Posted on 08/17/2011 5:00:18 AM PDT by ShadowAce
“The average windows and the average Linux user will both be pretty hopeless,but the experienced Linux user is a different species of computer animal than the experienced Windows user.”
Many people believe computers are tools. They don’t care how it works, they don’t want to modify the kernal, drivers, system files or anything else. They just want to use it. Ya know what, thats ok.
Much of the serious work on the Linux kernel and other related projects like KDE, are in fact funded by corporate sponsors and/or universities. So, no, I don’t believe you know what you’re talking about.
The problem is not with Linux geeks, but geeks in general - It is just the unfortunate circumstance with Linux that the geek interaction is not buffered by the help-desk type. When you ask for help for Linux, you are invariably going to be addressing a Linux guru, and they have heard your question a hundred thousand times... and they HATE it.
It is no different in Windows programmers. If your question bypassed the help-desk types and went directly to the guys in the artificial light of the basement, with keyboards covered in Cheetos dust, and a serious Mountain Dew buzz going on, you would get EXACTLY the same reception.
Geeks are geeks. they tend not to be very sociable. Linux will catch up on that account - with more users, more help desk types and bow-tie boys are likely to join the ranks... there will be a tipping point.
That’s because you didnt pay attention to what i actually said
I am talking about people that I know and have met personally
First, it would be helpful to learn the way that file permissions work on Unix systems. It's usually not a good idea to be logged on as root (administrator), so "sudo" is your friend. Second, the copy command is "cp source_file target_file". So typically that would be "sudo cp source_file target_file" and then authenticate as root. To move a file, the command is "mv source target". I hope this information is helpful.
These commands are standard on any Unix system, so it doesn't matter whether you are using Linux, Solaris, Free BSD, HP-UX, Mac OS X, or any other version of Unix. It all works the same.
As I recall, IBM hired Bill Gates to provide an operating system for their personal computers, the PS/1 systems. Microsoft delivered DOS (Gates bought it from some guy, it was not developed at Microsoft). DOS worked on Intel processors. PC clones then appeared and used DOS too. Years later Microsoft released Windows 95, which was a windowing system that worked on top of DOS.
With the PS/2 system, IBM tried to dominate the market with their Micro Channel architecture. It flopped because none of the manufactures of PC clones were willing to license the Micro Channel architecture from IBM. As a consequence IBM became a niche player in the PC market.
IBM's OS/2 was a great operating system and far superior to Microsoft's DOS. But it was expensive, and people were not willing to pay the higher price. PC clones were cheap. Superior technology does not always win in the market place. DOS on PC clones was cheap and was good enough for the average user. Consequently Microsoft won in the market place.
Exactly the opposite experience. My old laptop was aging poorly. I bought a $50 hard drive, loaded Ubuntu and haven’t looked back.
Incredibly stable. Fast booting. I really love it.
And all of those problems are, of course, Ubuntu’s fault?
There is, truly, only one shortcoming with Linux/Ubuntu. It’s the one common complaint I have always gotten, and still get...
How do I get a #%)&%#!!! printer to work? LOL Everything else always works as advertised.
I think that is true. Linux on the desktop is for geeks. So you have to become a geek to use it. Don't expect much help getting there. I know because I went through that. But I don't think there will every be a Linux help desk worth more the 2 cents.
Linux will catch up...
On mobile devices, it already has. Google's Android operating system for smart phones is a scaled down version of Linux.
See, I don't understand that. I've installed Ubuntu in hundred's of machines for people that knew nothing, or very close to nothing, at all about Linux. (that's just about all that I do nowadays) They are up and running in minutes. I've got machines out there that have been running since 2002 without ever needing to open a terminal or change a system file, or have any of the problems you hear so much about. What IS IT that is so different and confusing? You double click on an icon, and your application opens. I mean, Firefox's logo icon is a different color and design, but it still opens a browser which operates nearly exactly like IE. Ditto with Open Office. They update themselves with security updates and software and even new kernels. Printers are the only issues I've had to deal with. What? LOL
Yes they are.
I had no problems like this with XP.
Put PCLinuxOS on an old desktop a couple months ago. The *only* times I’ve had my XP machine on since have been for either ITunes or Quicken. I am an ordinary, non-geek user.
OS/2 was expensive because IBM was going for a different market.
I just have my music collection as mp3's and use amaroK to manage it. Several thousand songs without any issues.
The empirical evidence denies your position. Ubuntu is an improvement measured in light years when compared against, say, Slack 3... or Slack PERIOD... And I love Slack. If an Ubuntu Live CD runs your box well, it is very unlikely that you will have any significant problem with it thereafter. I should know, as I have Ubuntu on quite a few 'user' level clients' machines. I have experienced virtually *no* problem scenarios, and I have been doing this (setting up Linux user level desktops) for years now. Most of the trouble is getting them out of their pre-existing microsoft mentality. A LOT of hand holding till they get it, but really no troubles. And to date, I have only had ONE person ask to go back to Winders.
Modern Linux is nearly up to par with the commercial OS's wrt 'user friendly', though I admit it still needs some work in that area... mainly in the area of gui interfaces for things that most geeks find too easy to change in a config file - but then, while I recognize that fault, I also see the same thing in Windows - There are many tweaks to windows that users find daunting - but that geeks find simple. To the average user, if you ask them to open RegEdit they will go all verklept and flop about on the floor, spewing vomit till they wind up under the desk sucking their thumb... So it isn't that one is better at it than the other, but more a matter of perspective. Personally, I find the registry in windows to be a useless method and thoroughly wish that they would go back to inifile based settings - like back in the Win3x days... something very much like what linux does under the hood.
Very much my own experience... providing it sets up well against the hardware in the first place, which is pretty usual anymore. I seldom find a box that WONT go pretty easily. SAMBA still sucks, and CUPS still sucks. but IF they set up, they are bulletproof.
Yes, I’ve looked into GnuCash and KMyMoney. I believe I’d be fine with either of those. Problem is, I have 17 years of Quicken data, and the conversion process would be very, very tedious (have to .qif and import every account, even old, hidden accounts, individually). Of course, I could just start over from scratch, but then it would take several years before the numbers would become meaningful again.
I’ve gotten the wife’s Zen player to work with Amarok no problem. And I know pretty much any MP3 player that’s recognized as a MSD would work easily as well. But I use an old IPOD Shuffle (Gen I - 500MB lol) that just won’t work with Linux. Yeah, I know, a new MP3 player can be had for under $50, but what can I say? I’m a cheap ba$tard.
Check your repositories. Ubuntu has iTunes connectors now. And there are multitudes of Quicken clones, also. I have a Windows Pocket PC Phone. Still, no way to connect it, which is to be expected since it’s a 2003 or 4 model release.
Would those work with my PCLinuxOS distro?
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