...I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill...

[kubicle]

Different is fine when it is necessary, Linux is portrayed is the better alternative to the megaliths, not as a disparate collection of similar, but different, operating systems.

There is plenty of standardization in linux that virtually all linux distributions adhere to (POSIX and FHS being the most prominent and oldest, but not the only ones). However, not everything can be or should be standardized, too much standardization kills development. What makes FOSS software better is that there is a lot of healthy competition between technologies and their implementation...if a particular implementation is objectively superior it gets adopted by everyone fairly quickly, becoming a "de facto" standard. Of course sometimes there is no objectively superior implementation, just subjectively better for certain use cases or users, that's why it's good that multiple implementations exist, that users/developers can choose which implementation they prefer or best meets their needs (An example is KDE/GNOME...neither better for everyone, but both meet the needs of some users better than the other...choice is good, even at the cost of being different)

I don't make this plea, if it is one, for me, as I am quite happy to mess about, make mistakes and generally play the dimwit, but for those thinking of converting

You'll likely to be taken less seriously if you claim to speak for "other people" or "the masses" or "the silent majority" (as these claims are unverifiable).

like two of my friends, who were put off by the need to do things

That's quite frankly their problem, not yours, mine or linux, if they are put off by the need to learn new things, there's nothing that can be done about it. Linux is not (and doesn't aim to be) a clone of anything some users might have been accustomed to.

The argument is often put forward that we, the uninvolved users, shouldn't complain

You (and anyone else) can complain if you wish to, but that doesn't mean:
A. that you're correct
B. that anyone has to listen or actually do anything about the complaint (there is a golden rule in FOSS, those that do the actual work make the decision, not random people on the internet who claim to know how things should be done). That doesn't mean developers won't ever listen. Every developer I know welcomes user complaints/criticism when they make sense and are well argumented ("I think you're doing it wrong" or "You should do this because I want you to" don't qualify)

I assume it is done for the same reason I mechanic-ed for my motor-racing friends in the evenings and weekends, for the love of the sport; but if I failed to correctly fasten a bolt and the car crashed, I would have expected to be roundly criticised.

Sure, but would you expect to be criticized, if:
A. Car crashes because the driver took the car before you were finished (using a devel version).
B. Car crashes because the driver doesn't know how to drive or is not willing to learn to drive.
C. Car crashes becauce the driver drives faster than he is capable of.
D. Car crashes into a lake because the driver expects it to act like a boat.
E. The driver complains that the car shouldn't have a rear wheel drive because he's used to front wheel drive.

[bweinel]

Different is fine when it is necessary, Linux is portrayed is the better alternative to the megaliths, not as a disparate collection of similar, but different, operating systems. All right for those steeped in Unix and Linux, but not for those dipping a toe in the water, trying different iterations of the OS and willing to dabble.

A quote from 'If operating systems were airlines" might best describe it:

Linux Airlines
Disgruntled employees of all the other OS airlines decide to start their own airline. They build the planes, ticket counters, and pave the runways themselves. They charge a small fee to cover the cost of printing the ticket, but you can also download and print the ticket yourself. When you board the plane, you are given a seat, four bolts, a wrench and a copy of the seat-HOWTO.html. Once settled, the fully adjustable seat is very comfortable, the plane leaves and arrives on time without a single problem, the in-flight meal is wonderful. You try to tell customers of the other airlines about the great trip, but all they can say is, "You had to do what with the seat?"

If you'd like to read the entire thing its at http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~zurawski/...ew_os_air.html

cheers,
bill

[life0riley]

May I suggest you take the time to read Linux is not Windows by Dominic Humphries. It will help you understand much about the reasons behind the differences.
...

A couple years ago we put in a new system. It was completely different from the old legacy one which was on True UNIX 64. The new system had more of a Windows feel to it compared to the old one that they had to access through a terminal client emulator. We provided plenty of training, but the end users couldn't stop obsessing on the differences. They were so focused on the differences and features they lost that they failed to see how many new features there were. Now they are finally realizing that the new system better than the old one and how many new features they have.


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