3 ms·

> Re-installing an OS is free (both the materials and, for Apple customers who don't know how to do it themselves, the service). To make a semi-unrelated quote

> Re-installing an OS is free (both the materials and, for Apple customers who don't know how to do it themselves, the service). To make a semi-unrelated quote from Jamie Zawinski, "Linux is only free if your time has no value."

duncan_bayne 6y ago
That's true, but it leaves out the other half of the equation: you'll still likely spend less of your valuable time on your making your Ubuntu installation work, than on anything else (speaking as someone with commercial dev experience on MacOS, Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD). I spent hours trying to stabilise my wife's XPS13 after a recent Windows Update sent it into paroxysms of BSODs. Reset, reimaged, the whole nine yards: nothing. Ended up installing Ubuntu on it and it's been rock-solid stable since.
microcolonel 6y ago
FWIW the amount of time I've spent fiddling with my OS in the last year approaches zero, and I don't remember it being this unintrusive when I was using Windows or macOS at work. Nothing just works quite like something that simply hasn't changed. In the amount of time I used to spend in a month making sure macOS wasn't on the brink; a couple weeks ago I investigated and implemented a feature in a system component, one that is not present on any commercially available desktop operating system. Now my input method client displays language-appropriate glyph variants based on the input method's locale, and you just managed to get the App Store to shut up, or fix some of your homebrew after a system upgrade.
- bengale 6y ago
  > In the amount of time I used to spend in a month making sure macOS wasn't on the brink What was it you were having to do to maintain macOS?
wqsz7xn 6y ago
> "Linux is only free if your time has no value." I've always wondered if Ubuntu was introduced to a child would they learn to use it just as fast as a child that uses Windows? All the times I've used Ubuntu it's exactly the same as windows without all the distraction.
- phoe-krk 6y ago
  I guess so, yes. This comment from Zawinski is very old by today's standards, and Linux has made massive progress when it comes to usability. A child should be able to learn it quickly.
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    My graphics card and time spent configuring hardware video decoding begs to differ.
- antod 6y ago
  Basically, yes - it can work like that depending on circumstances. My son started with Ubuntu and doesn't like windows (new school requirements forced it). But he's not into gaming. I've known a couple of other fathers that had the same experience. But it isn't common.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  Even less distractions, as watching YouTube is painfully slow with software decoding by default.

duncan_bayne 6y ago

That's true, but it leaves out the other half of the equation: you'll still likely spend less of your valuable time on your making your Ubuntu installation work, than on anything else (speaking as someone with commercial dev experience on MacOS, Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD). I spent hours trying to stabilise my wife's XPS13 after a recent Windows Update sent it into paroxysms of BSODs. Reset, reimaged, the whole nine yards: nothing. Ended up installing Ubuntu on it and it's been rock-solid stable since.

microcolonel 6y ago

FWIW the amount of time I've spent fiddling with my OS in the last year approaches zero, and I don't remember it being this unintrusive when I was using Windows or macOS at work. Nothing just works quite like something that simply hasn't changed. In the amount of time I used to spend in a month making sure macOS wasn't on the brink; a couple weeks ago I investigated and implemented a feature in a system component, one that is not present on any commercially available desktop operating system. Now my input method client displays language-appropriate glyph variants based on the input method's locale, and you just managed to get the App Store to shut up, or fix some of your homebrew after a system upgrade.

bengale 6y ago
> In the amount of time I used to spend in a month making sure macOS wasn't on the brink What was it you were having to do to maintain macOS?

wqsz7xn 6y ago

> "Linux is only free if your time has no value." I've always wondered if Ubuntu was introduced to a child would they learn to use it just as fast as a child that uses Windows? All the times I've used Ubuntu it's exactly the same as windows without all the distraction.

phoe-krk 6y ago
I guess so, yes. This comment from Zawinski is very old by today's standards, and Linux has made massive progress when it comes to usability. A child should be able to learn it quickly.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  My graphics card and time spent configuring hardware video decoding begs to differ.
antod 6y ago
Basically, yes - it can work like that depending on circumstances. My son started with Ubuntu and doesn't like windows (new school requirements forced it). But he's not into gaming. I've known a couple of other fathers that had the same experience. But it isn't common.
pjmlp 6y ago
Even less distractions, as watching YouTube is painfully slow with software decoding by default.