Great article, thanks for the info….

Thank you for your great post, i am always looking to improve my home for my familiy, and your post have given me some insperation, thank you very much …

So coming back to the article content itself (I did not read all of the comments): I don’t think the statement that Linux is not stable enough and needs too much tinkering is correct. It just depends on what you do with it. And in my experience, it does better then Windows in comparable scenario’s, although everyone might have his own experience in his or her way of using their computers.

Just to close down: two years ago an acquaintance had his W98 machine messed up with a virus. When asked for help, I introduced him to and installed him Mandriva Linux. He knew he could contact me in case of problems. The only exchanges about Linux we had since, was him thanking me several times for that (oh, and he asked me once to help him connect to a new broadband provider). This guy uses PCs just to get work done. He does not tinker. Been stable for at least one year and a half. There surely are other examples, but to generalize that Linux requires too much tinkering to keep it stable seems very incorrect to me. And saying that that will drive people back to Windows even more.

We still have a lot of work ahead of us. And before you flame me, I wrote my first program in 1972.

Well Scott, make that “two people” at least. I’ve been using linux for about 11 years. 8 of those years as a professional. i ran into what you are describing – but only initially – right after a new installation. that was about 2 years ago when i got a new laptop. but one things settled down, i’ve had zero tweaks.

i think what is happening here is that you want the newfangled shiny features of certain “cutting edge” distros but are then surprised that things broke. if you were going for tools and the utility and not just eye-candy and the latest-and-the-greatest, you should have picked distros without the certain bias towards distros with eye-candy.

if you are serious about getting work done try debian sometime. you may not get the eye-candy but you definitely will get a system that just works.

Yes, I know this is blasphemous but I actually use Debian Stable (yes, Sarge) on the desktop and get real work done — mostly with the same programs I use on Windows: OpenOffice, Firefox, Lotus Notes, text editor, and shell.

Actually, that’s pretty much why, on my dual-boot Windows/Linux system, I gradually (and unconsciously) stopped using Windows at all.

Even though I’m a non-techie, and considered myself merely a Windows-user with an interest in learning linux, I one day discovered that I was totally unable to recall my Windows password.

I realised that it had been quite some time since I had done anything on the Windows side except install back-logged patches and run scan-disk, whenever a power-failure or hardware upgrade forced a reboot anyways. (Acording to scandisk this hadn’t occurred in over a year).

So in a way you’re right, but I think that the arguement works even better in the other direction.

This is easily demonstrated by the astounding up-times reported. How could such uptimes occur if it was endemic to Linux that it had to be fiddled with?

Just because you fiddle with your settings, doesn’t mean you have to. Try stopping for a while and see what happens.

My experience with Linux has always been epitomized by the statement “Linux isn’t hard, it’s different.”

Keeping the tools analogy going, it’s not a matter of breaking your tools, it’s a matter of KNOWING them. You think of it as the head popping off the hammer, but I see it merely as sharpening your knives, or replacing a worn sawblade.

I know my tools well, as any skilled professional should. The “breaking” usually happens when I accidentally type “Screens” instead of “Screen”. I understand enough to fix X when I break it, or to reset my sound settings should they go wonky.

Tools are only as useful as the people who are weilding them. I’ve been assured by people that they’ve run Windows systems for a long time without issues, that’s what they know, that will make them the most productive.

More often than not, people’s issues with Linux stem from hardware. All the time in IRC and I can say hands down the biggest complaint is about WiFi. One thing people fail to take into account when they buy their computer is how well the OS supports it. In my home system I have a sound card that Windows can’t use if the fate of the universe depended on it. Linux uses it just fine. Because I do serious work on my computer, and I KNOW I run Linux, I build for Linux. I’ve not yet had a device not work properly in my system, stability is important to me, and I don’t burden my toolbelt with useless tools.

Anyone who has problems with merely needs to learn it. That’s not a “RTFM” (maybe it is, I dunno). Any tool in the hands of someone who can’t use it is useless.

So I skipped to the end to write this, if it’s been said already, I apologise…

If you don’t tinker with operating system ________ , (fill in your system of choice), it stays more stable!

The Mac users tend not to do it, cos there is little choice to make.

The windows users don’t do it, cos they did it for years, crashed their machines over and over again and got fed up (perhaps matured ?).

The Linux users do it, well because it’s still fun / different and they will mature eventually…. ? I know for my part that tinkering with Linux is like going back to Atari’s, BBC’s, Sinclair QL’s…. second childhood… and I cut my computing teeth on Univac, PDP11’s and HP10’s about 30 years ago.

Currently, it’s Gentoo on the server (much easier to manage than the desktop version), plus Debian Etch and Ubuntu Edgy on the desktop. Debian is for my personal needs (and they are various, but not extraordinary) and Ubuntu is a selling point for Linux among friends, students and (most important) family. And my young daughter really likes the “cuddly penguin Tux” as well as “Mr. Potato” (if you know what I mean).

I really adhere to this motto:

“Converting Windows users – one Linux CD at a time”

and I always have several CDs with different distributions, as well as several blank CDs which I can freely burn and give away. I always ask the soon-to-be Linux user, what is it that they need to do with their computer. If it involves gaming and/or running dedicated software I never push, but instead I do a small show of what MY installation of Linux can do. And maybe we discuss pros and cons of both systems.

And two final thoughts:

1. I really enjoyed this blog entry and the comments. I too went the distro bashing and Windows vs. Linux way, but I hope I grew up since then. My Linux installations work for me, as well for members of my family and people that I occasionally help. YMMV

2. @Daniel: Since you’ve written that you’re a member of FSF, I started to wonder if this post might just have been a probe for/against feelings about Linux desktop. In the end it could be used in some kind of a report as an example of what other people think about the current state of Linux desktop, its usefulness and user-friendliness. ;-)

Multimedia is something everybody complains about – especially on the distributions that take a stand. But really, it is educational to first time users. They ask “Why does it not support MP3?”, they read the response and they realise the problem – well, at least some of them do.

For the others, non-free format support is accessible anyway – some distributions even bundle it by default.

In summary, if you’ve had a problem, the distribution you’ve picked it probably not right for you. Experiment a little more. Freedom is after all not free. It does require your effort.

If you don’t want to expend any effort, I’d say your article is on target for such people. Then again, such people usually end up paying more for less just because they don’t want to look harder for a better deal.

I think this proves the point that many have been making here, namely that certain roles require different tools. As it turns out, it looks like most of my comments centered around home rather than work users.

I’ve been using Linux in one variety or another since about 1999. Back then you had to know the specs of almost every piece of hardware you had, now installers just find everything and they work. I’ve been running mandriva one on this very machine, and other than the motherboard dying on me, I’ve never had an issue with this machine. Oh, and I was able to replace the MB with another (both HP’s though different models) and it came right up with no changes. I’ve NEVER been able to do that in winblows.

But really, the thing that bothered me the most when I DID have to play with XP is the damned cutsie little things they stuck in there to waste your time, like the little “find files” doggie. What crap! THIS is considered a “professional” os? WHY? It’s childish!

The thing that really made me switch to linux was constantly pulling my hair out and screaming at the top of my lungs at how stupidly the OS worked, or more likely, didn’t. I even had a font manager from Adobe crap out the whole OS and render whole programs totally unuseable. THAT is what you PAY FOR? Sorry, I don’t think so.

On my linux boxes I do Video production and DVD duplication, CD production and duplication, desktop publishing, 3d graphics and animation, internet, bookkeeping, and everything else I’ve ever done on a computer. I don’t HAVE to tweak it. Never have had to fix a tool. For me they just work.

Linux means to me that I won’t be dying from a blown blood vessel in my brain from yelling at the computer. Just my 2 cents, though it’s now long enough for about 5!

Yes there are still a few areas where Linux can be extreemly frustrating to configure. (Wireless can be the worst depending on the wireless HW. Some jst comeup and work others can take days to get going.) Printing has gotten better but still can occasionally cause frustration. I still find that Linux is a big win over windows. I end up using both but we are trying to get to the point where Windows is no longer needed.

Just as a point of reference, I have used many OSes and find that every one I have used is a mixed bag with some things that are easy to do and some that are hard. Window and Linux are not exceptions to this rule. The perseption that Windows is easy that many Windows users seem to have seems to me to be because if something is broken and not easy to fix they just don’t bother. I have spent at least 14 evenings this last year helping friends fix problems with Windows boxes. Only about half the problems that we tried to fix actually got fixed. In each case I offered to install a dual boot Linux on the boxes as an alternative. Most of the people just kept using Windows with or without the problems fixed.

I’ve found the Microsoft products to be in constant need of “fixing” more than the Unix derivatives I use on servers and PCs. The needed “fix” was rarely there when needed, or, if it was, usually broke or reduced the functionality of some other portion of the software.

The Unix derivatives require more effort on the part of anyone who wishes to master them. But the gain far outweighs the pain.

And Linux can be packaged (by people who know what they’re doing) like Windows, hermetically sealed in a black box that will do what the naive user wishes without undue intervention from them.

I think the widespread Windows preference is due to the fact that it is in human nature to prefer known mediocrity over unknown superiority. Microsoft is a technology doofus with a good marketing division.

And I’m in a position to know, I’ve had to deal with Windows on a professional basis since 3.0 and the Msdos that preceded it.

By contrast a decent Linux install comes with everything you need & no need for anti-malware of the kind windows needs. My family uses Linux & I no longer have my kids phoning me up at work because windows is broken.

I grew tired of fixing our (Windows) tools. That is why I use Linux.

FUCK UP AUTHOR!

7 years ago I was sick of learning to fix new systems, so I decided to install Windows on the system I was planning to build.

Later the same year I changed my mind, after spending a week trying to fix yet another random problem on an established Windows system. I like tinkering, but what I really like to do is use my computer, and keep using it. So, I took a chance on Linux. 6 years and 3 major version changes later I’m still running the same distribution (Mandrake/Mandriva). In 2004 I stopped doing fresh installs and relied on the update process to take me forward. Since then I’ve been through two version changes and never had to reinstall, never had to repair the system, and never had a crash. When I want the latest software, I go ahead and install it.

I would suggest, then, that you do some work and forget about Linux and stop complaining about it. Use whatever suits you. I do.