Need a little help promoting knoppix

[garret]

We are getting ready to launch a new website targeted at promoting the Linux Desktop and the companies/projects creating it. We have had conversations with a few of the Linux Desktop distributions and already have a few on board.

The intention . . . a single central location where people can go to find information about ANY GUI centric (Desktop) Linux distro. Over the years one of the biggest frustrations I have seen, heard and felt with the "quest for the perfect Linux desktop" is how do you know where to find them? Which one do I go to? Where do I look? Distrowatch has done some to help this, but IMHO dos not cover it well enough for the desktop, and the general user, specifically the new user.

The site . . . http://GUILinux.com. It is intended to be an introduction and showcase for Desktop Linux distros. One place where the users can go and get quick real info on ALL GUI distros, not just the ones that you or I might think are good.

Each distro will have it's own area on the site that they control the content on. The level of control that the distros will have on their site will be about 98% of the function that a standard Nuke type site would have. I am looking for two members from each community to help admin their part of the site.

The front page will be mostly for reviews that the distros ask to be posted there as well as their page, and for links, news and information on and about the Linux Desktop.

The sites intention is to get past much of the "them against us" that's going on these days with the Desktop distros, by bringing them all together and giving them all equal billing. It's all about letting the user decide for themselves. The benefit to each distro is further exposure to potential users and customers, whom you may not reach otherwise.

We are NOT trying to replace anybody's website, forums or hijack their communities, rather this is where users will be introduced to the distros, the website and communities. We think it will help users cut through much of the “hype” that is surrounding the Linux Desktop these days, and help them find the distro that fits their needs best.

What's in it for us?
1.It's a continuation of our long standing commitment to the open source movement.
2.We have a business interest in seeing the Linux Desktop become a real alternative to the Microsoft desktop, as many of use do. This is one area in which we feel we can help.

If you are willing to take up the admin job for a GUI Distro, we would love to have you involved. Content is really up to the admins, hoping they will add content that will interest people in their chosen Distro.

We are hoping to officially launch on Monday January 19th 2004.

You can contact me by email at volunteer@guilinux.com.

Thank you
Garret/Ruffdogs

[Cuddles]

Garret,

May I add, you have a wonderful idea, and I wish you, as well as all who are/will be working on this project, all the luck !

I went through what you are promissing, I even posted in these forums to get feedback on which I should install with. I finally went with the suggestion of someone here to go with Knoppix HD Install. But, it would have been nice to hit a site and find answers to all the distros, pros, and cons, what they have, and in the case of walking into a computer store, and walking down the OS aisle, being able to 1 to 1 each one "off the shelf" and make a inteligent choice on what I wanted, and what I wanted it to do for me.

In the case of the M$ world, you can decide if you want a NT Server package, or if a Workstation platform is more to your needs. Or, if a workstation is needed, which one provides you with the best of what you plan on doing with it. Why buy something, or in this case, download and install, something that isn't going to provide the person with what they ultimately plan on doing with it?

As the "common" Slogan of M$ used to be: "Where do YOU want to go today?"

As for your suggestion of "bantering" between the distros, I agree with you, all the distros need to see that we are all [ALL] in the same boat. They are not in competition with each other, they are all in common. They all have the "penguin" in common, and should be happy to just be one of the family of Linux. Promote what they have to offer, and allow the other distros to promote what they have to "add" to the community.

Again Garret,
Good Luck, I look forward to seeing the site, and will probably bookmark it in Mozilla, and frequent it often. If not to see the vast world of Linux in one place, or possibly add some information, or even, to point someone who is thinking about migrating over to the Penguin. All the best :D
Cuddles

[walter_f]

Garret,

in my opinion your site is a great idea.

Now my 2 cents:

Why not show some basic characteristics along with the respective distribution's logo right on the front page, perhaps in an iconic style?

Such characteristics might be

- availability of live cds
- support for hardware/processor platform(s)
- "daughter" distribution based on (Red Hat/Debian/etc.)
- commercial vs. non commercial
- forms of support available

Of course, a short summary on each distribution's detail page containing these characterstics would do as well.

Good luck with your project.

Regards,

Walter.

[beforewisdom]

All linux distributions come come with desktops and/or the ability to install them?

Whats the point to your site?

"Desktop Users" ( I am one ) want a distro that makes installing, setting up, maintaining a desktop easy.

While all distros come with a desktop not all of them make these things easy.

For your web site to be worthwhile you should think about excluding ( and the definition for excluding ) distros that do not make the linux desktop as easy an experience as others.

For example, getting xwindows to work with Debian is not for newbies / "desktop users".

Several years ago when I tried red hat I was told that if I wanted multimedia capability for radio cards/dvd players I would have to recompile the kernel. I was also told that if I wanted to use dialup as a non-root user I had to set a bit flag.

I wouldn't call these things attributes of a desktop friendly distro.

If you don't want you site to be just another distro watch come up with a definiton of a "desk top user friendly" distro and exclude distros from your site that aren't.

Steve

[locutus]

but is it really in societies best interest to dumb-down everything for everyone? Sure, some things can and should be made easier but with expanded capabilities also comes the requirement of learning a little more about the tool.

Think about it. Brake Spring pliers are indeed pliers but one must know enough to be able to use the tool to take advantage of it's power. For some, hiring someone with the know-how to use the tool( or setup the tool/computer ) is more convenient and when OEM's are out from under Microsofts thumb, pre-loaded LinuxPC's will be very easy to use for those who don't feel like learning more than what's already known.

This is "The Lounge" right? ;-)

BTW, there are already a number of distro's just for former/curent Microsoft Windows users. Lindows and Lycoris for example.

[Cuddles]

Locutus,

I agree with you (partly), I will elaborate...

1) In some cases, like you example of a "Brake Spring Pliers", if someone is to use the tool correctly, and not damage the tool, one would need to know "HOWTO" use it, and when. But, then again, case in point, myself, when the "right" tool is not available, I am sure, a lot of people have used a pair of pliers as a hammer, in a pinch, and when the hammer is not available.

2) A computer is a tool, it could be the hammer, or it could be a pair of pliers, or, it could be a specialized tool, like the brake spring pliers. This all depends on the person running the computer. As with a lot of those old PC /XT computer systems, most are now being used as door-stops. This was not the intention of when they were made, but not much else can you do with them, now.

When it comes to a computer, the user determines its use, how it is used, where it is used, and the full purpose of its existance. The computer was designed for the user, and what the user was intending to do with it. It is then the job of the OS to allow the user to accomplish the needs set-forth by the user of the computer. The OS needs to provide the support for the hardware, and the software, that the user intended the computer to be created for.

If the user intends to use the computer for multimedia - the hardware was selected to provide the user with the needed "hardware" tools to accomplish this task. The OS needs to provide the user the ability to use the hardware, either through support of that hardware, or to provide the "foundation" for the software that accomplish the needs the user dictated for the systems existance.

In the Windows World - you have a lot of choices for OS's, most, if not all, are from Microsoft, and all are just (basically) re-hashes of previous OS versions. Win98 was a re-hash of Win95, WinNT was ahead of its time - and broke new ground into "other forms of thinking", then came the WinME, etc, etc, etc... Which, if you break them down, are simply just re-hashes of combining this version of OS with that version of OS. But, mostly the users choice of which OS to use, provided by Microsoft, is "which ever one is newer", thats about it - the computer salesman sets the expectations of the user on simply: This is the newest OS by Microsoft.

In the Windows World, the user can buy the hardware specifics to make a computer do what they intend it to do, and then have to settle on "hopefully" the MS OS will be able to do it. Or, for that matter, does it do what the person intends it to do, and the best way? What I am trying to say is, if I wanted to build a computer strictly for multimedia, I would buy the hardware that provided me the "best" abilities for that task, would my OS by Microsoft provide my hardware, and me, the "best" use of that as well? Who knows, considering the purchase of the OS GUI was based on "the newest on the market", who really knows.

In the Linux World - ahhhhh, freedom, ability to see features, and lastly, choices. Not just a choice on which OS is the newest out, but which one has the features I am looking for, usage, and even "look and feel". In Linux, I can select a OS that meets with my criteria for the system I am going to be buying the hardware for. I can choose the best "flavor" of Linux that will do what I want it to, either as the OS that provides the best for the hardware, or, in all cases, the best "foundation" for a rock-solid base of that system.

But, we are not talking about the people who "know" what they are going to be doing with that system, the ones who have a specific task for this system, but rather, a person who comes into a computer store with a "shopping list" of things they want to do. Most often than not, a person wants to do a multituide of things on their system. Play multimedia games, internet, email, and productivity tools, like word processors, spreadsheets, and the like. Just watch a commercial for Dell or Gateway, and you can see what I mean, or even watch a commercial for AOL, and they are just another ISP.

If Linux is going to compete with the world of Microsoft Windows, in the real world, it needs to kind of "tailor" itself to these kinds of people. The people who, buy a computer, and then make the computer do what they want, not the other way around, buy a computer that does what they want - and use it that way. Windows may not do the things these people want to do the best, but it does it. On the other hand, Linux, can do what you want better, if you know what you want to do with it.

The challenge, somehow "main-stream" Linux into a easy, user-friendly, OS, that looks like Windows, works like Windows, but still doesn't loose its power. Windows' power is in its GUI, click this and run. Linux's power is mostly in its Command Shell, which a Windows user is not familiar with using. If you want to sell Linux to people who know what they are doing, you don't have to change anything, that is already done. If you want to get Linux to people who are able to grasp new concepts, new ideas, and to learn different ways of doing things, it is already doing this as well. If, on the other hand, you want to get Linux to people who run Windows, and don't have a clue about their hardware, software, network, ISP, they just want to figure out where the power switch is at on their computer, boot it, and do whatever they want to do with their computer, then Linux needs some help. Linux, in my oppinion, don't flame me here, is for the geeks, and the intelectuals in the world, currently. The ones who know what is inside the grey "black-box", how is connects together, what their processor is, and how fast it runs, how each and every card is placed in that box, what cables go between the devices and the motherboard, what a motherboard is, etc...

Linux is looking to a market that is filled with people who, in my learning, haven't a clue what any of this is all about. They just want that thing to run, do something, even if its just to play a game of Solitaire. These people don't know what MODEM stands for, and heck, in the Windows world, they don't have to. In the Windows World, they don't have to know what IDE is, or SCSI, or a disk partition, a swap file/partition, seriel, parralel, USB, etc... They just run it, and (most of the time) it works. Linux, on the other hand, you have to be "one" with your computer, you have to be "intimate" with it, you have to almost be a Zen Master with your computer. You have to not only know what your hardware is, but down to the chip-set of it, for Linux. And Linux has to deal with a proliferation of Windows specific hardware in the world, that doesn't always work with Linux.

Windows has been designed for the "general" public, and Linux, designed for the individual who "knows" what a computer is, a tool. Just like a mechanic for cars, the mechanic has lots of tools, tools for specific purposes - and tools for general purposes, so too, the person who runs Linux, knows what tools they have, and how to use them. Windows is more like a multi-purpose tool, it can be a hammer, or a pair of pliers, or even a pair of brake spring pliers - it depends on the person using the "tool".

In Linux, the person has a set of tools to do things with, in Windows, the person has a single tool that can be used for more than one thing.

I thought the original idea of the web-site was what was needed - hopefully to provide a person with the "selection" of tools one would have with a specific "distro" of Linux. If the site is going to provide information on the amount of "tools" one gets with a specific distro, what kinds of tools, and so forth, I thought the idea was right on the need. If on the other hand, the site is going to provide a person with a "single multi-purpose" tool, that can do everything, that isn't what a Linux user wants to know, but may be what a Windows user would like to see...

In other words - if the site displays a tool set of 6,999 "tools" that perform specific functions, a Linux user would be interested. If on the other hand, the site displays ONE TOOL, and then shows how many ways that one tool can be used, I think a Windows user would be interested. What is the "TARGET" of the site? Are you selling to Linux users, or Windows users? Because your target group is different, when it comes to these two groups. If you want to target both these groups in a single site, you may have to make multiple descriptions, to accomplish the interest of both.

Something like this: This single tool can be used as a slicer, a dicer, and even makes jullian fries, all from a single potato. But! Wait! It can also be used ONLY as a can openner, in which we give you twenty more "other" tools for "other" specific tasks, too.

Targeting a Windows user would be the single-multi-purpose tool, and the Linux user would be a single tool for one thing, and a mutituide of other tools for specific tasks.

Again, as I stated at the begining of this thread, I will wait to see the outcome of the site, I am sure that whatever way the site turns out like, it will still be of value, just to what group...
Cuddles
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