What is Digg?222 Comments
- andypop481, on 08/18/2008, -6/+170According to the description, no one enjoys Linux.
- chriscumbag, on 08/19/2008, -38/+115Here's how I read these, as a regular user
#1: Linux is more secure because smarter people than you use it. BUT YOU SHOULD USE IT.
#2: Yeah, it's a myth that installing a program on Linux is hard. All you have to do is load a GUI, load a package manager, and find the file. On Windows, it's much harder... You have to google it, download it, and double click on it. That's assuming you're using a GUI, but that's silly!
#3: It's a myth that Linux is hard to install! Sure, it's installing an operating system (something the average user doesnt do), but it's easy! Only a half hour!
#4 It's a myth that Linux is Unattractive! Command lines are sexy! But if you're weird and don't like that, you can make it so that it looks like our competitors that we're trying to make you forget about.
#5. It's a myth that Linux has no games! There are 100s of games that work on Linux, but you can use a program to sometimes use to play Windows games. But there are some open source games! Sure, not the ones you want, though!
#6. It's a myth that Linux is never preinstalled! Just ask for it, since nobody will want it unless they ask for it.
#7. It's a myth that Linux has no support! Sure, there's not a lot of professional tech support, but doing a lot of research on enthusiast forums is just as good, right? right?
#8. It's a myth that Linux has no hardware support! Sure, you'll have to do everything the company does for you, which takes time and research, but you can still do it! Most of the time. Some.
9, I have no problem with. - Suilenroc, on 08/19/2008, -5/+48To me, one of the true paradoxes of Linux is that it has two main people who can use it, and use it well:
1: the techies. The people who know their way around a command line and can comfortably work their way around tech support forums and google searches.
2: The absolute computer idiots, the ones who only ever use a computer to go online, "surf this internet thing," and maybe play solitaire. I'm talking grandpas and grandmas and old aunt sallies here.
Number one can set it up and work it themselves, and number two doesn't know the difference. Linux distros like Ubuntu have gotten to the point that they're viable for the numbers two's, and that's a major leap forward.
Unfortunately, it's not quite ready for the number threes. The normal user. The people who play games casually, who don't really wanna learn about how to navigate a command line, and who expect things to just work. This is the vast majority of computer users, and until these people are harnessed, Linux will be on the sidelines.
(Note: There's a fourth group, too. People who belong to group three, but are willing to learn. I was one of those people. About a month and a half ago I took the plunge by installing Ubuntu. Now, I have a fully functional gentoo system that I built myself. It's not hard, it just takes time to learn.) - nrox653, on 08/19/2008, -1/+25Noticed that too, people should really be more careful when submitting XD
- tvanwyk, on 08/19/2008, -8/+32[regarding gaming] "You can also purchase Cedega which depends on Wine but makes the experience much more user-friendly. There is a lot of help out there, you just need to open your eyes a bit! And if all fails, virtualization could be a last resort!"
Has the writer actually TRIED playing games on virtual machines? No DirectX in a WinXP guest machine (VMware Workstation apparently has experimental support but it's apparently a bit of a mess). Spotty, touchy, incomplete OpenGL support.
Virtualization isn't for gaming. - GutterMoo, on 08/18/2008, -3/+22No and neither can 99% of PCs. (Joking of course, but that game needs some serious stuff to run.)
- werries, on 08/19/2008, -1/+17Good sir, I do believe his name is Chris Cumbag, not Chris Scumbag.
I'm sure Mr. Cumbag would like to be referred to by his real name. - Suilenroc, on 08/19/2008, -0/+15While I may be inclined to agree with you, I won't.
(Note: The previous sentence was grammatically and syntactically perfect.) - Zaggynl, on 08/19/2008, -1/+15............................................________
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..................................., - Suilenroc, on 08/19/2008, -3/+16Then why the hostility? If you don't care about it, don't read the articles. Quite frankly, this is an internet site, and one that started out with mostly tech-related articles. If you're looking for a place without Linux articles, you've come to the wrong place.
- subgeniusd, on 08/19/2008, -10/+23Very good, I like this kind of creative sarcasm. Sure wish I had as much spare time as you do Mr. Scumbag.......
- JMellissa, on 08/19/2008, -0/+12As of Hardy Heron, the Kubuntu installation was as easy if not easier than Windows XP. At least I didn't need to enter in the stupid, long-assed alpha-numeric code that XP requires.
- jaxter2010, on 06/17/2009, -10/+21I've seen all of these arguments on linux before. I am not even going to counter argue them. Lets just say the digg masses have read all of these before.
- silviumc, on 08/19/2008, -2/+12I am sysadmin in a bank. We run the important systems on Linux (SUSE Enterprise) and Oracle. By important I mean the core-banking application, the scoring application, internet banking and some others. We are located in Europe.
- bowens44, on 08/19/2008, -0/+10Only if they're mind numbingly stupid. Anyone who can use windows can use KDE or Gnome immediately with a very small learning curve.
- Br3ach, on 08/19/2008, -7/+16Linux isnt for gaming, no matter how much Linux users want the rest of us to believe that.
If it wasnt for that I would have been using Ubuntu long ago. - inactive, on 08/19/2008, -2/+10That's funny! You're obviously working for stupid American banks that invented the NINJA mortgage. The BIGGEST financial institutions in the world (the ones I consult for) all refuse to have ANY MS crapware on the premises.
- inactive, on 08/19/2008, -6/+14norman, you simply don't understand. 90% of the internet is hosted on Linux or Unix machines. Security is essential for these - particularly with commercial sites. Windows simply doesn't cut it as a server.
Windows assumes that the user wants and needs administrative rights, and most Windows software is so badly written that it CAN'T be used as a "mormal" user. This is a fundamental security flaw that MS simply don't understand how to address.
Linux as a desktop or laptop OS is MUCH more secure than Windows (even Windows with your favourite third-party "security" applications running). The basic permissions structure in Linux ensures security. There is NO virus writer in the world that will be able to work out what a Linux root password is set to - so they can't get control of the machine because the malware thay can drop can't go anywhere.
Windows wasn't really designed to be networked. Linux (and its' precursors) had proper security from the ground up.
Nobody sane would run Windows these days - "Vista" is a badly broken, expensive disaster, and XP is so unreliable that MS are dropping "support" for it in the next few months. MS lost all their competent programmers some years ago - all the really good ones now work on OS software - and they show no desire to recify this - they'd rather hire some more salesmen than programmers. They're even having to BUY a kernel for Windows 7! - EridanMan, on 08/19/2008, -1/+9Have you actually used a recent Linux Distro or are you talking out your ass?
Built my First Computer in '96 at 14 loaded with Windows 95. Got my first job a month before my 16th birthday as a PC repair tech, and did that all through HS. Was the annoying ***** in College who used Visual Studio for all my development and badmouthed anything not MS as being a toy... I used to be the prototypical windows power user.
That all changed a year ago... Finally tired of waiting 400-600ms for click responses on my windows XP development box, and with all the hype around Ubuntu 7.10, I decided to check it out.
My Windows Fanboy mentality died really quickly when I realized how far (in terms of elegance and usability) the world had passed MS by. The fact that Linux's hardware requirements are a fraction of Windows just puts icing on the cake. My first linux load was on an old, obsolete 800mhz IBM T30 laptop with 1 gig of ram. My eyes opened when, in side by side tests, it ran circles around my work laptop, a 2ghz Dell D620 with 2 gigs. The Obsolete machine booted faster, UI responded faster, programs loaded faster, all by a factor of 2-3X, with full compiz effects enabled. I had gotten so use to waiting for ***** to happen in Windows I'd forgotten what a snappy UI even was..
I'm sorry dude, but the only reason to stick with Windows at this point (gaming excluded) is either A- Laziness or B- Fanboyism. If you don't know what I mean, you haven't taken a close enough look at linux lately. - DefaultGen, on 08/19/2008, -3/+11Anyone not dualbooting TinyXP for gaming should dual boot TinyXP for gaming. Sure I can play Minesweeper clones and crappy open source clones of retail Windows games, and I can play Windows games with computability issues or performance hits, but anyone who even moderately plays games knows Linux is not the OS to do it in.
- inactive, on 08/19/2008, -0/+7voodoo, damn man, take a pill.
1) Linux works just fine with multimonitors
2) What ERP client do you want to work in Linux? Most are web based and work with Firefox on Linux, if you want the thick client install, contact the ERP vendor.
3) Flash works just fine
4) Why does MythTV suck? It's far superior to any other DVR software out there
5) I don't use InDesign, so I've no idea....
I might ignore you but I have to listen to you whine about how superior your brain is... - Roelewapper, on 08/19/2008, -1/+8Dugg for the subtle humor that's getting you buried.
- srg13, on 08/19/2008, -1/+8Yeah, I really have trouble double clicking .debs and then clicking the install button...
- patbon, on 08/19/2008, -0/+7You're kidding yourself if you think "most" games run "fine" under linux. Every single source game, which are among the most popular games for computers, has HUD issues and drops to about 25% FPS as it would have under even Vista. And many of these games are DX 7.0, the situation is far worse for TF2 and, say, Mass Effect. If that is "playable" for you, good lord you are a tolerant man.
Of course, these are the only games I myself have run under Linux. Maybe every single other game only drops like 5 FPS, but I severely doubt it. - scy1192, on 08/19/2008, -0/+6mirror: http://freetexthost.com/hu1kgyfx6f
- keyme, on 08/19/2008, -1/+7Banks that are running Windows?
Damn. Looks like my money is going back to the jar in my closet. - silviumc, on 08/19/2008, -0/+617:30, everything is patched and monitored. We are not amateurs. Sorry, but you ask this question with the perspective of a Slackware user.. Enterprise Linux is not a joke.
- Suilenroc, on 08/19/2008, -1/+7Not really. When I was a Linux newbie I felt supremely comfortable in the confines of GNOME, the desktop that comes with Ubuntu. It's organized the same, the shortcuts are the same, it's all the same. Just easier to download programs. (Plus, I like Compiz-Fusion. Call me childish, but fire effects are AWESOME.)
- smotpoker, on 08/19/2008, -10/+16You read them wrong then.
#1 - Less users == smaller target (Though this is a factor, I personally disagree this is the sole, or even primary, reason for it's security record)
#2 - On Desktop versions of linux, there is no "loading a GUI" or manually downloading files for 99.9% of applications. You open package manager, search for "text editor" or whatever and click "install".
#3 - Yeah, we all know it's much harder to click 'Next' 3 times when installing an OS than it is when installing a program...
#4 - Actually, command lines can be sexy... especially if you are playing porn with aalib ;). However, you're omitting the fact that command line is completely unnecessary for common users performing common tasks except in very rare cases (the ones in which you would probably end up re-installing and losing everything in windows... which you could do in Linux as well if you really want and are too cool to copy/paste a couple of commands)
#5 - Dunno WTF you're trying to get at here... people can't like/want Linux games because... they are made for Linux? Unless you've played the games and have some psychic connection to every common user, I don't know how you could possibly conclude this.
#6 - ....having to ask for something means it's bad or...?
#7 - You're right, it's much better to have paid drones who have no idea what they're doing read irrelevant questions from a script for an hour
#8 - You mean "the company" comes to your house, attaches your new hardware and clicks 'reboot' for you?
#9 - Considering the speciousness of the past eight claims, I am truly astounded you don't keep on reaching for the stars... thanks for saving me some disgust, though - inactive, on 08/19/2008, -5/+11Cedega is not a virtual machine, it's the Windows API on a non-native platform. I get better FPS out of WoW in Cedega than I do in Windows XP on the same box...
- mockupscaledown, on 08/19/2008, -5/+10"When it comes to Linux there are 3 kinds of people, those who never heard of it, those who are afraid of it, and those who hate it and spread falsities about it."
What about the people who know exactly what it does, respect it for what it is, but recognize that it doesn't fit our needs?
I don't get this OS flame frenzy. Whether or not someone elects to use their computer the same way as me affects my life in no way whatsoever. What's the big deal? - rlbond86, on 08/19/2008, -1/+6There are 4 kinds of people. The 4th love it.
- smotpoker, on 08/19/2008, -5/+10Depends on what you use MSO for and how familiar you are with it. Personally, I even took classes with MSO and still find OO easier to use for simple text editing and small presentations
- Pyroteq, on 08/19/2008, -1/+6Runescape is a browser game - that doesn't even count and the rest of the games are OLD. Try playing Crysis on Linux, it's not going to be pretty.
- tvanwyk, on 08/19/2008, -0/+5@smotpoker
True, but it's hard to blame the game manufacturers for "refusing" to port something for the sake of a single-digit percentage of the market.
Catch-22, I know. - Mark2600, on 08/19/2008, -0/+51. There IS WiFi support, you're just obviously not capable of performing the tasks needed to make it functional. What do you mean by "very few wifi networks work with linux"? The network has nothing to do with your choice in Operating System. Very worst case scenario, find your wireless drivers, compile ndiswrapper, and "install" them that way. It's not rocket science.
2. Stop watching balloon porn. - stix213, on 08/19/2008, -0/+5Because we can
If Windows was open source, wouldn't it be interesting to have your own custom version that works exactly the way you wanted? Balloon tips never installed... No "genuine advantage".... Preinstall every driver and app you care about, but not a single one you don't? - FiP0, on 08/19/2008, -0/+5Google is a command line :)
- silviumc, on 08/19/2008, -0/+5I though that maybe this is not so common in the US (because older Unices are already in place, and banks are slow to change anything).
- shawnanigans, on 08/19/2008, -4/+8Why is it so hard to understand why people don't like using the command line? In a GUI all your options are visually displayed so you needn't know the correct combination of alphanumeric characters to get what you want you can just see it. It may be more efficient to use a command line but where do you learn the codes from if nobody taught you and your trying to get your computer to work and thus have no Internet.
- norman619, on 08/19/2008, -2/+6One of the peanuts?
- CCmachined, on 08/19/2008, -3/+7"On the other hand, if you want to install an app on Windows what will you do? Generally you will head to Google and search for the required app or function, swim through hundreds if not thousands of results, randomly choose one which might or might not have what you want. If it does you will be probably asked for a valid email or enter a captcha, then download the file. The file might be huge and if you don’t have a download manager you might lose all what you downloaded because your wireless abruptly decided to disconnect. There are 101 scenarios! If all goes well you double click on the app, click next next, tick on “I Agree”, a couple more nexts and you have the app. Which turns out to be a stripped down trial version, that added a couple of more apps that you didn’t ask for on your desktop and changed a few of your system settings!"
Dugg for truth. - tvanwyk, on 08/19/2008, -1/+5Actually the biggest problem to the statement "The Linux Interface is Ugly and Unattractive" is that there is no such thing as "The Linux Interface" but rather dozens of DEs and WMs. And THAT is what confuses people who might be convinced to try Linux.
The sad thing is that most Linux users mindlessly play into that myth by replying, "no it's not" rather than by pointing out that there is no single mystical Linux interface. - tvanwyk, on 08/19/2008, -1/+5Why is it so hard to understand that the CLI isn't evil?
- mithrasinvictus, on 08/19/2008, -1/+5If the package is not in the *huge* repository. Chances are you can download and click-install a .deb or .rpm package just like you download a windows .exe file. (minus the spyware/updatechecker/toolbar etc)
- smotpoker, on 08/19/2008, -0/+4tvan is right and from what I read elsewhere on digg, Asus's version of Xandros is total crap and gives Linux a bad name. Apparently they intentionally move stuff around and limit the applications that are available for it etc... I hope you do not use it as a primary indication of Linux's worth if it's as bad as I've read
- Suilenroc, on 08/19/2008, -2/+6The linux people never claim that you can play great games and modern games on Linux. They don't, and any that do are lying. Really, I just don't see why it's hard to just ignore it.
- aelias, on 08/19/2008, -0/+4I dual boot Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu on my Dell 1520. I have Ubuntu all OSX'd out with menubar, dock and window styles. It's fun to get the "How'd you make your mac screen to flip around like that?" Followed closely by "How'd you get OSX on a Dell?"
That said, it was a colossal pain in the ass to set it up the way I wanted. Even getting Compiz effects running was several hours of pain. If I wasn't 100% positive it could be done, I would have quit after the first hour, and I suspect most "normals" would too. If you leave a fresh install alone, it is more or less on par with windows in terms of usability. Start farting around with it (because we can!) and you're in for a ride. - sk11, on 08/19/2008, -0/+4I'd rather have fierce competition, than no competition. Different people have different needs and preferences.
Why have loads of different cars, why don't they unite into one single company? You see. - Ouze, on 08/19/2008, -10/+13You forgot "4.) Those who write lame articles about it, and submit it to Digg.com with inadequate hosting"
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