PROBLEM: this list

[Michael L. Wright]

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to move from my old dependable RH/7.2 on 
a desktop to FC3 on a laptop.  Little did I know what I was in for.  There 
were multiple issues with things that didn't work right, both hardware and 
software.  I spent hours and hours "doing my homework" and was able to solve 
a few problems.  Others were not so "easy" (that's irony, for anyone who 
doesn't recognize it).  It's like playing adventure, try this, try that, look 
here, look there, cross your fingers, try to remember what it was that you 
ran across last week that maybe is relevant after all.

Let me take a moment to point out that I'm not ignorant.  I built my first 
computer from scratch, without plans or a kit, in the late 1970's.  I've 
worked with them ever since.  I've designed and implemented software for 
small businesses to statewide organizations, on platforms from CP/M to DOS to 
Windows to AS/400 to Linux.  But no one can know everything there is to know 
about these beasts, and I sure don't claim to.

When I reached the end of my rope on various issues (remember, there were 
multiple problems, not just one), I asked for help.  I don't claim to have 
looked at every possible piece of possible documentation on every issue, or 
to have thought of every possible combination of words to Google - I missed a 
few, some probably obvious to those who work with these issues every day.  
Unfortunately, I _don't_ work with them every day, I have other work to do.  
My employer doesn't pay me to do open source software work, and until I win 
the lottery I won't have the time to do it for free.  

But none of the above makes me an idiot.  The simple fact is that much 
open-source software has holes in it.  Not a surprise.  The documentation is 
frequently incomplete.  Also not a surprise.  Sadly, that alone is enough to 
make the hope of open source, including Linux, as a viable user option on the 
'desktop' a vain one.  I lost two weeks of my time, rather my employer's 
time, to this effort.  Fortunately, we are a small company and interested in 
moving ourselves and our customers away from dependence on the folks in 
Redmond.  So the loss was tolerated.  If I were just someone with a job to do 
on a computer, and if I tried to do it with Linux, etc., I would never have 
accomplished this.  The President of the company most certainly could not 
have done it.

Ok, we know this, it's sad but we can't help it, and why is he whining to us?  
Here's why:  I came here seeking help.  My first question was answered, once 
with simply a link to the answer.  That's fine, people are busy, I got my 
information.  The second was a much more complete answer, with some 
thinly-veiled references to people not doing their homework, etc.  Never mind 
that I had _done_ hours of "homework" but had missed this answer because I 
was looking in the wrong place.  Stupid me. But at least the answer was 
complete, if a bit insulting.

Then I posted another question I've been unable to find an answer to.  Maybe 
it's staring me in the face.  Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place again.  
But I spent hours looking for the answer before I posted the question.  This 
one was totally ignored.

So in the intervening time I've lurked on the list, hoping maybe someone would 
say something sooner or later that would give me a hint, or maybe help with 
some of the other minor issues I'm still dealing with.

What I have witnessed instead is valid questions going unacknowledged, 
frustrated users (Mr E_T, for one) being insulted and flamed, and incredible 
amounts of time and energy wasted on fighting over arcane issues and personal 
pride.  More snot and mud than I have any wish to be around.  Yeah, X.org is 
a nice piece of work, lots of good ideas and implementation.  It's complex as 
heck.  But it ain't worth a hill of beans if it don't work.  And that 
includes if getting it to work means finding some patch and compiling.  Your 
average user is NOT a programmer, not a techie, doesn't live in the world you 
do and DOESN'T WANT TO.

My apologies to those of you who are simply working hard and trying to make it 
work.  And to anyone who may be trying to get enough documentation to make it 
useful.  And also, to all their compatriots in all the other projects that 
together make the open source desktop a reality.  But make no mistake, it 
isn't working.  Nobody I know, other than a _very_ few techies, is going to 
come anywhere close to going through what I went through.  Only my stubborn 
dedication to not going back to the Evil Empire kept me at it.

BTW, the crappy attitude also exists elsewhere, like the (name withheld) place 
where I filed a bug report about another problem with no response.  Then, a 
few days later when I finally located a workaround and closed the bug report, 
someone who was 'watching' sent me an email about the problems in the code 
and changed the bug report to 'not a bug'.  Who do I bill for my wasted time 
if he already knew the answer but chose not to deal with it until he could 
say and do something snotty?

Bottom line:  I will be advising those in my company, and our customers, who 
are using Windows to stay with it.  Linux/open source is not ready for prime 
time.  And until those developing it can keep their hands out of their pants 
and quit twirling their beanie propellers (again, apologies to the rest of 
you), it never will be.

My next act will be to unsubscribe from this time-waster of a list and go do 
some productive work.  Flame me all you want, I won't be listening.

Michael