[PLUG] RE: Has this been done already?

[FloydLJohnsonIII@aol.com]

Steven Arbitman writes:

>I very much like the idea of introducing Linux to the novice
>user.

>Speaking as one of the "Joe Six-Chip"'s myself, I would much rather use a
>GUI application like Mozilla, Netscape, or Opera.  To a novice I think the
>"internet" really means just email and the web.  These programs provide
>those services in a point and click interface which we are used to.  Even
>the names of the software are familiar.

>To my mind the hardest part is setting up the connection to the ISP, but a
>high-speed dsl or cable connection to a lan card on the PC requires no setup
>at all, at least in a distro like Morphix.


Even the ISP stuff would be launched by this hypothetical GUI "control center". It would provide a friendly front-end for wvdial and/or PenGGY (those are CLI apps that do PPP over 56k). Those programs would be run by hitting the "Connect to Internet" button. 

Depending on what the user had lying around, the "Browse the Web" button would summon Mozilla, Opera, Skate, or whatever. In like manner, the "Do mail tasks" button would very likely launch a browser-based mail tool.

This thing would have to divine what the user has and place the names thereof in a drop-down list for "Which browser?"

*thinks a moment* OTOH, is that to mean that Mozilla already has the "Connect to Internet" button? 
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