> Mainstream users don't want to be empowered. They want someone to hold their hand and make choices for them. I think that is deeply untrue. They want to be a

> Mainstream users don't want to be empowered. They want someone to hold their hand and make choices for them. I think that is deeply untrue. They want to be able to change stuff, it just turns out to be hard. I bet there's a heap of things you want to change on your car and you haven't: because you are a mainstream user. I use Ubuntu because every time I've tried to change distro, I've been burnt. I've got as far as finding the lines of code I need to change in "Linux", but the next steps are not simple - especially maintenance over the years. Even if one has the technical skills necessary we may choose the consumer friendly version - and it isn't because we want our hands held. I'm currently using an iPhone - nasty bugs and other terrible compromises - but for the moment the upsides are beating the downsides. Sweeping negative stereotypes are seldomly useful.