Great analogy
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| kozmcrae May 23, 2007 10:22 PM EDT |
I like the Rip Van Winkle analogy. I can't believe these bloggers are writing this junk completely on their own. Is it the promise of an Acer Laptop that motivates them? I think this is part of a carefully planned campaign to frighten potential Linux users away. It's difficult for me to believe that the writers of such nonsense can be so stupid. I just hope that some day I'll be able to purchase a book from Barnes & Noble that's titled something like "The Last Great Software Company": The lies, the propaganda, the threats, the bribes, the whole rotten mess. |
| Sander_Marechal May 23, 2007 10:32 PM EDT |
Hmm... how is it you commented on this article? I don't see it on the front page yet. Newest article for me is "Remembering Stormix". |
| dcparris May 23, 2007 10:56 PM EDT |
Sander: Check the Feature box. Even though the story hasn't posted yet, it still shows up in the Feature box, and you can actually read it. I initally found that aggravating, but now see it a little differently. It gives our feature articles something of an early start. Whether I should still consider it a bug is depends on your point of view. ;-) |
| Bob_Robertson May 24, 2007 2:20 AM EDT |
Funny. I found Linux perfectly usable in 1999. |
| ajt May 24, 2007 3:22 AM EDT |
I've long said that anyone can use a computer if it's set up for them. My dad is perfectly happy using Debian and had never used a computer before. He couldn't install anything on the computer, but that's okay. A lot of people assume because they can use a computer they know how they work or how to install and configure one correctly. Most people couldn't install any OS on a computer, and get t right. You only have to look at the massive Windows aftercare business and army of IT monkeys needed to keep Windows running, to see that it's not a trivial task to keep Windows up and running. I find the shell comment funny, as I sit next to IT at work and I hear them daily telling windows users to press Start > Run then type cmd then type command line things to fix their Windows PCs.. |
| zenarcher May 24, 2007 3:29 AM EDT |
I always love the "hardware incompatibility" problems so many of these MS advocates whine about. I've been using Linux for two years, so I'm no expert on it. I used MS operating systems from DOS 5.0 through Windows XP. Currently, I run 4 systems here on Linux and have built several new systems and converted a few hard core Windows users to Linux. I've yet to experience all these hardware and driver issues, so often brought up. Granted, I'm not running super exotic systems, but all use modern components, including SATA RAID0 arrays, KVM switches, widescreen LCD displays, decent video cards, multi-function printers, digital cameras and so forth. Everything has always just worked "right out of the box." I keep one Windows XP system, which I use only to perform updates and map installs for my Garmin GPS. That's not the fault of Linux, but Garmin and their lack of cooperation with Linux users. It's also used for three games, which my game playing wife refuses to give up. Of course, she also has LInux games she wouldn't give up, too! I suppose the Windows advocates feel they can continue to scare potential Linux users with the "hardware compatibility" issues, so long as they never mention specific hardware which won't work with Linux. |
| ajt May 24, 2007 3:59 AM EDT |
Some hardware doesn't work with Linux, however I've had just as many problems with Windows. Many hardware vendors are often cheap and don't write good drivers if they write them at all. Try installing Windows XP pre-SP2 on a SATA only system - it's not possible out of the box. At work the Windows guys are amazed that I don't spend hours installing Linux boxes, they have to prepare them first then spend hours installing... I turn up boot off the first disk, have one reboot part way through, and it's done, Red Hat Enterprise took about 1hour yesterday including tinkering with the GUI, Debian Etch a week or so ago was even quicker. |
| bigg May 24, 2007 6:46 AM EDT |
> I used MS operating systems from DOS 5.0 through Windows XP. I started using Windows at version 2. It ran from two floppies. Maybe I should start a blog about how tough it is to use Windows based on my experiences with Windows 2. One positive thing is that the Windows bloggers have finally given up the argument that you have to compile all of your software when using Linux. |
| dinotrac May 24, 2007 7:10 AM EDT |
> Everything has always just worked "right out of the box." Linux is great when you're using something that works right out of the --- ummm --- download. It's not quite so great when you're using something that you can find a driver that somebody has developed out on the internet, but still ok. It sucks when you have a piece of hardware that ain't supported no way no how. In that case, you probably feel like a lot of Vista users. |
| zenarcher May 24, 2007 8:14 AM EDT |
The only driver I've had to download and manually install (and that's just personal choice as to the install method) is the Nvidia graphics driver. At least that's been my experience using SUSE and Fedora Core, which are the two distros I use here. Oh yeah...and I nearly forgot....I've also downloaded and installed LaCie for my LightScribe DVD burners..... |
| jrm May 24, 2007 9:45 AM EDT |
> I've also downloaded and installed LaCie for my LightScribe DVD burners... Say what? I didn't know that existed... thank you! |
| softwarejanitor May 24, 2007 10:10 AM EDT |
> Funny. I found Linux perfectly usable in 1999. I found it almost usable with a lot of promise in 1993. At that time I was using commercial *nix at work and Macs for desktop apps. By 1994 I was using Linux almost full time at home and *nix at work. By 1995 I gave up Macs for word processing and other office tasks. I've had to deal with Windows some at work (about as little as I can get away with), and find it almost entirely frustrating... I've never used Windows at home, so where most people find Windows to be what they are used to, I am backwards. The Windows way is unfamiliar and awkward to me. Is Linux perfect? Of course not, nothing ever is. Do I find Linux less aggravating than Windows, yes, absolutely. |
| d0nk3y May 24, 2007 5:10 PM EDT |
It always makes me laugh about this 'you need to be a geek to use linux' thing. Like most other IT guys (I suspect), I have a bunch of home users (friends, family, managers at work etc) that I provide home PC help to. Most of these guys use Windows. Very few of them would have any idea *whatsoever* how to fix any problem they come across on Windows. The couple of people I have been able to move to linux, have become more and more independant - and the times that I do need to fix something, I can usually SSH to their PC over the 'net and fix it (that's right - using the dino-CLI). On the hardware compatibility side, I've experienced more hard related hassles with Windows lately than linux. We have a laptop at work that's a couple of years old (P4 3ghz, 1gb ram, onboard Intel graphics etc). A fresh Windows XP or Vista install 'out of the box' doesn't detect the screen correctly, nor the network card, modem, sound, usb, card reader etc etc. I had to download the drivers for these from another machine, burn them to CD and copy them over (I couldn't even use a USB key as the USB devices didn't work either!). Installing Ubuntu on this machine was a piece-of-cake. Aside from the modem (which is a win-modem and I don't actually use it from linux anyways), I only needed to add the widescreen resolutions to xorg.conf and the rest worked 'out of the box'. I believe that, for most basic devices, the days of windows providing better hardware support than linux, have come to an end. In my personal experience anyway. |
| Bob_Robertson May 24, 2007 7:30 PM EDT |
As with Janitor, I found that Linux _was_ in fact perfectly usable in 1995 when I first installed Debian .92, but no less a geek-only thing than SunOS or any other UNIX variant. And I firmly believe that this GPL driven "Revolution OS" is what has made "UNIX" a platform that is just as usable as Windows or Mac is today. Just one example: A few hours ago, my wife asked if I had the HP printer connected to her XP machine. I said no, here let me do it. Turns out that, since the last time I had to re-install Windows, I had not installed the printer drivers. The printer drivers _would_not_install_, because her system uses Chinese characters and the HP installer chokes with "non standard character in path". XP's driver search function is completely broken, it cannot even scan the CD for the driver files. Compared to the KDE Control Center and CUPS printing module, XP is worse than useless, it's _unusable_. "[T]he days of windows providing better hardware support than linux, has come to an end." I couldn't agree more. There really is only one hurdle left, that manufacturers either stick to published standards, publish their own interface specifications, or release Linux native drivers. With Windows, the manufacturers must write and suppore their own. Linux compatibility doesn't _have_ to cost them a thin dime in development costs. |
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