibuntu from your list of repositories: Open a terminal Type gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list to edit the list of repositories (replace “gedit” with “pluma” "
Or pay more - much more - for a mac, and get OSX. One flavour, restricted, irritating for those constrained by it, but actually for many people easy to get along with after the learning curve is done (see also iPads).
I'm not trying to be critical of Linux, it is an amazing creation and excellent for many very clever things. It just isn't straightforward for the majority of computer users, who get as far as lots of things that can't be pronounced and start with k, or gnu, and wonder where the heck to go next.
b