Seeking good web sites for Debian tools

[David N. Welton]

Ian Zimmerman <itz@buug.org> writes:

> David> One of the problem that Debian faces today is that there are
> David> too many choices.  Generally, people are happiest if they are
> David> presented with one or two good choices, with some others in
> David> the wings if they are adventurous.  This is one of the
> David> reasons why Ubuntu has been successful, and people are
> David> interested in UserLinux.  They would rather have the experts
> David> make some good choices for them.  To paraphrase Jean-Claude
> David> Wippler "Choice is good, being forced to choose is not".
> David> That's especially true when, as a newcomer, you are not in a
> David> good position to choose because you don't have all the
> David> information that you need to make the best choice.

> This is the "thinking" that gave us Bush vs. Kerry.

What do politics have to do with anything?

Here is some academic research into the phenomenon:

http://www.columbia.edu/~ss957/nytimes.html

I'm not making this up. People feel/behave this way, especially in
situations where they feel inadequate to the task of making a
selection.  The solution is not to eliminate choices, which wouldn't
work anyway, but to present one choice as a strong default - which has
already happened in some places, like tasksel, UserLinux and Ubuntu.

Your dismissive attitude ill becomes an open minded individual looking
to better understand the world, how it works, and as a consequence
improve Debian.  People may well behave in ways that you consider less
than perfect, but complaining about it isn't likely to change them.

-- 
David N. Welton
 - http://www.dedasys.com/davidw/

Apache, Linux, Tcl Consulting
 - http://www.dedasys.com/