Pissed off with Linux

digitalscream

Emp_Fab said:

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.

In that case...stick with Windows, and buy a faster computer.

Honestly, that's my best advice - I'm not being snarky. No matter what happens, when you go to a new OS you're going to have to learn new things; if you don't want to do that, then you're much better off staying where you are and upgrading.

However...GNOME, for example, isn't a totally different way of driving it - many things are the same, but a lot of things are vastly better. Workspaces, the GNOME Shell, the plugins...they all make things easier to deal with, if you spend a little time figuring out how you want it to work rather than being stuck to old paradigms or those handed down to you by Microsoft and/or Apple.

Of course, you may also hate it. Such is life

monquixote

If you don't want to learn to use the shell don't get Linux. 

Bash is the best thing about Linux once you get the hang of it you can do awesome things. If you don't get at least a moderate grasp of it you will always have a hard time. Even on my Mac I usually have about 3 terminals open at any one time.

Sporky

digitalscream said:

KDE's just bling city for the kind of people who put blue light strips under their cars.

You called?

Emp_Fab

I don't mind learning how to use a new GUI, but I don't want to invest lots of time in transitioning to something that's significantly different.  What's GNOME when it's at home, and how do I get to use it ?

Meantime, I'm thinking of giving Chrome OS a go - just to try it out.

digitalscream

This is a good overview of GNOME and Unity:



She did get one thing wrong, in that OS X's Spotlight actually came after the Linux equivalents (just like Apple's equivalent of workspaces), but that's probably not relevant to you.

Emp_Fab

Mmmmmm..... Boooooobies......

Sorry... she was saying something about Gunity or something...

Myranda

Try ArchLinux?

Kali is my fave

Emp_Fab

I tried turning it into a chromebook - that looked good until I discovered it's currently a nightmare to get my particular WiFi adapter to work with it.  Next, I tried Ubuntu Gnome, but it just didn't click with me - I don't know why.  Next up, I gave Elementary OS a go - which was very good actually, but still a little alien as well as oversimplified in appearance for me.  Now I'm running Lubuntu which has the makings of a stayer.  So far, it's just done everything I want (ok, I've only played with it for one evening so far !) and most importantly, I haven't had to open a terminal window..... yet.

notanon

To be fair drivers for Linux are sometimes due to hardware manufacturers holding back info. How does a standard USB mouse work? Have you tried different live CDs to check if touch pad is an issue on those?

Criticism of KDE seem harsh. I like KDE but I also like Xfce - eye candy is important, look around you. AYK you can install a different desktop without installing the OS again.

Jeremiah

I've only got limited experience of using it, but it seems like Linux is best suited for people whose hobby is installing and configuring operating systems rather than actually using the damn thing.

digitalscream

Jeremiah said:

I've only got limited experience of using it, but it seems like Linux is best suited for people whose hobby is installing and configuring operating systems rather than actually using the damn thing.

You mean...aside from running most of the Internet, your home router, the majority of smartphones on the planet etc etc?

Myranda

notanon said:

To be fair drivers for Linux are sometimes due to hardware manufacturers holding back info. How does a standard USB mouse work? Have you tried different live CDs to check if touch pad is an issue on those?

Criticism of KDE seem harsh. I like KDE but I also like Xfce - eye candy is important, look around you. AYK you can install a different desktop without installing the OS again.

And sometimes driver issues are just silly nonsense.

Ubuntu - super everyday intended use distro meant for techies and non-techies alike wont find a driver for the wireless card in my laptop...
Kali - mega-specific not-intended-as-everyday-driver detected it first time and works perfectly

Both distro versions were new enough that the wireless card in my laptop was not too new to be included... but one just wouldn't bother with the card and the other had no qualms at allJeremiah said:

I've only got limited experience of using it, but it seems like Linux is best suited for people whose hobby is installing and configuring operating systems rather than actually using the damn thing.

Not really... most have idiot-proof installers and to check for updates every item of installed software is a single command. 

For the most part geeky people make Linux seem like it's really hard to use, but the same people might talk about specific kernel features in Windows - which you wont care about if you just want to surf the internet/do work/play games 

There are things that can only be done in the CLI for Windows, but people tend not to do them much, just the same as Linux for many can be used without using the CLI ... all down to use-cases.

monquixote

Jeremiah said:

I've only got limited experience of using it, but it seems like Linux is best suited for people whose hobby is installing and configuring operating systems rather than actually using the damn thing.

Not really

It can be a bitch to get set up how you like but once you are done it tends to be rock solid unlike Windows or osx.

Emp_Fab

I'm not so pissed off with Linux now.  I'm actually reading book - "Linux for retarded dipsticks" (or something like that).

I will endeavour to learn to the best of my ability.  Until I get really bored.

notanon

Windows you don't expect it to work - it doesn't

Apple you expect it to work - it doesn't.

Linux (*nix) - get yourself a guru it works.

Simples!

BTW - just a few people who use Linux for real work: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_adopters

Just Linux, not counting BSD distros.

Axe_meister

My windows 10 PC and Server have been running Rock Solid since windows 10 came out.
This while stability thing is crap, in fact I've had more issues with my wife's MacBook.
I've also had Linux servers go down in corporate environments so they are not immune to issues.

Emp_Fab

notanon said:

Windows you don't expect it to work - it doesn't

Apple you expect it to work - it doesn't.

Linux (*nix) - get yourself a guru it works.

Simples!

BTW - just a few people who use Linux for real work: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_adopters

Just Linux, not counting BSD distros.

Whoaa ! - That was an eye-opener !  The US runs their nuclear sub fleet on Linux !  The International Space Station's laptops are Linux, Dreamworks Animation - all Linux.  As daft as this sounds, I didn't realise how prevalent it is.

Emp_Fab

monquixote

Emp_Fab said:

notanon said:

Windows you don't expect it to work - it doesn't

Apple you expect it to work - it doesn't.

Linux (*nix) - get yourself a guru it works.

Simples!

BTW - just a few people who use Linux for real work: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_adopters

Just Linux, not counting BSD distros.

Whoaa ! - That was an eye-opener !  The US runs their nuclear sub fleet on Linux !  The International Space Station's laptops are Linux, Dreamworks Animation - all Linux.  As daft as this sounds, I didn't realise how prevalent it is.

The us navy once tried to run a battle ship on Windows. It ended up going into full ship blue screen mode and got towed back to port.

notanon

@Axe_meister devil's advocate is good for debate and all that but as you know this is a complicated subject. Stability of Windows has improved but how many times when a DLL has been updated did Windows need to be rebooted compared to Linux where probably just the service needs to be restarted. OS X which borrowed from FreeBSD is becoming less stable in my opinion.

I just bounced back to what in my opinion was a glib statement that Linux is of no use except for nerds who don't do any work on Linux.

Pros and cons of course but no need to put people off trying Linux - a very mature OS with excellent features. Even Microsoft are releasing apps such as SQL server that will run on Linux,