Pissed off with Linux

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Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24210
I've doggedly stuck with Linux Mint on this laptop for a couple of years now and I'm getting close to the end of my tether.

Yes, it's a shitload faster than it would be with Win 7 or 10 on it, but for the love of the flying spaghetti monster can't these Linux geeks get their shit together and properly hide all the cryptic crap ?  I've just wasted two hours trying to get the bloody touchpad to be less sensitive.  The GUI control slider is all the way to the left, so I have to get under the hood...  two hours of dicking about with config files and changing cryptic entries via command line.

My experience with Linux has been clunky to say the least.  It's like one giant software testing suite, where half the shit doesn't work properly and the only way you can fix anything is to Google stuff and then blindly try typing in completely unintelligible commands into a command window, as advised by whatever website you've hit on.

It's such a shame as it's fast - there's no denying - but it's not an OS for the masses, or even the nerds... it's an OS for the acne-laden uber-geeks who look like the Simpson's Comic Book guy.

I hope someone is working on producing a user friendly distro that completely hides all the gobbledegook under the hood.  Failing that, screw Unix....  start again with a blank canvas.  I don't want to have to go back to Windows, but there aren't any alternatives.

(Don't say Mac...  I meant no alternatives without buying new hardware !).

Rant over... still with stupidly fast mouse.
Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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Comments

  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    To be fair, you get what you pay for....
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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    It is what it is. 

    I find Unix machines by far the nicest to develop software on. I have a Mac for work which meets that need, but if I didn't I would probably set up some kind of Linux machine as a decent Mac for development is nudging £3k these days. You have to accept that it's an OS that's developed for professionals not for regular consumers and it's always going to be some effort and trips to stack overflow to get things how you want them. 

    If I didn't need to develop software and wasn't bothered about games I'd just get a Chromebook. My Mrs has got one and it's quick boot, long battery life, no viruses, cheap and does everything a casual user could want. Only slightly annoying thing is that it's hard to find one with a decent screen.
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  • snakemanStoosnakemanStoo Frets: 1708
    OS2 Warp?
    PSN id : snakey33stoo
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24210
    Where's the 'slap' button when you need one ?
    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26463
    ReactOS? :D
    <space for hire>
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24210
    Thanks for the suggestion, but it's been in Alpha now for nineteen years !!  This doesn't fill me with confidence :-)
    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26463
    Emp_Fab said:
    Thanks for the suggestion, but it's been in Alpha now for nineteen years !!  This doesn't fill me with confidence :-)
    So's Windows, really ;)
    <space for hire>
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  • Axe_meisterAxe_meister Frets: 4613
    OS-X is Unix for the masses.
    Whilst Linux is very powerful and flexible it is written by geeks for geeks. Also the license model means a commercial company can't repackage Linux with a 3rd party decent GUI and charge for it.
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26463
    edited March 2017
    OS-X is Unix for the masses.
    Whilst Linux is very powerful and flexible it is written by geeks for geeks. Also the license model means a commercial company can't repackage Linux with a 3rd party decent GUI and charge for it.
    What do you think ChromeOS is? Or Android?

    For what it's worth, I've been using Linux as my main OS for about 15 years now, and for the last four years I've had no issues with it whatsoever (except those caused by the fact that my usage is a lot more in-depth than the average user). My wife used it for years, and the only reason she's moved to Win10 is that she needs Photoshop and Lightroom - even then, she preferred Ubuntu.

    I don't think the Unity or MATE desktop managers you get with Ubuntu and Mint respectively are really all that good. GNOME is far superior to both, but only when you use the plugins to get it set up exactly as you want it. In terms of desktop usage, that's the real benefit of Linux in my eyes; you can make it behave in pretty much any way you want so that the computer fits around your workflow rather than the other way round.
    <space for hire>
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  • +1 for Gnome... just upgraded to 16.04 from 15.04.. and I have very little LInux skills.. just wanted a quicker, safer, pc experience than window.. albeit I can dual boot when I want Line 6 tools.
    My trading feedback

    is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?

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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22097

    If I didn't need to develop software and wasn't bothered about games I'd just get a Chromebook. My Mrs has got one and it's quick boot, long battery life, no viruses, cheap and does everything a casual user could want. Only slightly annoying thing is that it's hard to find one with a decent screen.
    I realised how little I was using my laptop last month and bought a Chromebook. Totally changed my working patterns for the good. Having my documents on Google Drive is so useful when I'm off and about round the country, physically it's lighter than my laptop so no more shoulder crunching. Screen's actually pretty good on it (this one).

    Once Android apps are available for Chrome OS, that will make it even better for me. CloudMagic is OK as an email app but nowhere near to the level of BlueMail. 

    Currently building a PC for a friend's kid. Windows 10... blah. Horrible interface. 



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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    Emp_Fab said:
    I've doggedly stuck with Linux Mint
    Tried Ubuntu ?
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    I don't understand the British Gas/Linux tie up though...?
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • Axe_meisterAxe_meister Frets: 4613
    I've never gotten on with Android, like Linux it is just that little bit clunky and lacking polish.
    Not used Chrome OS, but I would hate the have to e tied to the internet for my OS/file needs.
    Although I like the Look of OS-X I hate being tied to the Apple way of doing things, especially file management.
    I'vr always come back to Windows due to the way it workes and the software available.
    And I've worked with many OS's, Linux/AIX/Solaris/HPUX/Windows/OS-X/IOS/Android/WIndows (3.0 up to 10).
    I've found with windows, it does not get in the way of my workflow too much, I don't have to drop down to the command line to do anything usefull (there always seems to be another package required for linux, that has to be installed via the command line, to make an app usefull).
    With Windows, I can do photo/video/music editing, I can game, I can do office stuff, I can develop all within one OS.
    Now I wish there were an altertive for the PC market. If Apple were to let OS-X loose for any PC I might give it another go. I have it on another partition (hackintosh), but I kept having to boot into windows to do one thing or another.
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22097
    You aren't tied to the internet. I've set my system up so that I can work on all my files offline on the Chromebook. When I get into a wifi area, then it gets saved to Google Drive. Predominantly this means using Google Sheets and Docs when I'm out and about. Being able to work on stuff down in London on the Chromebook and then come back to Bristol and go straight into things on the desktop is simply brilliant. 

    As an OS, I'm actually enjoying Chrome OS a lot. It reminds me of the good old days using RISC-OS. 



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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24210
    I'm currently running Linux Mint 18.1 XFCE.  If there's a more user-friendly distro I'll happily give it a shot - however - my biggest bugbear is, as Axe_meister points out, "there always seems to be another package required for linux, that has to be installed via the command line".  

    I've not really looked at ChromeOS - is it something that can be slapped on a laptop then ?
    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26463
    Emp_Fab said:
    I'm currently running Linux Mint 18.1 XFCE.  If there's a more user-friendly distro I'll happily give it a shot - however - my biggest bugbear is, as Axe_meister points out, "there always seems to be another package required for linux, that has to be installed via the command line".  

    I've not really looked at ChromeOS - is it something that can be slapped on a laptop then ?
    Why did you choose XFCE? It's the fastest of the relatively-friendly desktop environments, but it's by no means the nicest to use (which is probably what's led to you not liking it much).
    <space for hire>
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24210
    edited March 2017
    <bows head sheepishly>  Er.... because... it looked most like Windows.....

    ...but is there really that much between them ?  I mean, whatever distro I use, aren't I going to have to still have the bloody command window open all the time ?
    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26463
    Emp_Fab said:
    <bows head sheepishly>  Er.... because... it looked most like Windows.....
    This is something I'll never understand. People install a new operating system, but they want to make sure it looks just like their old one because...what?

    Yeesh.

    Free your mind, man ;) You may even find that making a total break from your normal UI - for example, using GNOME instead - will give you the necessary mental separation to properly get into it. I personally prefer GNOME because the plugins available let me set it up exactly how I want it to be, and it's probably the smoothest of the fancypants desktops when you actually use it. Unity's sluggish as hell and always has been, and KDE's just bling city for the kind of people who put blue light strips under their cars.
    <space for hire>
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24210
    What it is, is this.....  I don't want to spend time learning a new GUI.  I just want to use the computer.  The OS and the GUI that accompanies it are unimportant to me at the end of the day - it's just a platform for me.  I just want speed and to not have to learn a totally different way of driving it.
    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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