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I almost fell off my chair when I talked to a friend of mine (whose completely no tech ) and she told me she's using Ubuntu desktop. A friend of hers installed

I almost fell off my chair when I talked to a friend of mine (whose completely no tech ) and she told me she's using Ubuntu desktop. A friend of hers installed it and it ran completely fine. I think it's because most everything we do now is web based. Also I think people tend to forget how big a deal google docs actually is.

thanatos519 5y ago
I have a few non-tech friends who have installed Ubuntu themselves and never looked back. It does everything they need to do, and it doesn't bit-rot like Windows. Anyone who just uses their computer for web browsing, playing music, and other simple stuff just doesn't need any more, and that's been true for at least a decade.
Animats 5y ago
I've been using Ubuntu for over a decade. I still have a Windows 7 desktop. I really should power it up and see if it still works.
dheera 5y ago
I've used Linux as my only desktop OS for 20+ years (since high school) and Ubuntu for the past 10 of those years (previously Gentoo, RedHat). It's not yet ready for prime time. When I set up a new machine there are still tons of things I have to "fix" from the command line. Touchpad scrolling. Getting my Jabra to not auto-adjust volume to 0 every time I speak. Modprobe this, modprobe that. Setting up an L2TP VPN. Getting bluetooth audio to support AAC/AptX. Getting Chinese input to work properly. Configuring the extra buttons on my keyboard and mouse to do useful things. Disabling IPv6. Installing CUDA and CUDNN. Creating a virtual camera. Ignoring TCP reset packets (commonly needed when visiting China). Adding support for ExFAT SD cards, which almost all Canon cameras use. Writing files to USB thumb drives without root permissions. Mounting an SMB or S3 volume automatically at startup. Setting programs to start automatically at startup. Scheduling tasks to execute at certain times. I need to go to the command line to do all of these things. On Windows and Mac most of these things can be done graphically. Oh and even Chrome doesn't install on a default Ubuntu 18.04 system. You have to do "sudo apt-get install libpango" first or "sudo apt-get -f install" after installing it.
- netr0ute 5y ago
  Weird, because PopOS does a lot of what you describe and doesn't have that annoying Chrome issue.
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  If you're configuring VPNs, mounting S3 buckets, and tweaking low-level TCP/IP settings, I doubt that using a terminal is going to be a problem.
  - throwaway984393 5y ago
    I work with users who have never used a terminal in their life, but still need all 3 of those things. I can tell them "Go download X & run it" on Windows. Getting those things to work on Linux would be a monumental feat [for them].
    - smoldesu 5y ago
      Experience for downloading software on Windows: - search for software name online - open first 3 links to find reputable download source - decide on format (portable exe vs msi installer vs zipped binary) and download it - invoke software installer specific to the software - hope you never have to uninstall it Experience for downloading software on Linux: - open package manager - find software - click "install" I'll let you draw your own conclusions, I guess.
      - throwaway984393 5y ago
        Yeah, Windows is easier. I can provide a user a URL to a Windows installer to skip those steps. (they don't need to uninstall it) For Linux, the software I described does not exist as a package with an accompanying GUI app (and even if it did, which package for which distro?). That's the thing about these discussions: when a person has a real complaint about something that is very difficult for a regular person in Linux, there is always a theoretical way that Linux is easier, but then in practice it doesn't work.

thanatos519 5y ago

I have a few non-tech friends who have installed Ubuntu themselves and never looked back. It does everything they need to do, and it doesn't bit-rot like Windows. Anyone who just uses their computer for web browsing, playing music, and other simple stuff just doesn't need any more, and that's been true for at least a decade.

Animats 5y ago

I've been using Ubuntu for over a decade. I still have a Windows 7 desktop. I really should power it up and see if it still works.

dheera 5y ago

I've used Linux as my only desktop OS for 20+ years (since high school) and Ubuntu for the past 10 of those years (previously Gentoo, RedHat). It's not yet ready for prime time. When I set up a new machine there are still tons of things I have to "fix" from the command line. Touchpad scrolling. Getting my Jabra to not auto-adjust volume to 0 every time I speak. Modprobe this, modprobe that. Setting up an L2TP VPN. Getting bluetooth audio to support AAC/AptX. Getting Chinese input to work properly. Configuring the extra buttons on my keyboard and mouse to do useful things. Disabling IPv6. Installing CUDA and CUDNN. Creating a virtual camera. Ignoring TCP reset packets (commonly needed when visiting China). Adding support for ExFAT SD cards, which almost all Canon cameras use. Writing files to USB thumb drives without root permissions. Mounting an SMB or S3 volume automatically at startup. Setting programs to start automatically at startup. Scheduling tasks to execute at certain times. I need to go to the command line to do all of these things. On Windows and Mac most of these things can be done graphically. Oh and even Chrome doesn't install on a default Ubuntu 18.04 system. You have to do "sudo apt-get install libpango" first or "sudo apt-get -f install" after installing it.

netr0ute 5y ago
Weird, because PopOS does a lot of what you describe and doesn't have that annoying Chrome issue.
yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
If you're configuring VPNs, mounting S3 buckets, and tweaking low-level TCP/IP settings, I doubt that using a terminal is going to be a problem.
- throwaway984393 5y ago
  I work with users who have never used a terminal in their life, but still need all 3 of those things. I can tell them "Go download X & run it" on Windows. Getting those things to work on Linux would be a monumental feat [for them].
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    Experience for downloading software on Windows: - search for software name online - open first 3 links to find reputable download source - decide on format (portable exe vs msi installer vs zipped binary) and download it - invoke software installer specific to the software - hope you never have to uninstall it Experience for downloading software on Linux: - open package manager - find software - click "install" I'll let you draw your own conclusions, I guess.
    - throwaway984393 5y ago
      Yeah, Windows is easier. I can provide a user a URL to a Windows installer to skip those steps. (they don't need to uninstall it) For Linux, the software I described does not exist as a package with an accompanying GUI app (and even if it did, which package for which distro?). That's the thing about these discussions: when a person has a real complaint about something that is very difficult for a regular person in Linux, there is always a theoretical way that Linux is easier, but then in practice it doesn't work.