Linux gOS 2.0 to be unsheathed Monday

[Daniel ~]

Written by Daniel
Saturday, 05 January 2008
Should've called it Google Linux

By Egan Orion: Friday, 04 January 2008, 1:04 PM
The Inquirer

UPSTART LINUX distribution Good OS will release gOS version 2.0, nicknamed Rocket, at CES in Las Vegas on Monday, January 7th.... Front Page

[ccperf721p]

Complete with a dozen google toolbars.

[Daniel ~]

I have a hard time seeing the Linux community getting excited about this...":O}

[dsio]

Its an interesting OS in that its the type you could install on a machine that is rubbish and hand to a 10 year old, or someone completely computer illiterate, and they would find it easy to pick up.

Its designed for ease of use and learning rather than for hard nosed linux users.

[Daniel ~]

Then as a member of the Linux community, I'm excited about seeing It spreading to the great unwashed.":O}

[robbie]

So this will be a good tool to get people to "switch over"?

[dsio]

More the point is to get people early rather than converting Windows users. My boss's kid for example, uses an Ubuntu machine, and its all he's ever known, so he uses linux just as well as the majority of Ubuntu amateurs.

The interesting thing is that fundamentally, Linux and unix like operating systems in general are vastly less complicated than their windows equivilants, but once you go down the windows track, its hard to /unlearn/ when you have learned.

If you start a kid with gOS or Ubuntu or a similar entry level Linux early on, I have no doubt the kid would develop skills more quickly and would find it more comfortable. And if the kid did find an interest in IT, a linux professional with an RHCE makes more than twice as much as a windows professional with an MCSE in Australia.

I'm not completely sure, but I /think/ Gizmo actually has his kids using Ubuntu. It would be interesting as a case study to see how they picked it up, given that children have a far greater ability to learn and adapt than old dogs.

At the opposite end, my grandfather has an interest in getting better at using computers, and I'm tempted to give him Ubuntu instead of windows, as I think it may be easier for him to pick up.

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by dsio

I'm not completely sure, but I /think/ Gizmo actually has his kids using Ubuntu. It would be interesting as a case study to see how they picked it up, given that children have a far greater ability to learn and adapt than old dogs.

Yup, the kid's computer uses Ubuntu. I spent about 5 minutes showing them where things were under Ubuntu as opposed to Windows. After that, they were rocking on their own.

Other than some issues with lack of Shockwave support (which means that sites like Disney's ToonTown don't work), and games that they'd like to download that are Windows only (now WHY would you write a game in FLASH, and then make it Windows only?!?!?!) we've not had any problems.

[dsio]

in a similar light... The software for my $399 Logitech Harmony 785, is written in Java using a Mozilla interface, yet its windows only. All the software does, is flash a bit of memory in the remote over a USB connection, it isn't like its that complicated to go cross platform, or at the very least, let the community do your job for you.