Frankly, i think what is written on this page is surely true now, but i think it should and will be different in the future. Just as linux distributions are getting more and more end-user friendly [nowadays the installation and use of a Ubuntu or Suse system is almost easier than that of a working win xp system, if you also want to have installed some decent tools for screen hardcopy, pdf viewing, office, and so on.], it should and will happen to CoLinux until its 1.0 release.
An important point to keep in mind when thinking about linux is that it is nowadays changing from a system for enthusiasts and server administrators (technical people, generally speaking) to a system for real computer users (for my girl friend, say). And these guys and girls will be happy for Linux and Windows to coexist on their system because of applications! Yes, Linux is already now offering end-user applications like photo management software which is superior to windows equivalents and which uses non-proprietary data formats (an absolutely vital interest for any end-user of a photo management software - he is not locked to one application with his or her data; maybe he cannot migrate the data to another application himself as a non-technical guy, but he can always ask someone). So, there IS an interest of end-users NOW to have a running linux system in their windows box to be able to use the best applications from both worlds. For them it would be a bless if there where a fool-proof end-user-ready installation/administration tool for CoLinux.
Of course, i know what a big undertaking it is to make something fool-proof, and i am explicitly not offering my help with this, because i consider it painful, non-fun work. But i hope that one company or another millionaire sees the need and potential and sponsors such work. Or that you guys are just enthusiastic enough ;)
Anyway, for myself it is a great end-user tool right now. Installation and setup is a pain [i can master it as i am a technical guy myself, but would really care about an end-user setup tool] but the result is so much rewarding.
Re-wrote Typical User[]
The superiority complex I detected in the earlier version of this page was rather sickening, and so I felt that it might be more useful to try and engage in some Linux advocacy as opposed to issuing veiled put-downs to potential new users about their lack of experience.
The author of the previous version fairly obviously needs to get over themselves. Knowing how to use Linux doesn't make you inherently superior to anyone else, but claiming that it does makes no progress at all towards getting rid of the stereotype of Linux users as elitist egomaniacs with severe social/neurological disabilities.
I feel that it's wrong for you to consider people inferior simply because they have no experience with Linux...Just like you'd probably consider it totally wrong of me to view you as being inferior because I have a greater level of familiarity with the English language.
Petrus4 18:59, 25 Nov 2006 (CET)
I have been schocked[]
I have been schocked by the disconsidering background of that article. One could have written, that installation of Colinux is somewhat complex, and not for beginners. Meanwhile, that is not true any more, andLinux for example a distribution based on Colinux, installs in a couple of minutes, includes sounds and network support out-of-the-box, and can be used and configured right from the GUI, without using one single commandline instruction.
Laszlo Lebrun