What is Digg?297 Comments
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -6/+108I think Linux is an OS that tries to be a tool instead of treating its users with kid-gloves; it grants you a great deal of power over your system, but allows you to severely ***** things up if you jump in feet first without knowing what you're doing. Sort of like how a gun won't auto-jam and spit out a friendly warning if you're aiming at something the gun feels you shouldn't be shooting at. It's up to you not to be an idiot when using it.
- schestowitz, on 10/11/2007, -21/+100That's an honest confession actually, but many of these points can be addressed and debunked in turn. There is no O/S that involves no learning curves and compromises. That includes those who move from Windows to Mac OS X.
- micro506, on 10/11/2007, -11/+89I think everything listed is pretty fair. I've always gone by the old saying: Windows treats you like an idiot, Linux treats you like a genius. It's up to you which to use.
- TheGentleman, on 10/11/2007, -13/+76At first I thought: no, it's not true, it's FUD! But then again... most of the arguments are true. Linux is not easy, it's not for everyone. I guess it depends on what you're trying to do with it. O well, it doesn't matter. It's a good read.
btw: the digg title implies some sort of conspiracy... lame. - airquotes, on 10/11/2007, -5/+54I think this article can all be summed up by 10
10. Linux assumes that you are an intelligent person. - jellygraph, on 10/11/2007, -11/+55sorry, but most of these points are fairly moot when it comes to some distributions, like ubuntu...
you are never going to have a 100% experience installing any distribution, even if it is ubuntu. and this is true for windows. I'd love to see most non-technical people install windows.
the only reason its not a problem for most non-technical people is because they don't need to install windows. it comes pre-installed. so if linux comes pre-installed, there's no issue, is there?
does anyone actually realize how much time and effort it takes to install windows 2000 sp4 from scratch? it takes me well over half a day just to get the damn computer all patched up with the latest updates... and thats not including all the software i need to have installed. - MikeonTV, on 10/11/2007, -28/+7111. You probably wont feel the inside of a vagina for a long time.
- Homunculiheaded, on 10/11/2007, -3/+39I always feel that linux is great for very low-end users (i.e. web browsing and basic word processing is fine) and higher-end users, but it has a unnecessarily steep learning curver for any intermediate users (people who want to make some customizations and do some out of the ordinary things with their computers but don't have advanced technical knowledge).
My favorite example is sharing a folder over a windows network. In windows you right click, and select 'share', in Ubuntu you install and configure a samba server after reading how-to's on various message boards. There are plenty of people whose technical skill is enough to know that they have a need to share a folder on a network, but not enough to be comfortable installing and configuring samba to do it. Another example, as the article mentioned, is trying to install programs that aren't in the repositories, which while not extremely difficult is certainly much more complicated than it is on windows or mac. - Nougat, on 10/11/2007, -4/+36All good until: "Linux is for power users, and Windows is for n00bs."
The vast majority of computer users in the world are just that - users. There's nothing wrong with that. I don't know (or want to know) how to repair high-voltage electric circuits, and yet I have them in my house. I don't know (or want to know) how to switch and repair commuter trains, yet I ride them every day to and from work.
It is perfectly fine for someone to want to use a computer without knowing how, or wanting to know how, to fix it. It is reasonable for people to expect that their computers will work without incident, apart from the odd occasion where they might need to pay someone else to do some work on it.
Interestingly enough, the personal computer market has not developed to the point where people who buy computers expect to pay other people to fix or maintain them. Think of the automobile industry in the 1920s. People who owned and drove cars were still expected to be able to do fairly in-depth roadside repairs on their own. This is hardly the case today. And computers of the early 21st century are vastly more complicated systems than automobiles of the early 20th.
The real reason why "next year" is always ballyhooed as the "year of the Linux desktop" is not because Linux isn't designed for end-users (though that is also true). It's because the personal computer user base as a whole refuses to recognize that they should be paying experts for services which they themselves cannot (and do not want to) perform.
The blame when something goes wrong usually gets heaped on the operating system, or the organization which developed it. It should go on the shoulders of people who refuse to value the expertise of others. - pagefright, on 10/11/2007, -3/+26Geese, if Windows treats you like an idiot... then does that mean Mac treats you like a teenage girl with no self esteem in the back seat of a impala during prom night?
- madtiger, on 10/11/2007, -2/+24Number 10 is awesome. I would like to add my own #11: "Linux assumes that you are ready to do the exact same tasks in a different manner".
I tried the switch at home on the "main" pc, but the female spousal unit is so entrenched into XP that I am waiting until next year (when I am building a new PC) and I will ask her to buy the OS. When she sees $399 for the "professional" version after I build the PC for about $450, she might consider it shortly after ***** her pants. - johnnysaucepn, on 10/11/2007, -3/+25"with distros like Ubuntu and tools like Synaptic you can get around doing many of the basic things without ever touching the command line."
The relevant point being 'many', not 'all'. Sooner or later, there's no avoiding the command line. For now. - sacherjj, on 10/11/2007, -5/+26It is true that these things can be countered by learning. However, Linux users do an injustice to paint a false, rosy picture to those they are trying to get to install and use Linux. If we are more upfront about potential problems and offer solutions, it would reduce the number of people hating Linux because it wasn't exactly what was promised.
- beckermt, on 10/11/2007, -6/+25It is a conspiracy. A few of my friend's run Linux and I'm really happy for them, but my machine is pretty much just for gaming, meaning that Linux simply won't cut it. Yes, emulators etc, blah blah, but what's the point of installing linux if I'll be booting into a WIndows environment pretty much every time. Woes of a PC gamer.
- MasteRR, on 10/11/2007, -2/+20Right. If it is installed for them (much the way Windows is preinstalled on most PCs) it isn't any more difficult. My mother (52) and stepdad, who are both "noobs", use it just fine after I installed it for them. My mom even prefers it over Windows and will boot into Linux rather than Windows to check her email.
This is why the "Dellbuntu" machines are so important. Get preinstalled Linux into the marketplace it it may take off. - sacherjj, on 10/11/2007, -4/+22Since when the ladies find out how much of a Linux user you are, you will get lucky. You really should use some kind of protection.
- PatoLucas, on 10/11/2007, -0/+18In my experience Linux is for either the hardcore geek or the complete noob, is the middle user who will have a lot of trouble with it.
- archlich, on 10/11/2007, -6/+229. Linux is almost entirely virus/trojan/spyware free, but you will still need some kind of protection.
Since when? - vuke69, on 10/11/2007, -5/+20pffft, as if that actually happens.
- sacherjj, on 10/11/2007, -2/+17Really? It took me 6 minutes to install my printer on Ubuntu. It took almost 30 minutes to get the driver to install without crashing on a brand new installation of XP.
- cquinnd, on 10/11/2007, -5/+19The article may not be FUD, but your exaggerations above are.
We are well past the point of having to recompile or make most applications on Linux.
The problem now is choosing from the dozen dozens of useful distros (out of hundreds of
maintained distros), to find one that best suits the needs of people who really don't
want to spend the time rolling their own distribution. - codmate, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15I bet you set it all up for them and maintain it regularly though...
- sacherjj, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14Same reason as Linux users still using Windows. Games.
- JQP123, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13And since idiots outnumber geniuses by at least a factor of 10, one could easily conclude that your "idiot" is really a euphemism for the average user.
- sacherjj, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13And adding -rf is allowing you to have the gun that Predator uses, with option nuclear detonation mode. :)
- rdjurovich, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13I installed latest version of Ubuntu (7.04) on my dual-screen pc, took 30 minutes from inserting CD to fully configured (incl. having Nvidia drivers and dual screen setup), had all my fav. programs installed, no command line, nice and easy :D
- Hemingrubbish, on 10/11/2007, -4/+15http://thinkthick.blogspot.com/2007/07/confessions-of-linux-fan-10-things-you.html
- kazamx, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12I agree, However with every update, with every new release the gap between the well looked after low-end and the well supported high end users gets smaller and smaller.
The number of people who would find Linux the better choice increases all the time. Look how far Linux has come since XP launched. In the Time Microsoft has taken to develop Vista, just look at how much Linux has changed. By the time Microsoft releases their next OS, I believe they will find it almost impossible to get ahead. - UKsHaDoW, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11Isn't iptables built in most disto's? Thats a firewall
- TritonX, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11The article was not about your parent being able to use ubuntu, but rather about the "power user" wanting to make the switch from windows to linux and finding out it is not as easy as some made it sound like. As said in the article, a default install of the most popular distro can be done without much trouble, but when you start tweaking, partition and everything, it can get confusing if you didn't not educate yourself first.
- sacherjj, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8When using Ubuntu's Network config tool, it seems like that has been addressed.
- akatherder, on 10/11/2007, -23/+31It's not FUD. I am completely capable of using Linux and Windows, but I would never use Linux on my home PC.
I like playing games. I don't like re-compiling my kernel. I like running setup.exe and having the program install 99% of the time. I don't like running 'make install' 50 times and troubleshooting someone's crummy script.
Linux has a role, but it needs to travel leaps and bounds before I would consider using it as my desktop OS. - Darth_tater, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8but dont you see? thats the point he is trying to make...
In Xp (no matter the version) its a simple right click -> share.
in linux it starts with a google search of "enable folder sharing with {distro name here}" unless there s already a GUI to do so... but out of the thousands to linux distros out there, maybe 100 have a gui bult in to do that - Novagenesis, on 10/11/2007, -3/+11Yes, it certainly does.
Windows drivers for a lot of hardware are plug-and-play while not being 100% compatible. - idonthack, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9All Linux users are avid 4chan readers. /b/tards have no use for a vagina, if you know what I mean.
- AstralSin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+91: the instructions for installing the 3d desktops is VERY well documented
2: i've never had an antivirus in linux (8 years) and i've never gotten a virus, most people these days have routers, if not, they probably don't have any open ports anyway
3: you can work in linux perfectly well without the command line, but you do get more power if you use the command line (true for any OS)
4: the most novice computer users i've ever introduced to linux (and they knew NOTHING about computers) say that Ubuntu is easier to use than XP - Vorrel, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9So why shouldn't I just stick with XP, where I don't have any problems?
I am not in the mood to spend countless hours of my life, trying to get something done that is already done for me in windows. Just so I can join the Linux fan club? - Philluminati, on 10/11/2007, -4/+11Sometimes it's not that Linux isn't easy enough. I will offer you sane defaults but it doesn't "second guess" like Windows does. If you type an IP into Windows, it will automatically guess a class C netmask. Linux won't...and that's where people slip up.
- nullmind, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Yes, I was just posting on this. The article says:
"9. Linux is almost entirely virus/trojan/spyware free, but you will still need some kind of protection."
Even the graphical tool is usually available in the distro (ie; Firestarter), so I don't know where this guy is coming from. Compared to windows, managing ports out-of-the-box is a lot easier in Linux. I won't even mention the fact that most Windows-based firewall managers are always trying to get a dime from someone. - MasteRR, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8And as for my mother, I did set it up, but not much more than a Windows install would be and spending a few minutes teaching her the equivalent software to what she used to use. As for maintaining, if you call logging in every couple weeks to make sure updates are being done as maintaining, then yes, I do maintain it, however that is all I do. She is still running Dapper.
- Arnos, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9I'm curious to what the Mac analogy is also (not being a Mac user)
I would think that a Mac would treat you like a blind follower who would never question your godliness and infalability.
Most Mac users I know seem to think their Macs can (and literally do) walk on water. - nodonoug, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I fail to see how your friends' Linux boxes constitute a conspiracy. TheGentleman's point is that there is no central group of Linux devs who tell all the supporters what to say/not to say so that more people will adopt Linux.
- dafragsta, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7That's a pretty good assessment. Another good thing to point out is that with Linux, you can almost certainly figure out how to solve your own problems... if you have the time. The problem is that you might spend hours or even days re-re-re-stepping through a howto, trying to figure out why it's not working when you did everything exactly right, only to find that because you are using a package installer for most stuff, that the default path for some obscure piece of software is different than the config file for another piece of obscure software expected it to be.
- nxtwrld, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Few differences I noticed when switching to linux:
1. Read the dialogs, don't just press OK. - When coming across an error, windows usually do not provide useful information about the error or needed steps to be taken, Linux tends to tell you exactly what to do (or what to google for ;-) ).
2. Linux + Compiz/Beryl/Emerald make a unique desktop that neither Aero nor Aqua can not match...... but all this would still perish without the command line. - TritonX, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Are you blaming Canon or Linux ?
- kiddcode, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9I prefer my tools to have obvious usability out of the box
- HalfBurntToast, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7I think it comes down to games for me. Thats the only reason I keep Windows. Until the day where I can play Oblivion, Crysis, (and other high end games) on Linux, I'll be fine with Windows.
- CatalystGhost, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6""3. You will have to learn how to use the command line."
*****, with distros like Ubuntu and tools like Synaptic you can get around doing many of the basic things without ever touching the command line."
Um... while setting up Ubuntu I've had to use to command line numerous times in order to get quite a few things running. For instance, my graphics card. Not saying that it was tough, but it can be confusing, and if you are trying to get anything out of Linux you WILL be using that command line. - buddyw, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5You are exactly right. Linux is great for novice users - it's those in between novice and geek that have issues.
- tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Some photo forum site. One of its forums, known as "/b/" is known to have all kinds of photos, including all manner of pornography, including those that are not technically legal.
DISCLAIMER: Never been to 4chan, but I have read about it -
Show 51 - 100 of 292 discussions
Check out the new & improved 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is