NewsForge: A Splintering Linux Community Jun 12, 2004, 22 :30 UTC (9 Talkback[s]) (6029 reads) (Other stories by Robin Miller)
"We now have two distinct classes of Linux users whose interests are not the same, and perhaps we have more than that if we want to talk about people who think of software in political rather than pragmatic terms. Can these factions work together, or will tensions between them eventually kill the free software and open source movements?
"Technical vs. non-technical users
"This is split number one. A non-technical user wants to purchase a PC with an operating system pre-installed or install one with little stress, then install the software he or she needs as easily as possible and get to work. This person will never compile a kernel, isn't interested in the difference between NVidia's proprietary drivers and free video drivers or in squabbles over Flash licensing. This is the user sneered at by techies as 'Joe Sixpack' or 'Luser' or 'Grandma...'"
