Thread: Reasons to use Linux

Originally Posted by dsr

Windows

• you can play most games on the market (some won't run in Wine)
  

Some? I think thats quite an understatement.

• you can use Internet Explorer 7

Mozilla firefox is becoming very popular among the windows browsers. It is easily installable and usable. I'm sure though that a good chunk of the typical home users are still using IE out of ignorance.

UNIX-like OSes[LIST][*]the software is free (gratis and ususally libre)

So is anything on Bittorrent

[*]command-line tremendously improves productivity (technically Windows has MS-DOS, but I don't know anyone who uses it for their daily tasks, so I'll assume it's not very good)

And how many typical home users want to use a command line. It's all about the GUI baby.

[*]more customizable

It is much more customizable, I agree. How much of a pain in the ass is it though? Remember I am talking about the typical home user.

[*]you can use insanely efficient X setups like

And what do you have to go through to get it setup like that?

So yes, Linux is great for the power user. I have 5 machines and I have linux on one of them (my main laptop) and I enjoy using it. I enjoy learning new OSes as well. But I also know that I have been playing with it for months and have not even scratched the surface. Ubuntu is the most user friendly Linux distro I've used. But IMO it does not come close to Windows.

Ynot
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serkat View Post
*for the typical home user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ynot View Post
your average home user cannot buy XP anymore

As far as I know the majority of windows users are still using XP. I understand that Vista is coming with all new systems nowadays, but XP is still dominant. (I think)

Originally Posted by Serkat

*for the typical home user

Right.

Originally Posted by Rakjavik

Some? I think thats quite an understatement.

Many games run on Linux. Of those that don't, there aren't a whole lot that won't run on Wine or Cedega. There are some, however. Hence the word "some."

Originally Posted by Rakjavik

Mozilla firefox is becoming very popular among the windows browsers. It is easily installable and usable. I'm sure though that a good chunk of the typical home users are still using IE out of ignorance.

I was joking. When a Linux user claims that Windows at least has IE going for it, he or she usually is joking.

Originally Posted by Rakjavik

So is anything on Bittorrent

Not libre (or legal for that matter, so let's not discuss that on DV)

Originally Posted by Rakjavik

And how many typical home users want to use a command line. It's all about the GUI baby.

Studies have shown that the command-line interface is no harder to learn than the GUI. I don't see any reason why home users should prefer a bloated GUI-centric OS like Windows XP, Vista, or the default Ubuntu installation for that matter. My post wasn't talking about current Windows users contemplating the switch to *nix; I was talking about tabula rasa users. See Replicon's first post.

Originally Posted by Rakjavik

It is much more customizable, I agree. How much of a pain in the ass is it though? Remember I am talking about the typical home user.

It's very simple if you're comfortable with your distro's init system. And that comes from having actually read the documentation when you first installed Linux (or another UNIX variant).

Originally Posted by Rakjavik

And what do you have to go through to get it setup like that?

I had to actually use my package manager: pacman -S screen ratpoison gnome-terminal (plus adding a few lines to .screenrc and .ratpoisonrc). Very difficult stuff indeed.

Originally Posted by Rakjavik

So yes, Linux is great for the power user. I have 5 machines and I have linux on one of them (my main laptop) and I enjoy using it. I enjoy learning new OSes as well. But I also know that I have been playing with it for months and have not even scratched the surface. Ubuntu is the most user friendly Linux distro I've used.

Ubuntu might very well be the most Windows-friendly distro, but it shouldn't come as a shock to you that you prefered XP since you treated Ubuntu like an (inferior) XP substitute. A different operating system requires a different methodology. If you used the *nix command-line your whole life and one day tried Windows XP, you'd feel hobbled by the bloated GUI and claim that your couple minutes with Command Prompt didn't measure up to the UNIX way of doing things that you're so accustomed to. I say ditch the desktop metaphor entirely (or at least don't rely on it and do learn the command-line) and go with a less hand-holding distro like Arch, Slackware, or Gentoo, so that you'll really learn how Linux works.

Originally Posted by dsr

Studies have shown that the command-line interface is no harder to learn than the GUI. I don't see any reason why home users should prefer a bloated GUI-centric OS like Windows XP, Vista, or the default Ubuntu installation for that matter. My post wasn't talking about current Windows users contemplating the switch to *nix; I was talking about tabula rasa users. See Replicon's first post.

Ubuntu might very well be the most Windows-friendly distro, but it shouldn't come as a shock to you that you prefered XP since you treated Ubuntu like an (inferior) XP substitute. A different operating system requires a different methodology. If you used the *nix command-line your whole life and one day tried Windows XP, you'd feel hobbled by the bloated GUI and claim that your couple minutes with Command Prompt didn't measure up to the UNIX way of doing things that you're so accustomed to. I say ditch the desktop metaphor entirely (or at least don't rely on it and do learn the command-line) and go with a less hand-holding distro like Arch, Slackware, or Gentoo, so that you'll really learn how Linux works.

It seems you've never actually talked to an average user. Let alone a kid who uses the PC for the first time.

christ...
people should use what they want to use

most people don't care about OS's
they care about applications

this is why cross-platform apps are important
Firefox, OpenOffice, yadda, yadda

an OS is a highly technical thing
(probably the lowest in low-down, nitty gritty technical software)

Your bog-standard user should not need to worry about choice of OS

Reasons to use Linux are technical by default

The only reason I use Windows is because I can't install Ubuntu on this PC, and games.

That's it.