I failed the LINUX community

You have let me down. You have let my wife down. You have let my kids down.

And, come to think of it --- my dog's looking a little down.

Seriously -- if that's letting down the Linux community, I nervously await the firing squad.

You don't get bullets. You get high-velocity decomposing Brussels sprouts.

@tc ---

I happen to love Brussels sprouts.

Come to think of it, Brussels ain't bad either.

I love sprouts, not sure if they come from Brussels though. In this era of globalisation they could come from anywhere.

Loathsome micro-cabbages.

I love brussel sprouts, however my digestive track does not.

So I avoid them.

Quoting:Loathsome micro-cabbages.

I love cabbages in all their forms.

Quoting: Loathsome micro-cabbages.

My hero!

What's that stuff they sell on that holy Irish guys day? I like that stuff..

Scott, those are loathesome macro-cabbages.

When I had a big garden I grew Brussels sprouts. I would bring in the whole stalk when they were ready. I'd boil or steam them first to get them soft, then sautee them with butter and garlic. They really are good that way, especially really fresh one. My mom used to dip them in egg and seasoned matzo meal and fry them to put them in a form we kids would actually eat. They're good that way too.

Please don't waste good Brussels sprouts as projectiles.

I'm not sure why someone with fifteen years as a computing professional would say he "failed the Linux Community whilst trying to demonstrate the power of LINUX to a non LINUX user..." when clearly the failures he writes about had nothing whatsoever to do with Linux! A cr@ppy Internet connection (e.g., slow broadband) and the flaky Chrome browser were the real culprits in this supposed failed Linux demonstration. The face of Linux, in this case Mageia, KDE and Compiz all worked as intended. Moreover, since the laptop didn't experience any kernel panics I'd have to assume that Linux itself (the kernel really IS Linux) worked flawlessly! Instead of posting incendiary headlines just to get people to read his dumb blog, this author should instead learn to stick to the facts. I hope he isn't planning on quitting his day job!

Personally I see his point, and share his angst. This has happened to me in the past.

Similar things have happened to me as well. Generally, if a user wants to get away from Windows or a Mac and knows up front that they will have to put up with a learning curve then Linux can work for them. If they have no motivation to get off Windows or Mac, if they like what they have, this is a preordained fail.

Once you get someone to try Linux if they stick with it for a few months they generally wonder how they ever managed with Windows. The ones who decide Linux is garbage, or at least not for them, are the ones who give up quickly. In the situation described by the author there was no interest in learning something new so of course they gave up right away.

Linux has been around long enough that anyone who can easily be converted has already done so.

What's left is the great mass of people who really don't care. They just want what they're used to to work.

As was said many years ago, they want the cheap Dora the Explorer disk they bought for their kid at Best Buy to just run.

Back when I needed "Pooh's Ready For Math" to "just work", it had to be run on Windows. So be it, one machine with Windows on it for kids stuff.

Oh look, I'm not an extremist! I can compromise my principles in order to just get along! I'm sure that's a surprise to a few.

But let me try a different tack: What happens when something doesn't work on Windows? Who gets the blame then? Not Windows, in my experience.

It is that particular hypocrisy and "assumption of innocence" Windows has with which I get the most angry (when on the subject of computers).

@Bob_Robertson

You nailed it -- it's that blatant double-standard that's so aggravating.

But even worse is the blank looks you get when you try to point this out.