Linux's dirty little secret: Uninstall

I haven't read the article. I don't know for sure but it would be my guess that MS Windows doesn't have official uninstall instructions either. I think that because MS Windows only like to take over a hard drive instead of playing nice with anything existing on that drive.

I'm thinking it's a bit of whiney fud...

Perhaps the thinking with GNU/Linux is that we have live CD's that you can try it out with before you commit.

.....go ahead (try to) re-install MS Windows, let it take over your hard drive, see if it's as easy to install as GNU/Linux.....

Well, you should have read the article.

Quoting:Opening the Windows XP Help and Support Center and searching for "uninstall Windows" brings up, first thing, "Uninstall Windows XP" and a 5-step process from the Control Center.

[speculation]

Is that because it's a good idea, or because some court ordered them to provide it?

[/speculation]

This author is flamebaiting. He's been running a series of flamebait articles full of wrong stuff on purpose. It's good for clicks, I guess.

Isn't your machine supposed to have an operating system? Can't you simply format and install another. You don't even have to format, really.

Why does an operating system need an uninstall function? What happens when the command exits?

I'm confused as to why this is even an issue.

It's an issue because the author wants to spread anti-Linux FUD. He makes it an issue.

It's also Linux fault in his itty bitty little mind that Windows doesn't support dual booting.

Sander_Marechal: >> Well, you should have read the article. >> >>Quoted: >>Opening the Windows XP Help and....

I opened up my VirtualBox with XP Pro and checked this out (read the steps).

It talks about uninstalling Win XP but to me it reads as if one had installed XP as an upgrade from Win 98. I don't think you would be able to access your files if you started with a bare drive, installed XP as new and later uninstalled XP.

Maybe I'll try it sometime in VirtualBox to see if it works that way.

So maybe it's a downgrade, rather than an uninstall.

Funny, Foresight Linux supports that, too, thanks to rPath/Conary.

Don't want to be the partypooper here, but in my opinion this _is_ a valid issue. Before installing something, a normal user would like to know how to reverse to the 'original' situation. At least, that's the way it should be. If you start using MS Office, you should know if you stop using it, how to use all your .doc etc. files, even after stopping using MS Office.

The right word springs to mind again: You should have an exit strategy.

The article is quite bullish however: He complain his PC won't start while he means _Windows_ doesn't start anymore, because of the tedious process of making Windows boot again.

Here's a little secret too: If you install Windows98, it even completely messes up partitions it shouldn't even touch beyond repair, and almost _all_ your data is lost, without _any_ warning. What about that?

This comment - from Microsoft help - says a lot, and is also quite enjoyable:

Quoting:Windows and Linux can coexist on the same computer. For additional information, refer to your Linux documentation.

Meaning, if you use anything beyond Windows, don't expect Microsoft to help you.

I wouldn't want/trust Microsoft's help on this, anyway.

...Little "Linux" secret. It's free as in freedom! Can you believe that! The nerve of all of those developers and documentation folks who donate most of their time to freedomware! Oh sure you know the ones I am talking about, the kind of people who are all about forward thinking and are more concerned about the quality of the applications that they contribute some of their free time to.

What? Who me write that obviously needed piece of documentation? Wha... oh the nerve at even suggesting that! So what if I did the research and found what I think is a bug!

---

Yet another bug identified! We do not descrininate who points out a bug. We do ask that you be willing to be part of the solution. :)

I am going to send the author an email of thanks and inviting him to contribute to the documentation to sqaush this dastardly bug. Once and for all!

I will post back here with my progress if any.

Why does an OS need an uninstall anyway? I always thought the method of uninstalling an OS was nuking the partition and rewriting the bootloader....

Snort. First, because it's obvious to anyone who knows what they're doing (no, I don't include him in that group). Second, try finding the directions for unisntalling Windows on Microsoft's site. Do you suppose he'll be writing an a equivalent article about Windows any time soon?

> I always thought the method of uninstalling an OS was nuking the partition and rewriting the bootloader....

It is. You can also add deleting the partitions and resizing the remaining ones if you want. You can also add securly deleting the old data first if you want.

Like I said, it's obvious to anyone who knows what they're doing.

I suppose Scott posted this one for the "ignorant FUD which must be answered" quality.

A second discussion on this article points out that there is an article about removing XP available on Micorosoft's site, but it appears to concern removing an upgrade from Windows 98 and reverting to the old OS. Which is not what the author is talking about.