4 ms·

> If they don't use Linux, I wonder how long it will take them to have something productive for the average worker. If the do use Linux, I wonder that. Not be

> If they don't use Linux, I wonder how long it will take them to have something productive for the average worker. If the do use Linux, I wonder that. Not being snarky. Linux is unusable for "the average worker".

nicoburns 7y ago
I think this is just a matter of familiarity. I've seen highly non-technical users find linux as easy if not easier than windows. The problems are mainly unsupported hardware and lack of software support. But if you stick with open alternatives then you can do just fine.
- PatrolX 7y ago
  I often test the latest Linux distros on crappy old hardware (and new hardware) just to see how compatible they are. I recently tested Kubuntu 19.04 on a 20 year old desktop, it works perfectly and even had third-party drivers for the video card.
  - lolc 7y ago
    I find this hard to believe because a desktop of 1999 would only have around 256 MiB of RAM.
    - officeplant 7y ago
      My friends dual Pentium Pro system is capped out at 2GB of ram. Many older machines got maxed out ram wise if you bothered to upgrade them at all when previous gen ram goes super cheap.
  - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
    My experience has been that Linux works better on old hardware than new hardware.
sametmax 7y ago
My 60 year old mother have been using Ubuntu every day for the last decade. It's just a matter of familiarity. She just want to check her mail et watch videos, after all.
- jiveturkey 7y ago
  "the average worker" doesn't just want to check their mail and watch videos. they want to use MS OFFICE suite, never see a terminal, backup/restore with ease, ask someone who isn't an IT pro how to fix something, also get support from their IT department, use the vast amount of legacy/proprietary enterprise software that their workflow is rooted around. Not to pick on you, but why when the question of Linux as a Windows substitute comes up, do people always have to offer anecdotes about their mother. I'm no SJW or radical feminist, but honestly, let's move on from that. My comment is about "the average worker", not friends and family / personal use. For which, in my highly uber technical group of friends and family, (where mothers are C++ programmers), maybe 1 out of 20 (generously) find a Linux desktop usable. Only in this forum, where people recognize the horrid low contrast, gratuitous whitespace, excessive bloat of the latest javascript "framework", know the difference between modeless and modal dialogs, understand why the gmail UI keeps moving in the wrong direction -- only in this forum, where UX is understood as a real "science" that needs attention, will people actually also claim that the Linux desktop is usable. It boggles the mind. Sorry to go off on a rant, forgive me.
  - diveanon 7y ago
    The average worker uses the tools their company provides them and just collects a paycheck.
faissaloo 7y ago
I installed Linux for my 40 year old mother and she can use it fine.
deehouie 7y ago
You'd be amazed how much more technical competent average Chinese are compared with Americans
- blibble 7y ago
  that would seem to be unlikely given 40% of Chinese are subsidence farmers?
diveanon 7y ago
I installed ubuntu on the laptop of a 70 year old hostel owner in Cambodia. It took her an afternoon with me to figure it out. Stop spreading this nonsense.
officeplant 7y ago
If I can teach my aging mother(57) to use standard ubuntu 18.04 as her first computer ever then anyone can learn linux. Everything she needs is clearly presented in the bar of application icons and the ancient scanner/printer someone gave her works perfectly. Bonus points for when I go visit and there is a handful of .exe's hacked facebook friends convinced her to download sitting uselessly in the download folder.

nicoburns 7y ago

I think this is just a matter of familiarity. I've seen highly non-technical users find linux as easy if not easier than windows. The problems are mainly unsupported hardware and lack of software support. But if you stick with open alternatives then you can do just fine.

PatrolX 7y ago
I often test the latest Linux distros on crappy old hardware (and new hardware) just to see how compatible they are. I recently tested Kubuntu 19.04 on a 20 year old desktop, it works perfectly and even had third-party drivers for the video card.
- lolc 7y ago
  I find this hard to believe because a desktop of 1999 would only have around 256 MiB of RAM.
  - officeplant 7y ago
    My friends dual Pentium Pro system is capped out at 2GB of ram. Many older machines got maxed out ram wise if you bothered to upgrade them at all when previous gen ram goes super cheap.
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  My experience has been that Linux works better on old hardware than new hardware.

sametmax 7y ago

My 60 year old mother have been using Ubuntu every day for the last decade. It's just a matter of familiarity. She just want to check her mail et watch videos, after all.

jiveturkey 7y ago
"the average worker" doesn't just want to check their mail and watch videos. they want to use MS OFFICE suite, never see a terminal, backup/restore with ease, ask someone who isn't an IT pro how to fix something, also get support from their IT department, use the vast amount of legacy/proprietary enterprise software that their workflow is rooted around. Not to pick on you, but why when the question of Linux as a Windows substitute comes up, do people always have to offer anecdotes about their mother. I'm no SJW or radical feminist, but honestly, let's move on from that. My comment is about "the average worker", not friends and family / personal use. For which, in my highly uber technical group of friends and family, (where mothers are C++ programmers), maybe 1 out of 20 (generously) find a Linux desktop usable. Only in this forum, where people recognize the horrid low contrast, gratuitous whitespace, excessive bloat of the latest javascript "framework", know the difference between modeless and modal dialogs, understand why the gmail UI keeps moving in the wrong direction -- only in this forum, where UX is understood as a real "science" that needs attention, will people actually also claim that the Linux desktop is usable. It boggles the mind. Sorry to go off on a rant, forgive me.
- diveanon 7y ago
  The average worker uses the tools their company provides them and just collects a paycheck.

faissaloo 7y ago

I installed Linux for my 40 year old mother and she can use it fine.

deehouie 7y ago

You'd be amazed how much more technical competent average Chinese are compared with Americans

blibble 7y ago
that would seem to be unlikely given 40% of Chinese are subsidence farmers?

diveanon 7y ago

I installed ubuntu on the laptop of a 70 year old hostel owner in Cambodia. It took her an afternoon with me to figure it out. Stop spreading this nonsense.

officeplant 7y ago

If I can teach my aging mother(57) to use standard ubuntu 18.04 as her first computer ever then anyone can learn linux. Everything she needs is clearly presented in the bar of application icons and the ancient scanner/printer someone gave her works perfectly. Bonus points for when I go visit and there is a handful of .exe's hacked facebook friends convinced her to download sitting uselessly in the download folder.