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Significant expertise is required to install, configure (sound, sleep, 3d accelerators, multiple monitors, printers, scanners, projectors), and maintain the os.

by x0x0 11y ago

cpeterso 11y ago
Linux is only free if your time is worthless.
- pataprogramming 11y ago
  And Windows is free if you your time is worthless and you pretend you didn't fork over a wodge of cash. Can we kill this meme already?
  - frozenport 11y ago
    On one hand Windows is free because it came with my laptop, on the other hand a day of my time lost on Linux is worth more than the $200 Windows license. Although this is very much about Linux on desktops.
    - ionised 11y ago
      Your laptop costs more because it comes with Windows. It's not free.
    - vetinari 11y ago
      I've lost orders of magnitude more time on windows, than on linux. (Embedded linux devices included in the math).
    - BetaCygni 11y ago
      Windows: easy things are easy, normal things require some googling, hard things are impossible. Linux: easy things are easy, normal things require some googling, hard things are hard.
      - cm2187 11y ago
        Well, from my short experience with linux, easy things require googling on linux. I was trying to open a port to make remote desktop work. I classify that as easy.
        BetaCygni 11y ago
        You may be right, googling doesn't take much time though. A Linux system without internet is indeed barely usable. Thos man pages are absolutely unreadable.
simplexion 11y ago
When was the last time you installed Linux? 2008?
vetinari 11y ago
> Significant expertise is required to install, configure (sound, sleep, 3d accelerators, multiple monitors, printers, scanners, projectors), and maintain the os. Worked out of the box for me (sound autoconfigured, sleep via thinkpad acpi autoconfigured, intel gpu autoconfigured, external monitor via thunderbolt autodetected, one network printer/scanner autodetected via bonjour, other network printer/scanner had driver package from the vendor on the web, were projectors ever a problem?). Did I do something the wrong way?
- ygjb 11y ago
  Linux does work out of the box if you buy hardware from a company that has a very large corporate install base (Dell, Lenovo, etc). Linux also works really well if your hardware isn't bleeding edge. The part where Linux becomes hard to use and requires expertise is learning the new UX, understanding what software and tools are no longer available and figuring out how to live and work with the alternatives that exist. The degree of technical proficiency that you have is probably relevant to your "out of the box" experience - you are reading and posting on HN, which means that your level of technical knowledge is probably higher than most users given the typical audience of this site.

Significant expertise is required to install, configure (sound, sleep, 3d accelerators, multiple monitors, printers, scanners, projectors), and maintain the os.

by x0x0 11y ago

Significant expertise is required to install, configure (sound, sleep, 3d accelerators, multiple monitors, printers, scanners, projectors), and maintain the os.

cpeterso 11y ago

Linux is only free if your time is worthless.

pataprogramming 11y ago
And Windows is free if you your time is worthless and you pretend you didn't fork over a wodge of cash. Can we kill this meme already?
- frozenport 11y ago
  On one hand Windows is free because it came with my laptop, on the other hand a day of my time lost on Linux is worth more than the $200 Windows license. Although this is very much about Linux on desktops.
  - ionised 11y ago
    Your laptop costs more because it comes with Windows. It's not free.
  - vetinari 11y ago
    I've lost orders of magnitude more time on windows, than on linux. (Embedded linux devices included in the math).
  - BetaCygni 11y ago
    Windows: easy things are easy, normal things require some googling, hard things are impossible. Linux: easy things are easy, normal things require some googling, hard things are hard.
    - cm2187 11y ago
      Well, from my short experience with linux, easy things require googling on linux. I was trying to open a port to make remote desktop work. I classify that as easy.
      - BetaCygni 11y ago
        You may be right, googling doesn't take much time though. A Linux system without internet is indeed barely usable. Thos man pages are absolutely unreadable.

simplexion 11y ago

When was the last time you installed Linux? 2008?

vetinari 11y ago

> Significant expertise is required to install, configure (sound, sleep, 3d accelerators, multiple monitors, printers, scanners, projectors), and maintain the os. Worked out of the box for me (sound autoconfigured, sleep via thinkpad acpi autoconfigured, intel gpu autoconfigured, external monitor via thunderbolt autodetected, one network printer/scanner autodetected via bonjour, other network printer/scanner had driver package from the vendor on the web, were projectors ever a problem?). Did I do something the wrong way?

ygjb 11y ago
Linux does work out of the box if you buy hardware from a company that has a very large corporate install base (Dell, Lenovo, etc). Linux also works really well if your hardware isn't bleeding edge. The part where Linux becomes hard to use and requires expertise is learning the new UX, understanding what software and tools are no longer available and figuring out how to live and work with the alternatives that exist. The degree of technical proficiency that you have is probably relevant to your "out of the box" experience - you are reading and posting on HN, which means that your level of technical knowledge is probably higher than most users given the typical audience of this site.