Re: [school-discuss] Cost comparisons for Linux vs. Windows - retailprices

[jeremy hunsinger <jhuns@vt.edu>]

I find this interesting, i have been thinking about mode changing for 
interfaces for a while now.  i frequently switch seemingly randomly by 
observers accounts between my macos osx linux running enlightenment and 
gnome on x and solaris running openwindows, but then i see people 
entirely lost moving from a one set of metaphors to another on the 
desktop.  I wonder if there is some predisposition for this in 
comparison to say books, which i usually have several fiction and 
nonfiction open at any time that i just pick up and read picking up, 
sometimes reviewing first before moving on, but generally not.  It seems 
that there is a some sort of set of practicable skills or abilities that 
some people seem to have and others I am unsure of.

--sociology-political science speak follows in sort of a ramble--
I haven't seen this as a primarily class or work placed outlook though 
it seems to be across those boundaries.  Some people can work within 
systems, some can move between systems, and some outside of systems.  I 
think it has a good deal to do with early education, not so much school, 
but life education.  I see people who were exposed to alot of different 
and complex situation early in their life and were successful in 
managing that, as an extra-class elite, sort of mapping the differential 
experiences upon a set of coping and other skills to enable them to move 
from environment to environment with alacrity.  Whereas, when i talk to 
people that seem to not be able to move between digital media 
environments as easily, they seem to be, not as a whole, but in part 
very involved in a somewhat narrow area of interest and working very in 
depth with that field or set of fields, thus transforming the tools of 
information managment, the interface, into less of an environment to be 
navigated toward an logical and rationally limited set of if then 
clauses.  If i click here, this happens, if i click there that happens.  
the problem is that the happenings do not seem to be metaphors for them, 
but very strong deterministic relationships in which if something does 
not happen liek they suppose, it is very similar to how someone might 
react should they not know how to interpret an eclipse.  Their youth 
experiences are usually illuminating in this way if i can get them to 
talk about them.  They talk of this doing that and in a very narrow 
subset,  in short, it seems to me that the hermeneutical faculty is 
perhaps working in other terms for them.  Assuming of course, following 
aristoteles, that we all have similar natural faculties from being human 
that get trained differently through living our lives to perform 
whatever duties are needed within our lives.

On Saturday, August 17, 2002, at 12:37 PM, Dave Prentice wrote:

> Jon Adam wrote:
> <snip>
>> I will say this.  The children that we have given computers to with
> linux on
>> them, love it.  We have had a couple of tech calls, but for the most
> part,
>> these kids are picking up linux and running these computers very
> well.
>>
>> Jon
>>
> I agree! Non-technical adults tend to be leery of change no matter
> what, but in my [inner city high school] classroom over the last 2
> years I found that kids have a ZERO learning curve in switching from
> Windows to a Linux GUI such as gnome or KDE. Give them a logon ID and
> they're off to the races.
> Dave Prentice
> prentice@instruction.com
> http://www.originsweb.info
>
>
jeremy hunsinger
jhuns@vt.edu
on the ibook
www.cddc.vt.edu
www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy
www.dromocracy.com
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