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367 Comments
- Meep3D, on 10/10/2007, -24/+83Sorry. I'm not going to change OS's for mainly ideological/ethical reasons and neither is the mainstream public. If I wanted to be 'ethical' I would become a vegan long before I decided to support FOSS software if I actually cared about making a difference to this world.
The truth is the benefits do not outweigh the problems, not to mention the fact if you want a decent office suite, graphics app or games your out of luck on Linux. People support FOSS in the way that other people support their football team - the aim isn't to be objective.
Linux needs to be promoted on its technical merits and usability *only*. Selling it and expecting people to use it because its 'Free as in Freedom', or expecting people to use it because 'Microsoft is Evil' simply isn't going to fly. If you want proof look in any supermarket at the Free Range vs Non Free Range egg selections. Even something that small and insignificant people don't care about - so they definitely will not care about lofty ideals of software freedom. - ToadLeg, on 10/10/2007, -6/+59Step 1: Get Linux Mint: http://www.linuxmint.com/
It's Ubuntu with all the proprietary stuff you need to replace Windows. - Meep3D, on 10/10/2007, -9/+45I believe they already have. Here's the play...
Windows User - It can't run software program x, y and z. The article says the Linux versions are brilliant but in reality they are crap.
Linux User - Nobody needs to run these programs MS is evil waaahhh GPL waaah Gimp is _better_ than Photoshop its just your an idiot you use MS Linux isn't Windows!
Windows User - What about games?
Linux User - QUAKE 3! QUAKE 3! QUAKE 3! QUAKE 3! Nobody plays games anyway how old are you like 8 lol WOW fanboy.
Windows User - So you can't play current games, and can't use professional level applications, what do you use it for?
Linux User - I have choice!!!!! Windows BSOD's constantly M$ Evil!!!! GPL!!!! Micro$haft $ucks!!!! *proceeds to link to the 1997 video of Windows BSOD'ing when Bill Gates plugs in a USB device*
(I believe I have all main areas of argument covered?) - plizard, on 10/10/2007, -21/+51i think you are the only person who has a stable vista experience
- arjie, on 10/10/2007, -5/+35Actually, if you're enjoying your system then go ahead and stick with it. In time you will join us after all. Resistance is futile.
- biggyfred, on 10/10/2007, -2/+24I have Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty on my laptop, and dual boot XP Home/Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty on a desktop at home. My wife, a confirmed "I don't care what it is, just make it work" user, asked me this weekend if there's any way she can move to linux and keep her killer apps (Microsoft OneNote 2007, IE required for school website access). I popped VMware onto my laptop, loaded up XP and her necessary apps, and let her test drive it. She loves it. I'm going to load Feisty up for her this weekend.
There just comes a point when you get sick and tired of companies (Apple via Itunes, Microsoft via the stealth update this weekend, etc. etc.) intentionally breaking something *you* own/depend on, not to mention the outlandish fees they charge you for doing so. It's also incredibly satisfying to be able to walk away from them. Why pirate when it's free? I mean... really?
Just my .02. YMMV. - ftmichael, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21If you want to learn, of course it's worth the time.
- sponeil, on 10/10/2007, -4/+24How to use Linux:
Step 1: Buy a new wifi card supported by Linux.
Step 2: When that doesn't work with WPA or WEP, buy another one.
(If I sound bitter about it, it's because I am. ;-) - MioTheGreat, on 10/10/2007, -5/+25No time to play games? Your life must suck, dude.
- Tyr7BE, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18"For me, knowing the problem, it was easily fixed by changing to the '.Trash' directory at the command line and running an 'rm -rf *' to clear it. Instant 7GB of free space.
[...]
Overall, not the least bit impressed.
Managing disk space: Flop -- Not possible to complete at all. Probably not a good thing. "
OR...you could right-click on the Trash can and choose 'Empty Trash', EXACTLY like you do in Windows, moron! - Ellipsys, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16Just food for thought - if you want to be a *nix guy again, you may want to stay away from the dependency hells of RPM based distros. Try something debian based (ubuntu/mint) or gentoo's portage system. That should fix your problem more often than not.
- mtalon, on 10/10/2007, -7/+22Reasons against Linux:
1) Can't play all DirectX games (ones you buy at Best Buy). However, there are lots of games for Linux as well as ports and Cedega.
2) No office software. Well, OpenOffice works just fine for most folks. If you HAVE to have MS Office, there are options like CrossOver.
3) Spotty hardware support. To this I say do the research and make sure what you have works on Linux. If not, then switching isn't right (like putting the wrong gas in your car).
Reasons TO change
1) Get out from under MS. Right now, they can totally disable your OS via their various "piracy" checks. If...ahem, -when- their verification servers have an issue, you may find yourself without a functional OS. This wasn't good for movies (DIVX anyone?), why should this be good for a computer.
2) Stability. Linux doesn't require the whole OS to go down if one process gets updated or dies. A reboot is only ever required if the core kernal gets touched.
3) Updates are a snap (in Ubuntu at least), and there's tons of software out there that's free and can be downloaded and installed as easy as doing the updates.
So, take your pick. Yep, MS is easier, but it comes with a price. - ucg1, on 10/10/2007, -3/+17I'm sorry, my friend, but you were never a *nix guy.
- Corgana, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16Hardly ever is a distro update anything other than streamlined in my experience, I've *never* lost any settings, configurations, and especially data. and I don't even have to reboot until I want to.
- daftman, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14Your problem is not Linux. Your problem is your package management. Portage or deb package manage can easily solve your problems. I don't understand how you can claim to be a *nix guide when you failed to understand the very basic of package management. Probably another 2-weeks *nix guy.
- Evildudetx, on 10/10/2007, -13/+26Yeah, sorry, still can't play my games with native support on linux - not going to be switching so I can run them in an emulator.
- HigherLogic, on 10/10/2007, -10/+23 Sogui is your average user. What he said is what a lot of Windows (and you can extend this to IE) users feel. Their OS and browser is fine for what they do. Most Digg users have a problem tackling what the average user is and what they want. Linux has a long, long, long way to go before it can offer viable competition in the desktop arena.
- alimnemonic, on 10/10/2007, -14/+26I just can't wait to play all my games on Linux...no wait...
- Sogui, on 10/10/2007, -31/+43How to get your computer to do 50% of the things it can do now.
I'm your typical user. I use office for my classes in the business school, browse the internet, and play games. Now tell me, why should I switch off an OS (Vista) that is giving me a stable experience, no viruses/adware, the whole spectrum of gaming, and any professional tool I need within arm's reach. - Meep3D, on 10/10/2007, -7/+19Sounds like you need to work smarter, not harder, if you have no time to play games. You a robot or something?
- arjie, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14Nope, if he's using his computer to work, he'll most probably be NOT using his computer when he's relaxing. So he'll be reading a book, or playing with the kids. These are things most people seem to do, in my experience.
- ArthurSucks, on 10/10/2007, -4/+16First off, the average computer user does not need advanced film production tools. Having said that, Cinelerra, Blender, and Gimp can do 90% of all that stuff. Besides if your that anti-Linux you don't have to read Linux articles on Digg. No need to Troll.
- natefisher, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12Well I got a call from my wife earlier today and she is getting an extra PC from work. It is a Dell and she said she was told it was a 2.6, 80 gig HD, and 512 MB of Ram. I am thinking about using it as a Linux (Ubuntu) machine but I have zero experience with Linux. Is it worth the time of me playing with this machine to learn some things about Linux and Ubuntu?
- matthekc, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12I agree with ToadLeg and mint has other nice things besides proprietary stuff. This is a great article although parts of it are dated. I did not know you could extract the printer driver from an rpm and insert it manually. I might find that useful. It is a great compliment that most of the world is looking at linux and saying yes this could go mainstream.
- plurk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11How many "average people" install windows? By average people, I assume we are talking about the average I-want-to-g- on-the-Internet-so-I-click-the-blue-E users. They aren't. If they are using Linux, it is likely because someone else set it up for them, which is exactly what happens for Windows as well. If they have a problem, they call a power user or a technical person. Most "average" users will adapt quickly to the new environment since it is still a point and click kind of world (it is also the reason they adapt to MacOS X so quickly too). Windows Power Users, on the other hand, find converting to new operating systems particularly painful. All their preciously learned, windows-specific knowledge is utterly worthless. To do the things they did with easy in Windows requires relearning everything. Linux isn't pretty in how it does somethings, but Windows isn't either. It's just an average Power User has gotten use to spending hours trying to track down a Windows XP driver for their laptop with Vista on it, or doing some obscure windows registry hack in order to fix the DMA problem with their DVD-ROM drive, Linux users have learned that sometimes you have to spend a couple of hours reading through forums to find the obscure way to fix the problem with their wireless. Be thankful that it works, eventually -- this is progress, believe it or not. Licensing and vendors who aren't interested in a Linux market share are the major obstacles. If broadcom (and the other like them ... look at your Texas Instruments) were willing to release their specs or an open source driver or even let distributions distribute the binary firmware required for the Linux driver to work, hardware support would be better and the end user experience would be better. We aren't there yet. The fact that Dell and Lenovo (it looks like) are only going to be buying linux supported components for part of their line should convince a few more companies to at least release binary drivers ... that is at least a step forward ... not optimal, but better than nothing.
- xst4t1kx, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14Disregard recommendation. Avoid PCLinuxOS.
- straxus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11I find it telling that you didn't argue that the Windows platform itself is good. Just that it has apps you don't want to replace. That is a valid reason for not switching, but it doesn't say anything positive about Windows.
- daftman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11If you are happy with your current flavour, then why would you need to change. Unless you are only changing just for the sake of changing.
- Tyr7BE, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10"What's New In Celena:
[...]
5. Improved Stability
The Update Manager and Update Notifier were removed from Celena so users would not perform un-educated upgrades. With more than 2 releases a year and many modules affected by upgrades, stability was preferred to security in Celena. No more pop-ups telling you a new version of Ubuntu became available, no more pop-ups telling you to download the latest kernel... your system is stable, tested and it should stay that way. "
:( - Kamael, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10"The flavour for our foray will be Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Long Term Support), a Debian-based distribution and the very version bundled with APC in the August 2006 issue"
2006 eh...cutting edge...no 7.04 around here it seems... - Neiby, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11I tried Linux for a couple of months earlier in the year. In the end, Windows XP was just a better choice for the stuff that I do. Linux was great and I really liked it, but there were a few little odds and ends that really irritated me. Windows simply provides a nicer integrated experience at this time, at least regarding the stuff I need to do. With linux, I just got really tired of trying to figure out why simple stuff wasn't working. I was able to get most things working, but it was far more effort than it should have been. I couldn't help but come back to the fact that I could get similar things working *very* quickly in Windows. In fact, in many cases they simply would have worked without any intervention.
- arjie, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11Separate /home partitions are useful. Also, if you're using a debian-based system there's a trick with dpkg get-selections that can just list all the packages you have installed. Then dpkg set-selections to get all your packages back. I also back up my /etc regularly onto a different partition so there's no problem. I'd like to backup to another drive but I don't have one :(
- technoredneck, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12When a company tries to make their profit in a manner other than serving their customers (e.g. FUD, abusing their dominant position, manipulating standards organizations), then yeah, they generally /are/ evil. It also doesn't hurt that reputation when they treat you like a criminal with their product activation and 'genuine advantage' mess.
- digital81, on 09/05/2008, -1/+11Before you call me a Linux fanboy, please note I use both Linux and Windows an equal amount of time. My company makes money by using both. To be honest I make more money off Windows than I do Linux, do to the greedy fact that I can charge more for Windows services than I can Linux services. The only reason for this is simples, all my customers have heard of Windows and Microsoft, only half know, or understand what Linux is. It is all about the name.
Now,onto your comments. Every OS, every piece of software rely on dependencies. The only difference is some operating systems and software are more transparent when it comes to telling you what to install or installing it for you. Look how many ***** apps tell you to install .net. Even ATI Offical Drivers control panel makes you install it. Don't install Windows Media Player and see how many programs bitch for it to be installed. For that matter, uninstall Internet Explorer, see what happens, now go uninstall your default browser on any other operating system, wow everything still works. Even with that said, you don't have to pay a damn thing for Linux, having a few dependencies to install is a non-issue when the same issue exists in Windows,(Mac has this problem too if you ever looked under the hood, which you obviously haven't... point... click... point... click).
To the comment about funding, get a brain. A majority of the Major distributions do make money of their distributions, yet we still don't have to pay for it. Don't hate because Linux inspires people to contribute with nothing in return but a better operating system and software. Microsoft expects you to contribute, takes your ideas, implements them, gives you no credit, and still expects you to pay a ridiculous fee and agree to ridiculous terms to use it. And all those ideas your contributed to Microsoft, you may as well forget them, because if you ever try to use them yourself they will sue you.
Like the above comment states, if you really are a nix guy you would stay the hell away from RPM based distros. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Why replace? why not have BOTH?
Sorry this argument that 1 is FORCING you to use their OS over the other is stupid. You can install both and have the best of both worlds. The only exception is the jackoff company that locks down their OS to their hardware, has crappy drivers for new hardware, and makes you pay more for the exact same hardware. That OS, I have no use for! - ucg1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10If you want proof look in any supermarket at the Free Range vs Non Free Range egg selections.
Where I live the selection of free-range eggs has been growing steadily at the Publix that I shop at. I think the simple fact that there is even free range eggs available at a mainstream supermarket is evidence enough that there is big demand for "ethical" food.
But I don't see the idea of using open source software as being so much "ethical" as empowering the user through the "freedom" it provides. To make a supermarket analogy, its like the increasing number of products that have no trans-fats, people want things that are healthier for them in the long-term. Sure, not many people care about health (especially long-term health), but enough people do. Some people just have been educated, and given the option, would choose the healthier option.
I don't think Linux and open source should be promoted without mentioning the freedom aspect. There are enough people who care about that, and many of them just don't know that the option exists. But I agree, if your goal is to advertise, you should know your audience and not make this point to people who don't care (or at least don't make it a central point). But the point still should be made for people who do care.
Personally, when I first started using Linux and BSD (in the 90's), I didn't even pay much attention to the licenses and the advantages that gave you. I just knew they were UNIX clones and they were freely available. The fact that they were UNIX clones that I could run on my home machine was what was so awesome to me (especially at a time when Windows was unstable crap). I would have pirated it if it weren't freely available. It wasn't until much later that I learned the differences between BSD, GPL, and other OSS license. So maybe you do make a good point. - Stemp, on 10/10/2007, -2/+11Stay on Windows... please
- crazybugger, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Its fresh.
- cyberwiz01, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9DirectX alternative? How about OpenGL?
- sirhomer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Neither does Windows.
- kavaliro, on 10/10/2007, -6/+14Much as I love Linux and Ubuntu (I really do!), I've gotta gong you. Open Source still has no decent tools to replace Flash. Which is actually damn sad, because Flash and (especially) Director are unwieldy psycho hose beasts just waiting to be made obsolete by the first competitor to rear it's less ugly head.
Completely replace? GONG! - bowens44, on 10/10/2007, -5/+13If you're happy don't switch. Some people prefer bloated, unstable, over priced, virus prone operating sytems and others prefer Linux. To each thier own.
- daftman, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Go and use Ubuntu or Suse. Then come back and talk.
- nOOBert, on 10/10/2007, -14/+22Its funny.. I used to be a *nix guy. Said it was good for somethings. However after the last 2 weeks or so I have learned that it is not any better then windows or mac. They all have the same problems. The best part is that it is normally easier to fix on the mac or windows box.
For example, I wanted to install something via yum. Figured it would be easy. just type yum install . Everything goes ok until it tells me that I am missing a file dependence. No problem, so I look for the file I am missing... Well to make a long story short, The file that was "missing" was already installed and working fine. Yum was just too retarded to see it.
This all happen right after building a mod for apache that was compatible with apache 2.2 told me that I didnt have apache 2.2 installed...
So later that day, i put windows XP pro back on the box and haven't had a problem since. - MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10Wouldn't you first have to remove your head to make it fit?
Use the OS and tools that you want. - quarando, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11Linux beats Windows on technical merit and usefulness hands down. It has nothing to do with ethics. Linux only becomes a hassle when you try to make it work with proprietary windows technologies, and even then, it often fairs well.
- ArthurSucks, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Winamp is AOL bloat ware, Audacious is just like Winamp used to be, but better. America's Army works in Linux, natively. Most Adobe apps run in wine smoothly.
- heystoopid, on 10/10/2007, -4/+11Yeah , well I am looking for something decent to replace my Vista Home Basic on an AMD Turion 2 gig clock with 512 megabyte main memory powered laptop , as it's performance under Vista kinda sucks real bad !
- ArthurSucks, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8It's the freshmaker.
- daftman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Learning is an investment. If you think its a waste of time then you shouldn't be learning.
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