[ale] ALE NW meeting was a success?

[Matthew Magee]

On Thursday 25 March 2004 06:20 am, Geoffrey wrote:

> I think the three way install was too much.  It was too difficult to
> focus on any one install, much less pick up useful information from all
> three. 

I think that we would have been better served by doing the installs before the 
meeting.  All three of those distros are designed to be very easy to install, 
and one could expect that any difficulty would be due to a glitch rather than 
an inherent design flaw in the install process.  With all the machines up and 
running, there would be a decent amount of time to compare/contrast the 
distros. 

Once everybody is in, a poll can be taken to determine the applications that 
are important for an average user.  Each distro could be checked against that 
list and any strengths or weaknesses would be readily apparent.  All Linux 
flavors use roughly the same programs, it's the packaging that makes the 
difference in useability.  For example, I have used some distos in which the 
default setup gives a right-click menu in the file manager that includes the 
options to burn to CD, archive, etc.  All the user needs to do is find the 
file(s) in question, right-click, and voila, there's k3b!  This is great 
stuff for newbies, and mimics the behavior of that OS from Redmond.  My 
RedHat-now-Fedora install did not give me this out of the box, but many 
distros do.  Another interesting subject would be the email client.  Most 
Windows users use some form of Outlook or OE.  Which distro would make these 
folks feel at home?  One last thing here.... I saw that Netzero offers 
"connection software" for LindowsOS.  This would be a HUGE bonus to any 
non-geek trying to get a PPP connection going.  That by itself could make the 
difference b/w the three.  I forgot to mention this at the meeting, and I 
apologize for my omission. :(

As for the young lady in attendance, I am surprised she stayed as long as she 
did. It was a free-for-all, and historically, women have not fared well in 
such environments.