Posted on 01/07/2009 6:01:51 AM PST by ShadowAce
I started using Linux back in 98, my first distro was Slack 96, and I can tell you that the difference between now and then is LIGHT YEARS!
Gnome/KDE interfaces are SO much more intuitive now, and simple apps like “Add/Remove Programs” (rather descriptive, isn’t it?) make program management a snap. Even Synaptic is painless. The only time I open a term and go CL is if I want to (which I still do occasionally, just because...VI ya’ll;)
I’m wondering if the writer is stuck on an older form is SuSE or something...
Good point.
I have tried a number of distributions of Linux, but did not continue with them, for a number of reasons.
Many folks berate Microsoft (often for valid reasons), but having lived in the pre-Microsoft era, and having watched Windows evolve, I personally don't think we (and the world) would be enjoying PCs and the internet without Microsoft's efforts to build and sell their software while providing a product that could be used on such a vast array of evolving PC hardware.
Having said that, I'm glad to see that Microsoft is getting challenged in the softare arena by Linux, Apple, Unix, and anybody else who wants to come and play. Competition is good.
I want Linux to succeed (and I think they will). But anyone providing a product they hope will be successful must recognize what the majority of their intended customers want, and strive mightily to provide it in a way that will not only make those customers happy, it will also make them recommend it highly to others.
Thanks for the response.
Thanks much.
Have ordered a refurbished Linux loaded Acer mini-notebook . . . Aspire or some such . . . the one without the HD but with 8 GIG flash drive etc.
Looking forward to playing with it.
Battling Microslop for 20 years is a real put-off.
Oh I know. Happens every time.
Ubuntu 8.04LTS is one of the finest linux distributions I’ve ever used (even better than 8.10). I’ve installed it on 4 of my computers, all done legally, and for free. It would have cost me hundreds of dollars to do the same with a windows product. I can install and update Ubuntu in about 30 minutes. It comes with all the applications I need already installed (CD/DVD rippers/burners, Skype, OpenOffice, etc.). It’s not perfect (no OS is), but it’s lots easier to install and maintain than a windows OS...for me, anyway.
This should come as no surprise. There's no profit motive to compete in this space and both Microsoft and Apple spend billions on it so expecting "free" software to compete in this area is more than a bit optimistic. Linux in the home is best used in embedded devices where the "UI" is completely hidden anyway. Chances are your router, settop box, etc. are already running a Linux version of some sort today.
You lost 99.9% of your audience as soon as you mentioned ‘command line’
JB
I doubt it. The audience is people who are already considering a switch to Linux. The act of consideration indicates an existing awareness of the command line use in Linux.
This article is not meant to convince people to switch.
openSUSE 11.0 finally had enough of the Broadcom code reverse engineered to do away with the kludge.
Now I have a new T61 Thinkpad that has an Intel wireless built in. Support on openSUSE_64 11.1 worked right away, no muss no fuss. So I would suspect that the latest of whatever distro you care to try, will support your wireless unless it is a totally brand spanking new design.
When is the last time you used Linux and what distro was it?
OpenSolaris is coming along well but still is less user friendly in terms of maintenance than Fedora or Suse..
These days, you can do anything you like in Linux without touching the CLI. But as someone who started out on DOS, I'm sure you can appreciate the efficiencies of using it, and fully programmable shell scripting.
BTW: I started with DOS too, 1.0 when it was new.
“The audience is people who are already considering a switch to Linux.”
That’s the audience I was talking about. Most of the people that look at linux as soon as they realize its not the point-click system they are used too say forget it.
Then there are others that realize they can’t get their favorite games on it (me for one) and also say forget it.
Maybe the 99.9% figure was a little high, that other little (gaming) group needs to be figured in somehow.
JB
The wubi installer can be found here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors#wubi
The bank runs linux on some of the highest transaction rate applications (WebSphere 6.1 on RHEL4) and the load distribution, response time metrics, and other key data points all indicate that linux is rock solid in the enterprise server arena.
I was playing around with Ubuntu/Kubuntu 8 on my laptop. It, too, has a Broadcom-based wireless NIC that Ubuntu didn’t have a driver for. I found something (don’t remember what) that would “extract” code from the Windows driver to make it work in Ubuntu, but the bugs hadn’t been worked out of the extracting process, so I dumped Ubuntu. Everything else worked nicely, but it was pointless without a working WLAN connection.
The first time I tried Linux, I had a dual-boot system with Windoze, which was a mistake (in retrospect). I found myself going back to Windoze more and more often, since it was easier using something I knew.
Just this week, I backed up my files, ditched Windoze, downloaded and exclusively installed OPENSuSE 11.1/KDE 4.
Some minor glitches, and I still have a lot to learn, but I’m confident that I’ll do well with it. No more worry about virus scans, running SpyBot, updating Windoze with security updates, etc. I’ve pretty much found replacement programs for everything I have on Windoze, so I’m happy.
Ubuntu 7.?. Not sure what the distro was.
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