4 ms·

'Linux' tends to have a reputation as being complicated to use or it's just for developers, etc. But nothing could be further from the truth. If you install one

'Linux' tends to have a reputation as being complicated to use or it's just for developers, etc. But nothing could be further from the truth. If you install one of the more modern distributions like Ubuntu, the OS runs faster, easier to use and much more friendly for just getting stuff done. I've now realised that I will never buy another Microsoft OS after using Windows 10. I had to download a separate program to switch off all the spyware and to disable crippling updates. This isn't even a problem with Ubuntu.

orbifold 8y ago
Video playback has still screen tearing in a default Ubuntu installation, something that has not been an issue in either Mac OSX or Windows for a long time.
collyw 8y ago
I think there is still a fundamental difference in the way you troubleshoot things between Linux and Windows. In Linux you can usually find something on Stack overflow or Ask Ubuntu, copy a few commands into the terminal and get things working. In Windows you can find some icons in the settings related to what you are doing and randomly click until things work again. While I prefer the first option I can understand why others (who are not IT professionals) prefer the second.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  Except those things you find on SO often don't work because they're from 2010 and the way the internals are organized in your more modern distro are different, or they only ever applied to red hat based distros and you're on a debian based one, or the problem in question only looks very similar to a known bug in some old version of pulseaudio, etc. Personally, I'm in favor of discoverability, especially for troubleshooting. Sadly, Windows is becomming more and more like Linux in this regard as time goes on and they try to make it into a phablet OS.
- zrobotics 8y ago
  By the same token though, I find it much easier to fix remotely. I got tired of having to talk my father through tech support issues, since under windows it often required me walking him through all the steps. Far easier to email him a command string and tell him to paste it into the terminal. Sure, this doesn't help him learn how to fix things himself, but he has zero interest in learning to use the computer for anything more than a web browser anyway. And the lack of malware is a nice plus.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    If all he needs is a web kiosk why even bother with a real OS? Sounds like the perfect job for ChromeOS or Porteus Kiosk.
  - massysett 8y ago
    If he just needs a Web browser, I've found that the iPad is the best solution here. Both hardware and software are very durable, and portable. Get a Bluetooth keyboard and some sort of stand for the tablet and you're set.
  - earenndil 8y ago
    > Far easier to email him a command string and tell him to paste it into the terminal Or, even, set up dyndns and ssh in.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
Linux is only "easier to use" so long as you never color outside the lines of whatever the distro had in mind for a use case. So basically, as long as you treat it like either a web kiosk or a web-dev workstation you'll be ok. I also doubt that it runs faster in any meaningful way. Certainly my own anecdotal experience doesn't suggest that. And God help you if you ever have to delve into the goldbergesque internals to fix something. Though to be fair Windows 10 isn't any better in this regard if it involves anything added since Windows 8.
- chriselrod 8y ago
  What do you have in mind for "outside the lines"? Gaming? I've found the opposite. I'm a grad student, and my department assigned me to a computer with Windows 7. I found it incredibly counter-intuitive and difficult to do things as simple as navigating to hidden directories or opening files therein, let alone anything even slightly further outside the lines of what my grandpa would use a computer for. It felt like Windows deliberately obfuscated everything, hiding it behind smoke and mirrors for the sake of a "friendlier" facade. Which makes it all the more frustrating -- why would someone go out of their way to make my life more difficult? The old saying that the "free" in "free software" is about freedom really hit home after my experiences. Linux never got in my way.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    > What do you have in mind for "outside the lines"? Gaming? How do I put an application on a different disk? > I found it incredibly counter-intuitive and difficult to do things as simple as navigating to hidden directories or opening files therein View->Hidden Items. Admittedly, such a thing shouldn't be necessary, but Linux has the exact same mechanism for hiding `.` files in its file explorers. > It felt like Windows deliberately obfuscated everything, hiding it behind smoke and mirrors for the sake of a "friendlier" facade. Funny, that's exactly how I'd describe every "easy to use" Linux Desktop I've ever encountered. And my point is that once you peek around that facade, what you find is a Rube Goldberg machine.
    - 8y ago

orbifold 8y ago

Video playback has still screen tearing in a default Ubuntu installation, something that has not been an issue in either Mac OSX or Windows for a long time.

collyw 8y ago

I think there is still a fundamental difference in the way you troubleshoot things between Linux and Windows. In Linux you can usually find something on Stack overflow or Ask Ubuntu, copy a few commands into the terminal and get things working. In Windows you can find some icons in the settings related to what you are doing and randomly click until things work again. While I prefer the first option I can understand why others (who are not IT professionals) prefer the second.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
Except those things you find on SO often don't work because they're from 2010 and the way the internals are organized in your more modern distro are different, or they only ever applied to red hat based distros and you're on a debian based one, or the problem in question only looks very similar to a known bug in some old version of pulseaudio, etc. Personally, I'm in favor of discoverability, especially for troubleshooting. Sadly, Windows is becomming more and more like Linux in this regard as time goes on and they try to make it into a phablet OS.
zrobotics 8y ago
By the same token though, I find it much easier to fix remotely. I got tired of having to talk my father through tech support issues, since under windows it often required me walking him through all the steps. Far easier to email him a command string and tell him to paste it into the terminal. Sure, this doesn't help him learn how to fix things himself, but he has zero interest in learning to use the computer for anything more than a web browser anyway. And the lack of malware is a nice plus.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  If all he needs is a web kiosk why even bother with a real OS? Sounds like the perfect job for ChromeOS or Porteus Kiosk.
- massysett 8y ago
  If he just needs a Web browser, I've found that the iPad is the best solution here. Both hardware and software are very durable, and portable. Get a Bluetooth keyboard and some sort of stand for the tablet and you're set.
- earenndil 8y ago
  > Far easier to email him a command string and tell him to paste it into the terminal Or, even, set up dyndns and ssh in.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago

Linux is only "easier to use" so long as you never color outside the lines of whatever the distro had in mind for a use case. So basically, as long as you treat it like either a web kiosk or a web-dev workstation you'll be ok. I also doubt that it runs faster in any meaningful way. Certainly my own anecdotal experience doesn't suggest that. And God help you if you ever have to delve into the goldbergesque internals to fix something. Though to be fair Windows 10 isn't any better in this regard if it involves anything added since Windows 8.

chriselrod 8y ago
What do you have in mind for "outside the lines"? Gaming? I've found the opposite. I'm a grad student, and my department assigned me to a computer with Windows 7. I found it incredibly counter-intuitive and difficult to do things as simple as navigating to hidden directories or opening files therein, let alone anything even slightly further outside the lines of what my grandpa would use a computer for. It felt like Windows deliberately obfuscated everything, hiding it behind smoke and mirrors for the sake of a "friendlier" facade. Which makes it all the more frustrating -- why would someone go out of their way to make my life more difficult? The old saying that the "free" in "free software" is about freedom really hit home after my experiences. Linux never got in my way.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  > What do you have in mind for "outside the lines"? Gaming? How do I put an application on a different disk? > I found it incredibly counter-intuitive and difficult to do things as simple as navigating to hidden directories or opening files therein View->Hidden Items. Admittedly, such a thing shouldn't be necessary, but Linux has the exact same mechanism for hiding `.` files in its file explorers. > It felt like Windows deliberately obfuscated everything, hiding it behind smoke and mirrors for the sake of a "friendlier" facade. Funny, that's exactly how I'd describe every "easy to use" Linux Desktop I've ever encountered. And my point is that once you peek around that facade, what you find is a Rube Goldberg machine.
  - 8y ago