On Tue, 2021-06-22 at 13:29 -0300, George N. White III wrote:
> Many of the younger linux users I encounter came to linux from
> Windows because a mission critical application requires linux. Some
> have only used the command line after Google told them to run "sudo
> <some_application_giving_access_denied>" resulting in a badly broken
> system with some user files owned by root or data saved in root's
> home directory.
The crabby me wonders whether such people ever grasp using a computer
without breaking it? Long ago I gave up helping such users by no-
longer continually fixing their broken Windows, those people never got
it. I liken it to be asked to unblock their sewers with bare hands.
For me, giving semi-clueless users a copy and paste command line
solution has had far more predictable results than trying to talk them
through the steps to use any graphical system. It's painful trying to
tell them to do some step, wait while they describe something that else
that they've done instead of what you told them to do, try to figure
out what they've really done, and try again... Stop clicking on random
things trying to see if that'll magically make things work and actually
just do *only* what I say...
Thinking over a number of recent posts on a European Space Agency
forum, there appears to be a class of users who never learned to be
careful about details when entering text. They live in a place where
they never have to enter information, only select options from a multiple
choice list.
I have often encountered users running a the same program on 100's
of input files. I show them how to use a for loop in bash,
but as soon as I leave the room they are using a editor to create
a script with one line for each file. Now GUI's are being created to run
a loop on a list of filenames selected using a GUI.
See that thing called mouse prefs, click on it.
I can't see it, what if I do this (unrelated thing), instead?
No, stop clicking on things, just read through all the options, not out
loud to me, I don't want to know everything on the computer, I want you
to find the mouse preferences icon in the window.
I can't find it....
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo (channelling Luke Skywalker).
It shouldn't take 45 minutes of talking over the phone just to open the
damn mouse preferences. Never mind actually change any settings.
Have you still got the box?
Yes.
Unplug the computer and put it back in it.
These are the same kind of people that'd dump all the books in the
library in a random pile on the floor because they can't understand how
to use a shelving system.
Gawd help us if the clueless would like to practice first aid, despite
all evidence to the contrary that they're not competent to do so.
Many large organizations now provide a Windows PC to every
employee. Linux lives in the data center. Windows is used
for purchase and travel requests, and mandatory training apps
for things like health and safety, live shooter response, data
retention policies, etc.
There is a school of business administration that says the key to a
successful business is to design processes that can be used by
people who have no marketable skills or interest in doing good work,
so have few other options and will work for minimum wage.