Hewlet Packard and Linux

[Peter M. Konka]

Janina,

         How easy is it to learn Linux?  What I mean by this is how long do 
you think it would take for a "non-Linux" user to learn the basic commands, 
and how to get around linux with screwein anything up?

-- Peter

At 10:51 AM 8/25/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Charley:
>
>It really is different in linux, not so much because it's linux, though
>that helps a lot, but more because it's open source. Not everything
>produced for linux is open source, but the vast majority is. In fact, open
>source is the ethos of the linux community. This includes X apps. So, if
>there's something that needs a tweak because blind people can't use it the
>way it is, we are able to make that tweak. We needn't ask permission. We
>needn't beg someone else to put us in their priorities. We can simply open
>the source in our favorite editor and fix the code. This kind of activity
>is not frowned on, as it is in Microsoft environs, it is welcomed and
>encouraged.
>
>To learn more about this approach to software go to:
>
>                 http://www.fsf.org
>
>Please note that major commercial entities, such as Sun Microsystems, have
>bought into this approach. Check out:
>
>         http://www.gnome.org/projects/gap
>         http://www.openoffice.org
>
>What I am about to say should not be taken personally. Over and over, we
>have seen discussions such as the one currently at hand. People come to
>linux from years of struggles with DOS (which is remembered fondly these
>days, though it wasn't necessarily friendly either), and Windows (which we
>have somewhat conquered but still leaves us unsatisfied). We are like
>immigrants in a new land. Our old land didn't offer us 72 varieties of
>soap at the grocery store--we were lucky to get any soap at all. So, like
>immigrants who simply can't understand why there are 72 varieties of soap
>on the shelf, we don't understand the variety and variability inherent in
>open source environs.
>
>Still, we come because we are unsatisfied. So, consider that your linux
>experience, at the absolute worst, will be a tremendous learning
>experience--like a cultural exchange. At best, it may just feel like
>you've been set free in the world of information. Free at last.
>
>What will not serve you in this new land are all the old ideas and
>strategies of coping. This is not Windows, and it isn't even DOS. It's
>different--very different. Those rules don't apply here. So, you will be
>confused if you try to interact in the old familiar ways. What is
>required, rather, is a new attitude. Suspend what you know about Windows
>and DOS and learn. I know this isn't easy, but it is the path to
>understanding.
>
>
>
>On Sat, 25 Aug 2001, Charles Crawford
>wrote:
>
> > Gregory and all,
> >
> >       Thanks for the note about the ability to keep the text of Linux 
> up despite
> > the growing Xwindows.  I really do hope that continues since I am a bit gun
> > shy after seeing Microsoft slowly killing DOS.  As I understand it, you
> > can't boot in DOS anymore and I am not even sure the apps will work in the
> > new Xp.  More tragic in the DOS world is the cintinuing loss of speech
> > products for the environment where older speech hardware can't even be
> > installed.  So we truly have to not only see Linux for what it is now, but
> > we must also make sure it remains a place for blind folks to still do our
> > thing with an operating system as powerful as it is.
> >
> > -- charlie Crawford.
> >
> >
> > -- charlie Crawford.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
>
>--
>
>                                 Janina Sajka, Director
>                                 Technology Research and Development
>                                 Governmental Relations Group
>                                 American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
>
>Email: janina at afb.net           Phone: (202) 408-8175
>
>Chair, Accessibility SIG
>Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
>http://www.openebook.org
>
>Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper,
>Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp
>
>Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther
>King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at
>http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp
>
>Learn how to make accessible software at
>http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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>Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
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