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> I'm not sure that's true. You can buy a few computers (including from Dell) with Linux pre-installed, and maintenance doesn't take a lot more than clicking on

> I'm not sure that's true. You can buy a few computers (including from Dell) with Linux pre-installed, and maintenance doesn't take a lot more than clicking on the upgrade button with the daily update-manager prompt. Is it really that good these days? I can definitely appreciate the constancy of Linux, it feels like Windows/Chrome/etc stacks move under my feet constantly. But my experience with Linux is still that when problems do arise, I have to escalate to shell commands and arcane sysadmin-ry for all but the simplest problems. Windows and OS X still offer a lot more hope of an accessible fix via the GUI or even an automated troubleshooting tool. It's totally possible I'm dealing with the wrong distros, or am resorting to Linux for weirder tasks and therefore seeing harder problems. But I don't have the sense that Linux is more painless, only that it's less chaotic.

scaryclam 9y ago
I'm probably not the best person to comment, as I tend to drop out to the command line for most things and might not recognise when something's hard to fix using GUI tools, but I've worked with colleagues who are not terribly good at CLI linux. They've been using some of the dell laptops and don't appear to have many problems looking after their own issues.
wutbrodo 9y ago
> Is it really that good these days? Honestly, I constantly doubt myself on this because other people keep claiming you need to be some sort of tech-savvy god in order to use Linux: but I've had various Linux systems as my primary and only OS since 2007 and I pretty much haven't had any problems to speak of since like, 2012. To the extent that I can take myself out of my own head and try to model someone not that tech-savvy, I find Windows _much_ harder to use on a day-to-day basis. This is further validated by the experience of my dad: I went from 1-2 tech support calls a week to maybe once a YEAR. > But my experience with Linux is still that when problems do arise, I have to escalate to shell commands and arcane sysadmin-ry for all but the simplest problems. I actually prefer the command line for pretty much everything (I haven't opened a GUI file browser in years), so I'm leaning primarily on the experience of a few friends/family who switched to Linux when they saw how awesome my system in college was (where awesome = not plagued with the ridiculous problems that every Windows user has to rationalize out of existence). I've tried to evangelize the command line to most of them and they remain pretty firmly uninterested. And yet none of them ever really _have_ any problems with their system[1] to speak of: clicking "install now" on the Update Manager pop-up is the only interaction they have to have with their system beyond usage. They usually tend to be on something like Linux Mint, which has all the GUI-heavy config tools pre-installed already. When they feel like dipping a toe in the water of customization, they can do so to the precise extent that they're comfortable and think that the trade-off is worth it (e.g. re-arranging their panel). AFAICT, all the work in Linux is upfront and pretty quick: make sure that you buy hardware that supports Linux well (an easy Google search) and either buy pre-installed or spend 20 minutes installing it. [1] These include my best friends and girlfriend, people I've talked to almost literally every day for the last decade.

scaryclam 9y ago

I'm probably not the best person to comment, as I tend to drop out to the command line for most things and might not recognise when something's hard to fix using GUI tools, but I've worked with colleagues who are not terribly good at CLI linux. They've been using some of the dell laptops and don't appear to have many problems looking after their own issues.

wutbrodo 9y ago

> Is it really that good these days? Honestly, I constantly doubt myself on this because other people keep claiming you need to be some sort of tech-savvy god in order to use Linux: but I've had various Linux systems as my primary and only OS since 2007 and I pretty much haven't had any problems to speak of since like, 2012. To the extent that I can take myself out of my own head and try to model someone not that tech-savvy, I find Windows _much_ harder to use on a day-to-day basis. This is further validated by the experience of my dad: I went from 1-2 tech support calls a week to maybe once a YEAR. > But my experience with Linux is still that when problems do arise, I have to escalate to shell commands and arcane sysadmin-ry for all but the simplest problems. I actually prefer the command line for pretty much everything (I haven't opened a GUI file browser in years), so I'm leaning primarily on the experience of a few friends/family who switched to Linux when they saw how awesome my system in college was (where awesome = not plagued with the ridiculous problems that every Windows user has to rationalize out of existence). I've tried to evangelize the command line to most of them and they remain pretty firmly uninterested. And yet none of them ever really _have_ any problems with their system[1] to speak of: clicking "install now" on the Update Manager pop-up is the only interaction they have to have with their system beyond usage. They usually tend to be on something like Linux Mint, which has all the GUI-heavy config tools pre-installed already. When they feel like dipping a toe in the water of customization, they can do so to the precise extent that they're comfortable and think that the trade-off is worth it (e.g. re-arranging their panel). AFAICT, all the work in Linux is upfront and pretty quick: make sure that you buy hardware that supports Linux well (an easy Google search) and either buy pre-installed or spend 20 minutes installing it. [1] These include my best friends and girlfriend, people I've talked to almost literally every day for the last decade.