Linux is not hard, it's ignored - Column

riempiestoel said:
I prefer the term 'less exploited'
Why would you write a virus to take out a fraction of the computers out there when you can get the majority.
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Actually Linux makes up a a fair portion of the server market (13.8% of the total market as of 2007 according to the IDC and that number grows every year). Some of the world's most important information is stored on Linux servers.

Surely virus makers would be interested in that?

Unless you assume that virus makers aren't interested in how important the information is and are then instead motivated by fame. How famous would the virus be that decimated the supposedly secure Linux? Wouldn't that be enough motivation?

So personally I prefer the term 'more secure'.

It isn't just Linux. OpenBSD, Solaris etc. are all regarded as pretty secure.
 
riempiestoel said:
The majority of software in windows is scripted. If it's in your package manager in Linux, great, if it's not, it can take ages, so many unscripted installs out there with readmes and more readmes.

Of course to a seasoned pro, the majority of Linux software is easy and quick to install... for the rest, it's first about deciding on where to install /usr/local... uh.. /sbin... etc...
Then if you have just installed, you may find your new flash drive / external harddrive is not automounting, so it's back to the net to read up on /etc/fstab blah blah blah

This is not about linux being bad.. it's about why the non to average computer literate people won't take it on because it's too much hassle...
Windows is EASIER.

Not everyone has time to FIDDLE with their computer, most folks want to email, excel, word and browse.
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If most people only want email a spreadsheet and a web browser then honestly Ubuntu is easy.

It is only the more obscure operations that require some digging in my experience.

I'm sorry but how easy is synaptic or the Software Center to use? If you can't figure that out then you were too thick to figure out how to switch the machine on in the first place. It is just a menu with what you want on it, you click it and it is installed...seems pretty simple to me.

As I always say. My girlfriend uses Ubuntu without a problem and she still refers to the Firefox icon as "the internet".
 
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I tried Linux when I bought the original Asus eeePC 701 netbook. Quite enjoyed it, had it connected to my network and 3G card pretty easily. Until I tried to configure/enable bluetooth. Had to command line enter an essay, plus some other steps, and it just wouldn't work.

Formatted, installed XP, and that was that.
 
riempiestoel said:
I prefer the term 'less exploited'
Why would you write a virus to take out a fraction of the computers out there when you can get the majority.
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no, more secure is an accurate description- linux is built with security in the forefront of the design, it is a lot more difficult for a malicious program to install itself on linux than on windows- take the autorun prompt in windows, you place a usb disk in your computer, go to F: drive or what ever and double click (which is the normal way to open a drive) if there is a malicious program on the usb drive it is automatically installed. this would never happen with linux, why? because you will need to varify it first, type in a password, and probably have to have administrative privileges.

SiriS said:
I tried Linux when I bought the original Asus eeePC 701 netbook. Quite enjoyed it, had it connected to my network and 3G card pretty easily. Until I tried to configure/enable bluetooth. Had to command line enter an essay, plus some other steps, and it just wouldn't work.

Formatted, installed XP, and that was that.
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when was that? ubuntu had trouble with 3G in the past, but they apparently sorted that out with 9.10

calvincoetzee said:
Faster, as in faster to do what you want to do, example, install a game on windows and play it, 10 mins, linux 1 hour... that's what i mean.

Yes easier, and yes if you're the general JOE, then you get windows for free with your pc you bought from incredible connection or what ever noob-outlet you got your pc at.
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ok so in ubuntu I want to download a id3 tagger for my mp3 files-
1) I open software center-
2) type in id3 tagger- get a list of programs I can use-
3) click on the one that looks interesting
4) it downloads it and installs it for me automatically without me having to do or type a thing
5) open the program and use it

you can hardly get easier than that.
 
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porchrat said:
If most people only want email a spreadsheet and a web browser then honestly Ubuntu is easy.

It is only the more obscure operations that require some digging in my experience.
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Problem is that's never the case is it? There will always be that new printer, that digital camera that requires direct usb connection, that little extra to make your life 'easier' that will create so much havoc when trying to set it up. My wife likes her odd games - pop cap stuff, canasta, etc.

On windows she can diy :)
 
If your saying that you have to pay for a decent anti virus program then I can say that you have to pay for a decent OS... Ever heard of Avira and Avast free editions? They're decent and free.

On topic: Give me a linux OS that will run all of my games out of the box and that I can install usb drivers for my iburst modem on and the I will say that linux isn't hard to use. Sitting for 4.5hours trying to get 1 driver working = hard. Sitting for an entire weekend trying to get one game to run = hard. However other than those two facts Linux is just as easy to use as any other OS.

Ps. I've been using linux for close to 8 years so please dont call me a windows fanboy or anything like that :p
 
kingrob said:
Linux is not hard, your lazy GUI brain makes it hard.
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Sure, the majority of people have that lazy GUI brain - whatever you call it. It's like saying, 'doing an oil change' is not hard, it's your lazy drivers brain that makes it hard lol.
Most people don't want a PC to play with the command line and dont care for what is happening behind the scenes.
Most people don't spend any time on MyBroadband either.

The sooner the linux community realises that, the sooner it takes more market share from windows... Then again, is it truly possible to be united in open source?
problem is... does the linux community actually care?

Everyone was talking about 'lindows' not too long ago - with the aim being 'make it familiar to the masses who use windoze'... then they decided to make it too familiar and charge for it lol. I guess someone should have to pay for their time tho... another catch 22.
 
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riempiestoel said:
Sure, the majority of people have that lazy GUI brain - whatever you call it. It's like saying, 'doing an oil change' is not hard, it's your lazy drivers brain that makes it hard lol.
Most people don't want a PC to play with the command line and dont care for what is happening behind the scenes.
Most people don't spend any time on MyBroadband either.

The sooner the linux community realises that, the sooner it takes more market share from windows... Then again, is it truly possible to be united in open source?
problem is... does the linux community actually care?
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you dont need the command line anymore- that is there for those who want to dig a little deeper, but everything you need to do has a GUI
 
obs said:
Your DSP MS Windows is not free.

http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/pc_specifications.php?pc=29591_Gigabyte_computer

+R421 for the DSP MS starter edition

up to

+1900 for the DSP MS ULTIMATE

add another few hundred bucks for the anti-virus you must have.
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Of course its not free, but it's hard to buy the computer without it... so...
you get it anyhow (and have to pay for it)...
what do you do... take it off, stick it away, and install linux? Of course you do! That's what everone does...ROFL, Bill Gates knows psychology better than Linus Torvalds... Or perhaps he just paid someone to teach him all he knows :p
 
riempiestoel said:
Of course its not free, but it's hard to buy the computer without it... so...
you get it anyhow (and have to pay for it)...
what do you do... take it off, stick it away, and install linux? Of course you do! That's what everone does...ROFL, Bill Gates knows psychology better than Linus Torvalds... Or perhaps he just paid someone to teach him all he knows :p
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thats because you are buying from incredible connection- so on top of the R421-R1900 add R2000 onto the price for the privilege of shopping with them
 
ave said:
you dont need the command line anymore- that is there for those who want to dig a little deeper, but everything you need to do has a GUI
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Ok... so my flash drive doesn't automount...
what do I do?

My NTFS partition on my external drive doesn't automount... what now?

I want to connect my USB PDA... how do I do it?
 
ave said:
thats because you are buying from incredible connection- so on top of the R421-R1900 add R2000 onto the price for the privilege of shopping with them
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Thats because the majority of the country buy from Incredible connection, game, dion, macro, blah blah...
we're talking the masses here... trying to give the linux community a clue as to why it's not out there ;)

But you knew that already, thats why you said it?
 
riempiestoel said:
Ok... so my flash drive doesn't automount...
what do I do?

My NTFS partition on my external drive doesn't automount... what now?

I want to connect my USB PDA... how do I do it?
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thats what I said, its there if you want to go deeper- but I have never had a usb that doesn't want to unmount, I have never had a problem getting into my ntfs partition, I dont have a pda, but my mp3 player works out the box. If there is a problem, then yes the terminal is there, and you can use it.
that said, I would like to see you sorting out the same problems in windows- I have also sat for hours on the forums trying to figure out why something isnt working in windows- for example disabling MTP in windows so that I could transfer files onto my mp3 was a mission to figure out

riempiestoel said:
Thats because the majority of the country buy from Incredible connection, game, dion, macro, blah blah...
we're talking the masses here... trying to give the linux community a clue as to why it's not out there ;)

But you knew that already, thats why you said it?
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that is a problem in this country- all the major manufacturers have windows and linux bundles available, but they are just not brought in
 
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ave said:
when was that? ubuntu had trouble with 3G in the past, but they apparently sorted that out with 9.10
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i said bluetooth :erm:

I can't remember which distro (?) the eeePC used. The bottom line for me (and I'm a pretty proficient computer amateur) was that it was smooth, until you ran into a problem, and then things get hairy.
 
ave said:
thats what I said, its there if you want to go deeper- but I have never had a usb that doesn't want to unmount, I have never had a problem getting into my ntfs partition, I dont have a pda, but my mp3 player works out the box. If there is a problem, then yes the terminal is there, and you can use it.
that said, I would like to see you sorting out the same problems in windows- I have also sat for hours on the forums trying to figure out why something isnt working in windows- for example disabling MTP in windows so that I could transfer files onto my mp3 was a mission to figure out
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Thats going wayyyy deeper lol. it's deep for windoze anyhow.



that is a problem in this country- all the major manufacturers have windows and linux bundles available, but they are just not brought in
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True.
 
It is different horses for different courses.
For the last few years I have used Windows and Linux in server and desktop systems. For some systems windows work best and for others Unix/Linux. For normal everday desktop use I would take windows over Linux. High volume transaction processing etc. windows server sucks. Cuurently I have Oracle running on IBM P-series with AIX, and MSSQL on Windows Servers. The mission critical stuff is on Unix. My favourite webserver setup is Ubuntu server , just select the LAMP install and you have a running webserver in about 30 minutes, try that with windows, IIS, mssql you will be busy for the whole day.
 
calvincoetzee said:
Faster, as in faster to do what you want to do, example, install a game on windows and play it, 10 mins, linux 1 hour... that's what i mean.
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Linux: (Ubuntu)
Go to Heroes of Neweth site > Download game > install it > run it or apt-get install fretsonfire (GUI option possible as well...) > Play it Uninstall: Remove package (Some settings might be remaining in your home directory)
vs.
Windows:
Go to site > download game > install it > run it Uninstall: Run uninstaller (Delete settings seperately from %appdata% / registry)
vs Mac OS:
Download game > drag to applications > run (Or run installer, depending on game...) Uninstall: Delete from applications / run uninstaller (some settings might remain in home directory / /Library somewhere)

CD based games are similar to install than their Windows versions... (And if there is no Linux version of the game it simply reinforces the point that the article is making...)

(And some games are not that much harder to get running under Wine, but that is another story altogether...)
 
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