Why Linux?

[tablet_user]

I've asked myself and others that as well - "Why Linux?"

To most people, it offers nothing over Windows, yet it also lacks so much.

Why would you load up Linux just to then load up Wine to run your Windows applications, or dual boot Windows to run games?

Why not just stay in Windows?

I use Windows at home and at work. I have no stability issues. No security issues. No performance issues.

Most of the software I use on my computer is free anyway. A lot of it is even open source. If it is not free, then I have valid licenses for it, such as Windows XP Professional, Vista Business and Ultimate, and Office 2003 and 2007.

The company I work for even makes big bucks helping people switch to Windows from Linux after they made the mistake of believing the Linux hype and installing something like Red Hat on their servers.

If you want stability, compatibility, functionality, and support, Windows is where it's at.

Yes but what we fail to comprehend as we tech geeks get smarter with computer stuff is that the majority of people out there arent. For example: my friend uses linux and hangs out in linux forums, hes always telling me how EVERYONE uses linux cause thats the only people he talks to online. Or when his mom calls for pc help he talks to her like she should have known better. There are people out there that hear "windows has viruses linux dont" so instantly they have to install it without researching how much they are losing. or the countless "use firefox" ads all over the place so they assume that using IE is actually a bad thing. I personally love IE. I use ie7 on my vista box and IE6 on my gentoo box.

[Shadrack]

It wasn't just hardware but many, many, many other issues as well. Its not as if I'm in a minority here with any of this. It is quite a percentage of Vista users in the same boat as I am. Most likely you're the one in the minority as far as what I've been reading and seeing all over the place.

Speaking of issues, you apparently have a few yourself. :whistle:

You think Windows Vista is a piece of crap and you are entitled to your opinion. I'm willing to try everything out and maybe I'm just not as critical as you are. If having issues means I can relax and keep a level head about things, then, yes, I must have issues.

[Janitor]

I've asked myself and others that as well - "Why Linux?"

To most people, it offers nothing over Windows, yet it also lacks so much.

Why would you load up Linux just to then load up Wine to run your Windows applications, or dual boot Windows to run games?

Why not just stay in Windows?

I use Windows at home and at work. I have no stability issues. No security issues. No performance issues.

Most of the software I use on my computer is free anyway. A lot of it is even open source. If it is not free, then I have valid licenses for it, such as Windows XP Professional, Vista Business and Ultimate, and Office 2003 and 2007.

The company I work for even makes big bucks helping people switch to Windows from Linux after they made the mistake of believing the Linux hype and installing something like Red Hat on their servers.

If you want stability, compatibility, functionality, and support, Windows is where it's at.

To sum up:

Microsoft has stated several times that Linux costs more than Windows, and I believe it. My company believes it, and our clients believe it. Linux is nothing but trouble. Of course, the Linux fanboys are still claiming how great it is, and that it's even "ready for the Desktop".

For the home Desktop, Windows offers more.

For the business users, Windows offers more.

People use what's best. You can claim that Microsoft is evil and has forced people to use Windows. That's a load of bull. If something out there was better, everyone would be using it.

Thankyou for coming to this thread and turning it into a bitch fight, please don't bother next time. The poster does not want to know what's so great about Windows, he wants to try Linux and that is his right. Please take your Microsoft fanboy attitude elsewhere.

[ichi]

I've asked myself and others that as well - "Why Linux?"

To most people, it offers nothing over Windows, yet it also lacks so much.

Why would you load up Linux just to then load up Wine to run your Windows applications, or dual boot Windows to run games?

Why not just stay in Windows?

I use Windows at home and at work. I have no stability issues. No security issues. No performance issues.

Most of the software I use on my computer is free anyway. A lot of it is even open source. If it is not free, then I have valid licenses for it, such as Windows XP Professional, Vista Business and Ultimate, and Office 2003 and 2007.

The company I work for even makes big bucks helping people switch to Windows from Linux after they made the mistake of believing the Linux hype and installing something like Red Hat on their servers.

If you want stability, compatibility, functionality, and support, Windows is where it's at.

To sum up:

Microsoft has stated several times that Linux costs more than Windows, and I believe it. My company believes it, and our clients believe it. Linux is nothing but trouble. Of course, the Linux fanboys are still claiming how great it is, and that it's even "ready for the Desktop".

For the home Desktop, Windows offers more.

For the business users, Windows offers more.

People use what's best. You can claim that Microsoft is evil and has forced people to use Windows. That's a load of bull. If something out there was better, everyone would be using it.

That looks exactly like something you would find on a MS ad :laugh:

Well, my co-workers don't believe that, my company doesn't believe that and our clients certainly don't believe that. Each to his own.

[Foub]

Yes but what we fail to comprehend as we tech geeks get smarter with computer stuff is that the majority of people out there arent. For example: my friend uses linux and hangs out in linux forums, hes always telling me how EVERYONE uses linux cause thats the only people he talks to online. Or when his mom calls for pc help he talks to her like she should have known better. There are people out there that hear "windows has viruses linux dont" so instantly they have to install it without researching how much they are losing. or the countless "use firefox" ads all over the place so they assume that using IE is actually a bad thing. I personally love IE. I use ie7 on my vista box and IE6 on my gentoo box.

Really the only thing that Windows has over Linux are games. Get a console.

[Coldgunner]

From that article you pointed to:

The current "backlash" seems to be comprised by people who have not really tried Windows Vista (apparently). I do not understand why everyone has a chip on their shoulder regarding Windows Vista. I have a lot of OS experience, from Solaris, to Windows, to Linux, and Windows Vista is a good OS. If your hardware is supported on Windows Vista you will have an enjoyable experience unless you aren't so biased you can't see straight.

Linux is just another choice and it is the right choice for some people and some applications. For instance, LAMP servers kick ass (Linux+Apache+MySQL+PHP)! You can't beat the performance/cost ratio of that setup for any mid-level web application platform. In fact, most linux distros can be configured as a LAMP from installation. Its awesome.

One thing I do not care for is the POSIX (the standards that Linux upholds) way of organizing binaries in the directory structure. It is very confusing to me and does not seem to be very organized at all. I'm not sure it is any better than DLL hell. At least in Windows Vista the "Users" directory structure makes more sense than the old "Documents and Settings" directory structure of XP/2000.

-shad

I a software tester and I've found that vista tends to work fantastically on newer hardware, so long as you've got the new hardware, the new OS will be great!

although on more older/legacy hardware its a bit of a pain.

[Glowstick]

I believe de-fragging is not necessary in Linux because it uses a different file system.

I wish people would stop claiming this. EVERY filesystem fragments. The only thing it can do it minimize fragmentation by intelligently spreading files, but there's a limit to that.

Whether fragmentation at the end is mandatory depends solely on the IO schedulers of each the filesystem and disk subsystem. That is if any of those uses one.

[TtamNedlog]

Thanks for all the help guys, even though it's gotten a little heated heh. I simply like what I find to work best for me, regardless of the company that produces it, so I'm not much of a fanboy. People so often feel obligated to hate "the big guy," so they say Microsoft sucks or whatever. It's funny how in the computer world, Microsoft is evil, but in the mp3 player and console world, Microsoft is one of the good guy underdogs. =) Evil Apple and evil Sony heh.

As far as hardware goes, my stuff is a fairly old now.

ASUS P4P800 Deluxe

Pentium 4 2.8ghz

120gb IDE HDD (not SATA heh)

1gb DDR1 pc3200 memory

Radeon 9800 Pro 256mb

Audigy 2

I wanted to fool around with Ubuntu on this computer, setting up a dual boot with XP and whatnot, so I can determine if I find any reasons for me to install Linux when I build a new computer in the coming weeks. Looking at a 3ghz Core 2, 2x500gb SATA HDD, 2gb DDR2 PC6400, geforce 8800GTX 768mb, X-Fi. Something along those lines. So I'll have newer hardware that should hopefully be plenty supported in Vista, XP, and a Ubuntu, if I decide to install any combination of those OSes. I've only briefly tried Vista in the stores, and I don't care for it much so far but as I mentioned I do play occasional games, and I'm sure I'll be needing/wanting DirectX10 at some point. So like it or not, I'll be adopting Vista in the future. Wanting to stick with XP and/or Linux in the mean time though.

[Coldgunner]

oh, forgot to answer the question :p

I chose windows over linux because I like simplicity. I tried linux (red hat 7.3 back in the day and suse 10), I found it a royal pain in the ass getting things like drivers installed, which are a doddle in windows. Going through various access levels, endless command lines etc etc.

windows is just easier, simpler and more widely adopted. linux is for servers, not desktops IMO.

[ichi]

IMO.

That being the key part... if only we could leave it at that :p

[4CxbqFxVnstmA Veteran]

oh, forgot to answer the question :p

I chose windows over linux because I like simplicity. I tried linux (red hat 7.3 back in the day and suse 10), I found it a royal pain in the ass getting things like drivers installed, which are a doddle in windows. Going through various access levels, endless command lines etc etc.

windows is just easier, simpler and more widely adopted. linux is for servers, not desktops IMO.

I think this is becoming less and less true with regard to drivers. Everything on my Toshiba laptop worked with Ubuntu out of the box. It offered to download the proprietary nvidia driver as it didn't come with it, and once it downloaded it that was fine too. Sorted.

The trick for people here I think is to get an up to date live CD and boot from it. You'll get a good idea there as to how Linux will work on your machine without having to commit to installing it.

I have used Linux on my desktop since last summer and would never go back to Windows. There are lots of reasons for this, many others here have stated.

One thing though that is very important to remember is that the pace of Linux development is a LOT faster than Windows, and it is growing in speed, quality and variety at a faster and faster rate because of growing support from big players. To me Linux makes a better desktop now than Windows. Give it a bit more time and a bit more exposure and the sky is the limit.

Seriously, the speed of development in open source software is utterly remarkable compared to the slow closed source model, and it's only going to get faster. :D

PS I thought Windows was easier till I started using Linux. The reason was that I was used to Windows. The basics of Linux were easy for me to pick up and now I have the pleasure of learning more and more neat things. I stand in awe of the power of the OS for customisation, security, speed and real advances around every corner.

[TtamNedlog]

Open source is indeed amazing stuff. I don't know first hand from Linux, but I do from other open source software I use. Talking about daily developments, a lot of open source software have daily builds heh.

And yeah, I'm getting the feeling that Linux isn't quite as hard as its reputation puts on. Maybe years ago, but from my brief experience with the Ubuntu Live CD, it seemed like it has come a long way. After all, most Windows users are put off by the idea of having to install and learn to configure Linux.... but most of them couldn't even install and configure Windows if they had to. Vista's install process might be easier, I'm not sure. But all my friends use XP, and if I told them they needed to reformat I guarantee they would ask me how to do it. They just use and know how to work XP, because it already came installed and ready to go on their computers.

That said, it really is a shame that Linux falls so short in the gaming department. If they could get that nailed down, I bet that would win over a LOT of people. It might also be beneficial if they found a way to take some of the power focus away from the Terminal, and made some things more GUI based. I hope it's not some sort of "elitism" that keeps the Terminal so omnipresent in Linux. Like, Linux creators/users feel elite because they know how to install and compile software with text commands unlike dummy Windows users heh. Not saying that's what it is, I'm just saying that I hope that's not what it is.

I'm still going to setup a dual boot with Ubuntu and XP so I can learn my way around it some, but I'm currently distracted by watching Heroes season 1 heh. No time for hours of computer mumbo jumbo.

[ichi]

Like, Linux creators/users feel elite because they know how to install and compile software with text commands unlike dummy Windows users heh. Not saying that's what it is, I'm just saying that I hope that's not what it is.

I think it's more about Linux developers and long time users feeling more comfortable using the command line for certain stuff, and therefore getting things done faster that way.

[Foub]

I think this is becoming less and less true with regard to drivers. Everything on my Toshiba laptop worked with Ubuntu out of the box. It offered to download the proprietary nvidia driver as it didn't come with it, and once it downloaded it that was fine too. Sorted.

The trick for people here I think is to get an up to date live CD and boot from it. You'll get a good idea there as to how Linux will work on your machine without having to commit to installing it.

I have used Linux on my desktop since last summer and would never go back to Windows. There are lots of reasons for this, many others here have stated.

One thing though that is very important to remember is that the pace of Linux development is a LOT faster than Windows, and it is growing in speed, quality and variety at a faster and faster rate because of growing support from big players. To me Linux makes a better desktop now than Windows. Give it a bit more time and a bit more exposure and the sky is the limit.

Seriously, the speed of development in open source software is utterly remarkable compared to the slow closed source model, and it's only going to get faster. :D

Yes. Big players like Dell, HP, and even Wal-Mart are now selling systems with Linux on them instead of Windows.

PS I thought Windows was easier till I started using Linux. The reason was that I was used to Windows. The basics of Linux were easy for me to pick up and now I have the pleasure of learning more and more neat things. I stand in awe of the power of the OS for customisation, security, speed and real advances around every corner.

I discovered this as well. I was so impressed that now I have removed my XP game partition and I'm going totally over to Ubuntu.

[Si Veteran]

I have removed some of the nastier posts in this thread. Try to keep it civil please guys.

[Foub]

I see from the main page that MSI now wants to put out a PC with Linux on it, and of course there is already ASUS with their EEE PC, just to name a few.

[Barney T. Administrators]

linux is for servers, not desktops IMO.

Well, Linux has been my desktop for quite a few years, so it has been ready for me as a desktop OS all this time. And it has served well.

[GatorV]

Linux has been on my desktops for like 6 months, I consider it to be THE OS, it's fast and secure for my needs :)