Great article

Story: Linux SucksTotal Replies: 14
Author Content
techiem2

Jul 18, 2009
12:22 PM EDT
Stated many of the issues in a humorous way. It got 12 comments before someone posted a FUD one (which is a pretty funny one)!

Quoting: Anyway, it has a long way to go, and it does not seem to be actually moving forward at all.


hahahaha. (you'll have to read it yourself for the rest of the comment)
qcimushroom

Jul 18, 2009
4:43 PM EDT
At least one comment is on the money
Quoting:Everything true, except the title :)
Jimmyfj

Jul 20, 2009
6:25 PM EDT
Reading your great article I must admit that more than one of the many FUD statements came to mind. Funny how MS fanboys always seem to want to pick the fight rather than the dialog. Then again: Maybe that's what comes with being brain-washed by "The Firm".

Unenlightened, greedy, "me-and-ONLY-me" ignorants in the MS camp doesn't know any better I suppose.

Having been a satisfied Linux-user for almost three years know I can assure you that GNU/Linux IS NOT ready for the every-day-Joe. Every-day-Joe doesn't KNOW GNU/Linux. I can say that having wasted 15 years of fighting with DOS/Windows. My only regret in that sense is that I didn't try out GNU/Linux much sooner than I did. Then again: I should have stayed away from Linux. But it's too late now. Being addicted to stability, usability and rock-solid applications. I admit: My brains have been damaged by all the nice and wonderful stuff I found in Ubuntu Linux.
softwarejanitor

Jul 20, 2009
8:24 PM EDT
@Jimmyfj Windows isn't ready for the "every-day-joe" either. FWIW, I've tried relatively computer illiterate people on Linux who didn't have much exposure to Windows either, and they did about as well learning Linux as people who are new to Windows. Windows is different, but in my opinion not really easier overall. Certain things may be easier, but others are actually harder. And certainly Linux of today is much easier than Windows was just a few versions ago. How did the Windows users of those days ever get by?
gus3

Jul 20, 2009
8:46 PM EDT
@Jimmyfj:

Ken Starks (aka "helios") would disagree with you. And he has the direct experience to back up his statements.
softwarejanitor

Jul 20, 2009
9:03 PM EDT
@gus3 It isn't just Ken. A lot of us who have "turned on" people to Linux have had similar experiences. People who aren't already used to dealing with Windows's quirks usually find learning Linux first not to be a problem. And often people who learn another OS first tend to find Windows to be confusing and not very easy to use.
bigg

Jul 20, 2009
9:12 PM EDT
My mother would disagree with the statement that Windows is easy for anyone to use. Handling computer security is just too difficult for her. Linux is a piece of cake - any bonehead can select apps from the menu. And as for installing software, give her the name and she can install it with Synaptic.

The problem is that most Windows users are like my brother. They pay lots of money to 'fix' their problems after they can no longer be ignored. My mother is smart enough to realize that she should not use an OS that is insecure if she has trouble with even the simple antivirus software tasks.
jdixon

Jul 20, 2009
9:34 PM EDT
Folks, I believe Jimmyfj is being sarcastic.
techiem2

Jul 20, 2009
10:31 PM EDT
Quoting:How did the Windows users of those days ever get by?


A friend and I were actually talking about that a bit recently Back when I was really getting into computers (i.e. when I actually got my first on in '93) I pretty much HAD to learn how things worked. This of course was Dos/Win31. You had to learn how to install windows programs. You had to learn how to install and use dos programs. You had to learn how to use dos without windows for some programs (especially games at that time). You had to monitor your disk space carefully. You had to learn to load sound drivers, cd drivers, etc. from the system files before starting Windows. etc., etc.

At that time reinstalling windows was just a normal part of life when you managed to screw it up badly enough. Working in Dos was the norm.

Getting internet working? That was a job in itself.

Now? It seems most people don't want to even learn to plug in an ethernet cord themselves..... Are people just lazier now? Less motivated? Was I an unusual case for the time? Maybe some of you um...more experienced...members can enlighten me.

softwarejanitor

Jul 20, 2009
10:47 PM EDT
@jdixon Isn't that what Mr Hess said?

@techiem2 How quickly Windows users forget what millions of Windows users had to put up with prior to XP. Windows 3.1 to ME all had most if not all the issues your friend mentioned.
jdixon

Jul 21, 2009
7:02 AM EDT
> Isn't that what Mr Hess said?

I believe so, yes. He also said Matt Hartley "sounds like a cool guy", so I take what he says with a grain of salt.
jezuch

Jul 21, 2009
12:44 PM EDT
Quoting:You had to learn how to install windows programs.


I remember the time I learned about the new big thing: uninstallers!

Quoting:You had to learn to load sound drivers, cd drivers, etc. from the system files before starting Windows.


config.sys an autoexec.bat - still got the blues...
techiem2

Jul 21, 2009
12:52 PM EDT
@softwarejanitor actually those were issues I was mentioning. hehe.

So apparently I wasn't just an oddball case since I'm a geek. :P

Oooh yeah uninstallers! Those were hot stuff. They'd scan your system and try to find all the .ini and .dll files and such the program scattered around your system. The really nice ones would monitor installs as well so they could (supposedly) uninstall more reliably.

And nothing like spending hours tweaking your autoexec.bat and config.sys to get it just right so you could actually play that DOS game that needed the CD driver and sound driver loaded....
softwarejanitor

Jul 21, 2009
12:57 PM EDT
@techiem2 I remember people I worked with back then spending hours with "high memory" loaders and other wacky utilities to try to get network and CD-ROM drivers loaded and still have enough memory left to try to run applications like the Windows version of AutoCAD. It was a real mess. But nobody back then said that Windows wasn't ready for the average user except Mac users... And I remember thinking at the time that Linux distros of those days, crude as some of them were compared to what we have now, weren't really any more difficult than MS-DOS and Windows.
theboomboomcars

Jul 21, 2009
1:12 PM EDT
Ahh, yes, trying to get the proper drivers loaded and still have enough memory left to run the game. It was really annoying when the game required more than 600K. Nothing like have 16MB of ram and running out of memory because you only had 590K High? memory available.

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