SEUL: Project goals and challenges

[Erik Walthinsen <omega@omegacs.net>]

> It is important to make sure this *never* happens to a Seul user.

Exactly.  This is our job, as programmers.  We have to write decent 
software to handle as many cases as we can, and be as cautions as possible 
in all others.  This is why we discuss these things here.

Playing it safe by requiring the user to jump through hoops defeats the 
purpose of this project.  The goal of this project is to make Linux 
accessible to anyone capable of using a computer, regardless of their
technical background, willingness to learn, etc.

I speak from experience when I say that users *DO NOT* want to understand
how the machine works.  There are times when even I feel that way.  Certain
things exist to do a job, and using those things shouldn't require knowing
how they do them.

Let me put it another way: SEUL will be easier to use than Windoze95.

This means we will not make the user do anything that SEUL can do just as 
well itself.  No, this does not mean letting the user script things to 
their liking: that is for hackers and gurus, not Grandma.  That means 
making use of everything we know about the computer, gathering together the 
rest, and doing our damnedest to make things work right.

     Erik Walthinsen <omega@seul.org> - SEUL Project system architect
        __
       /  \                SEUL: Simple End-User Linux -
      |    | M E G A            Creating a Linux distribution
      _\  /_                         for the home or office user