Windows Why Don't You Use Linux?

Im so out then

 

The reasons I never latched onto Linux was because it was always slower than windows, didnt run my games, always wanted me to compile stuff on installation (of the program, not linux) and generally didn't seem to function very well (settings didn't save alot of the time was the main problem).

My most recent problem being that linux just wouldnt recognise a hidden folder on a cd (hidden in windows, if that had anything to do with it).

I know where I am with windows, and I like it I dont hate linux, my life is just simpler without it

 

bucuse linux sucks for games.

 

The only reason I don't use Linux is that I have a TI-chipset Wifi card and Linux doesn't like that. If it wasn't for that, I'd be using it. I like the immense (legal) customisation, altough I'm still learning the linux way of doing things.

 

agreed for the most part but honestly the linux filesystem is pretty pants
stuff is too scattered around, windows filesystem has its drawbacks but it is imo better than the linux setup
i'd like to see stuff like /etc /var /dev /proc /lib etc moved to somewhere like /linux or /system or something like that, keep it away from files and programs
keep operating system stuff contained below a single root folder
its too messy really having something like

/
-> /linux
-> /home
-> /bin
-> /temp

would be much better imo

edit: i remember seeing a distro somewhere that replicated the windows layout in linux, wasnt very far along at that time but it looked interesting

 

That's the nice thing about linux, if you want it that way, you can make it that way.

Personally, it's games. I use Ubuntu on my laptop, and Slackware on my webserver, and I love it. Ubuntu is a fantastic OS (despite me loathing it on first attempt, I just needed to customize it right), that auto-detected everything, and has given me no problems. As soon as you install it, you have a complete OS, including Firefox, e-mail client, IM client, photo editing, games, full-featured office suite, you name it. As for updates, not only does it keep the OS up-to-date, but also updates every program you have installed. As soon as someone finds out how to get DirectX games running natively in linux, all my problems will be solved. OpenGL games already run beautifully on it, and if developers would use that, instead of crappy MS proprietary DirectX, games would not even be an issue.

Also, to the "I tried it for 30 minutes and couldn't figure it out" folks, how long did it take you to get to where you are now with Windows? I guarantee it took you a lot longer than half an hour. Hell, the first time I tried linux, i had no idea wtf was going on. I couldn't even to get it to play a cd. If you can muster up the patience to learn it (just like you did with Windows way back when), I bet a lot more people would be happy with it.

 

It is most definitely about patience. If playing with linux for half an hour, you cannot possibly expect to cover everything which linux has to offer - it's all about giving it a bit of time and seeing just how many advantages it has. Yeah it's definitely more difficult to use than Win, but distros like xUbuntu are definitely going some way to bridge the gap. If you go into it with the attitude that you won't be able to use it and it's too difficult, then invariably you're going to give up after 30 mins and probably never try it again.

 

Until some company makes linux as easy as windows, it will always be a geeks tool to play with etc.

I personally hate it for setting up, but love it for it's stabability

 

It *is* as easy, once you've got it set up. Lets face it---the average home user doesn't know how to install programs or install windows anyway, so if you give them a functioning linux box then they'd find it just as straightforward.

different, not harder

Sam

 

Me too, my life depends on all three :/

But I have Ubuntu disc images, I just gotta find the time to installed the darn thing!

 

I think that's the point. It's intimidating to set it up, especially if you're going to dual boot and you're afraid of pooching your perfectly fine installation of XP.

Oneseventeen is going to help me install Ubuntu this weekend for dual booting. Maybe we'll keep track of the time and effort involved and post it back here.

I agree that if I had it up and running, I'd figure it out in a very minimal time period.

 

all looks a bit scary to me

but i mutch prefer the reliability compared to windows and i hate the way microsoft is so overpriced

mite be tempted to set up a linux box soon

 

Yes, but my point is that your average home user (bit-tech forum users are not your average home user) wouldn't even be able to install XP from scratch, so the "linux is hard to install" point is a bit moot, really.

Anyway, dual booting is easy, you just have to read the documentation and be prepared to think for yourself

Sam

 

The interface is awful in Linux,

-the start menu clone is so messy

-why default to having more than one desktop (i tried something similar in windows for a few weeks and realised it was pointless)

-the file system uses shortened words for everything so new users dont now what things are "/bin"? It means binaries. Well what does that mean? Programs. Right why didnt it say that then?

-where are my hard drives? I like keeping things on different drives so i can keep my personal files safe whilst formatting other ones

-Games is an obious one

-OpenOffice is a poor replacement for MS Office

-Default settings are often all wrong in terms of useability, single clicks for example make copying files a nightmare as you have to either right click on them or drag a box around one file

-Nearly all the open source software i have ever used has left me feeling annoyed and angry ArgoUML, OpenOffice, Gimp, Plone and more, its all awful


There are more problems i have but on the whole i just find the whole experience fustrating, and this is coming from someone that uses Linux every few days for Uni work, someone who has used command line linux for just about everything all of last year, someone who has spent two days trying to get fedora to recognise a sodding CRT monitor that was made in the early 90's with a graphics card not much newer. I usually try hard for as long as i can and then end up loosing my tether and just giving up

 

What start menu? Do you mean the KDE start menu? KDE is not Linux. Gnome is not Linux.

So you can pick one you like? How dare these programmers give people a choice...

New users should read the manual before they start playing around inside the root directory.

Your hard drives are wherever you want them to be.

OpenOffice and Linux are two different things. That's like saying "windows is **** because Outlook Express blows".

So change them. Thats the power of choice...

It sounds to me more like someone who's just decided they don't like Linux for no particular reason. Half the things you've complained about above aren't actually the fault of Linux, and the other half are things that are easily fixed...

Sam

 

Yeah that was a pretty useless post. Linux is massively customisable, most of those things can be changed easily.

As for the OOo problem - I've not found anything yet that I used to be able to do in MS Office that I can't do with OOo.

Multiple desktops are a godsend - particularly if you're doing a lot of things at once - it's massively useful for webdev, keeping things separate from each other. As Uncle Psychosis said, you can always set it to 1 desktop...

 

Depends what Window Manager/Desktop Environment you use. Linux doesn't have a "standard" GUI environment.

I never used multiple desktops in KDE (removed the doodad for them from the kicker) but since I switched to fluxbox I really got into them. Flicking back and too with the mouse wheel is right handy, its a feature I really miss now when I have a ****-load of windows open when Im on 2K in work. It would be a handy "boss mode" if you want to do some crafty forum browsing at work too

Dont think this is a real issue, a bit confusing to begin with maybe.

Its just a different way of working. Takes a while to get used to but the filesystem is very powerful. Partition your second drive and mount it at home, all your personal stuff is then on the second drive, safe if you nuke the other.

Not arguing here. The more popular games are quite well supported under WINE, but usually not perfect. I found the OpenOffice version of Excel a bit lacking, although to be fair I havent tried the recent versions.

Again, varies hugely on what Window Manager/Desktop Enviro you use. KDE (and GNOME no doubt) can be set to behave like Windows with regard to mouse clicks.

Bit of a brash generalisation? Its not all going to be perfect (neither is ALL windows software) but there is a lot of fantastic OS software out there. What these guys do for free always amazes me

EDIT: Beaten to it as usual....

 

lol i used argo uml before... it made me angry too hahaha that program is so bad

as far as linux, people are looking for reasons NOT to go to it it seems...

but can someone actually give a reason FOR someone to ditch xp and go to linux? (i mean home users not servers etc)

and please no emotional nerds, this is a genuine question. (and i actually use linux anyway not that it makes a difference to the question)

 

1.it's free. Free as in beer.
2.No need to worry about spyware or viruses.
3.Has better support for multiple users---no need to worry about your sister reading your emails, etc
4.Much more customisable than windows
5.Easy to keep up to date with the newest software (on most distros you can just click a button and upgrade everything on your system...)
6.No need to worry about having to reregister or get a new license just because you changed motherboards.
7.It's free. Free as in beer.

Sam

 

reasons you shouldn't:

Time needed
drivers (yell ATi)
slowness to boot

urgh linux