Linux Facts, Fiction, And FUD
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Despite having addressed this so many times in my life that I have lost count, it has become apparent that I must once again, dispel fact from fiction. Today I found the following comment in the queue. Here is the relevant portion.
We have to face it, for the most part, NO Linux distro is user friendly. Most people can not just install it on their desktop and have it address even half of what they need. All this whining and complaining about “oh, we need to get Linux mainstream” just is NOT going to work until you can make the distro user friendly in it is 1) easy to install software without relying on a bunch of odd dependencies that people most of the time don’t understand and 2) work with Windows software extremely easily and seamlessly.
Right now, neither of those things can be said. Yeah, you can do Windows stuff on Linux, but even with my being an extremely proficient computer user, I cannot get Windows applications to work easily. In fact, I almost tear my hair out at times trying to get the crap to work.
Anyway, until Linux can get to be a lot easier to use with a nice pretty installer made for each program that is written for it, people are NOT, I repeat NOT, going to switch over to it and use it. It is just not worth the headaches!!!
So I am going to be a clear as I possibly can.
1) Easy to install software without relying on a bunch of odd dependencies that people most of the time don’t understand.
This is factually, to be blunt, a sad half-truth. While installing Linux dependencies is part of the software install process, I am unclear as to how anyone can be “lost” with something that amounts to one of the following. Add/Remove, toggle, apply. Yes, this is the sum of difficulty to be found when installing software in distro’s such as Ubuntu. But wait, need more software? Get ready to be blown away with complexity. Goto GetDeb.net, choose your Ubuntu version and install. It’s as complicated as an exe file to install a .Deb. Using Ubuntu, the entire thing is beyond easy. And anyone who has actually tried it, knows this to be a demonstratable fact.
2) Work with Windows software extremely easily and seamlessly.
Right now, neither of those things can be said. Yeah, you can do Windows stuff on Linux, but even with my being an extremely proficient computer user, I cannot get Windows applications to work easily. In fact, I almost tear my hair out at times trying to get the crap to work
Fair enough…with only one small issue. Linux is not Windows, nor does it try to be. And anyone thinking that Windows software is designed to run on Linux has been SERIOUSLY confused along the way. Either that or they have gravely misunderstood something used for select legacy Windows applications on Linux known as WINE. Sadly, WINE for newbies leads to another kind of WINE called WHINING.
All kidding aside, WINE is merely a way to get some select Windows applications running in Linux without a lot of extra hassle. Problem is, WINE blows. So to a limited extent, I can see the frustration here. But now that it has been clear as day that Windows apps were NEVER meant to be run in Linux, this segment of the discussion is a moot issue.
If one must use Windows applications, I have a bold suggestion - use Windows and stop whining. Full time users such as myself are growing tired of this pathetic, pointless argument. Schools, governments and small businesses all over the globe use applications native to the Linux platform everyday. If that is too much for you, awesome, then use something else. It’s just not that complicated.
4 Comments
Vince Andrews
May 16th, 2009
at 6:26am
May i say, that even though i have had only a small amount of experience with Linux. I have however had no problems installing several different distros of the OS. I actually think it is easier to install than Window’s versions of their OS.
Most times when i have installed it, it has been for other clients that i have and not all of them use the same distro.
The ease of installing Linux is even more simpler with each passing month as the updated distros appear.
Just my two pence worth.
Vince
Maurice Wilson
May 16th, 2009
at 6:47am
I am 77 years old. My first computer was an XT Clone with a 20 mb HDD. running DOS 3.???.
I am not a programmer just a long time user. I just started my 8th year as a Linux user. I have helped many friends and family move to Linux including a couple of elderty ladys in their 80s. I estimate that all adds up to between 30 to 40 years run time without
infections which are common on other systems. Think
of all the time that is freed up to learn other things.
I think I can say without a doubt that Linux and the programs that run on Linux just keep getting better.
dandellion
May 16th, 2009
at 9:13am
Actually, installing Ubuntu is much easier than installing Windows. It’s just booting the CD, clicking “install”, setting the username and password, and telling which timezone you’re in. The rest of the time is just browsing the Web, just because you can browse the web while installing system :p Contrary to Win installation, you have to restart the system just once, not every five minutes and for each new driver.
And installing software…. fire-up Synaptic, choose what you need, and that means ALL the software that you need not one application at the time, and clicking apply. Synaptic is doing a great job in solving the dependencies. And you don’t have to click all those next, next, next… while all your other apps are closed and you stare at your wallpaper. And you don’t have to reboot after installing each application.
last but not the least, you don’t even have to know what’s the name of the software you need. Just use Synaptic’s search.
saneblane
May 16th, 2009
at 4:36pm
Great article man. I must say that most of the times it’s not a matter of not being able to do windows things in linux, most of the times it’s just people expecting to do the exact same windows things on linux. NO one and i mean, no one complains about the mac being different, because it’s so expensive and shiny it’s like they expect it to be different. A mac can be just as troubling to use as linux is for an early windows convert, but they stick with mac more because it has a certain, “hip, cool” factor to it.
I think the problem with a lot of people, is that as soon as they here linux is free, no matter what they can do on it, or how easy it might be, as soon as they find out linux is free.They either think it’s crap, or they don’t want nothing to do with it.
the argument made about, one installer for linux would make more converts to linux is true. however it’s not something that is a problem once u familiarize yourself with a distro that is right for you.
people just aren’t use to linux, i mean not having to clean my linux registry is good, oh yea linux has no registry. their are a lot of advantages linux has over windows. However windows is hard pressed into people day one as the os of choice on the pc. but with opensource making it’s way into more government, and school. people are going to grow up and appreciate the freedom of free software and open source.