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Old 03-13-2012, 01:32 PM
 
Location: Italy
6,387 posts, read 6,348,309 times
Reputation: 873

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Thank you everyone for responding. This is teaching me a lot about how Americans see Linux and computers in general.

From what I've read here, it looks like people aren't using Linux for a few basic reasons:

- they think it's too difficult
- they think that because it's free, it isn't good
- they think that people shouldn't have to think much about how to use a PC, just turn it on and go.

My personal experience has been quite different.
I started with XP, and much of it didn't make any sense. Everything was done for me, and there was little "control" over what I could do. When a friend told me about Linux, I was suprised at how simple it was! It might have been more of a command-line-based OS a few years back, but things have really changed! It seems like everybody and their brother are making their own distro these days!

As for the fact that it's free, personally, I love the idea that there are lots of people around the world who (unlike me) are able to create applications. They do it for their job, they do it for fun, they do it for the benefit of you and I. Creativity flourishes in Linux!
I used to think that Linux came after Windows. Then I learned that the opposite was true. And how Apple's OSX is basically a Linux-kernel system now, too!

As for having an operating system that works "out-of-the-box," I am one of those types myself. Anyone who uses a computer at all needs to have a basic understanding of it: how to open an application, how to copy files, how to send an email. So no matter what you use, you need to learn a minimum of operations. Linux is no different, except that YOU are the master!

If you know how to use Windows, you can certainly use Linux. One poster mentioned that it's hard to tell which version to use. Ubuntu is over-rated imo, there are now hundreds of other versions out there to try. How many types are there? Here's a quick look:
List of Linux distributions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The timeline on the right is impressive!

Microsoft bought Skype recently. In a while, it might mean having to pay to use skype. Would you be happy about that?
-Fortunately, the world of open source has been producing free video call clients for those of us who want computering to remain open for all to use, no matter how much money you have.


Peace,
brian
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Old 03-13-2012, 01:55 PM
 
25,024 posts, read 27,842,561 times
Reputation: 11790
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahigherway View Post
I used to use Windows XP.
Then someone told me about Linux, and so I tried it.
Now I only use Linux.
The reason? It's open source! You can distribute it for free, no need to pay for a license, you can modify it, tailor it to your own needs and likes, etc.
AND, rather than just 2 or 3 flavors, like Windows, Linux has hundreds of versions (distros), made for different purposes. The sky's the limit!!

---My impression though, is that Linux isn't so popular in the US. Why is that? Does it seem to "communist?" Why must a person buy a Windows license which costs 100 dollars or more every time they buy a computer, even if they don't want it??

Well, I like the freedom to use my computer to do what I want. (And I'm not even very expert in programming!!)

Your thoughts?


Peace,
brian
I'm now running Xubuntu on my laptop and it's very happy. I tried Ubuntu then Xubuntu and prefer Xfce to Unity, especially since my laptop is an older Windows Vista build. I have a libertarian political philosophy, but that wasn't an influence on my OS choice. The command line scared me at first, but now I can use the command line for simple tasks. The more I use Linux, the better I am at using it. Everything I do on my PC I can do almost exclusively on Linux. The only thing I can't use is Windows Live to video chat with my fiancee when we're not together. I reserve my Windows hard drive for that. My 80GB 5400rpm hard disk I'm using I pulled out of an old iMac and for Windows I use my 250GB 7200rpm hdd which still loads slower than my Linux hdd. Oh, and, Vista sucks up 1GB of RAM at login, even when I have all startup items turned off

Quote:
Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey View Post
Ubuntu is not the most user friendly. Try Mint.


I use Ubuntu, and I'm a liberal.
I tried Mint, the only difference I found was that it comes pre-installed with Java. I already know how to do a command line install of Java on Xubuntu, plus Mint kept turning my touchpad off, which was very annoying. So I went to Ubuntu, and recently switched to Xubuntu. I love the fact that bootup takes 15 seconds, and Xfce is only using less than 200MB RAM at login I don't play games anymore, but for anyone that wants to play Windows games, it's probably compatible with Wine anyway
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Old 03-13-2012, 02:03 PM
 
Location: Italy
6,387 posts, read 6,348,309 times
Reputation: 873
Quote:
Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed View Post
I'm now running Xubuntu on my laptop and it's very happy. I tried Ubuntu then Xubuntu and prefer Xfce to Unity, especially since my laptop is an older Windows Vista build. I have a libertarian political philosophy, but that wasn't an influence on my OS choice. The command line scared me at first, but now I can use the command line for simple tasks. The more I use Linux, the better I am at using it.



I tried Mint, the only difference I found was that it comes pre-installed with Java. I already know how to do a command line install of Java on Xubuntu, plus Mint kept turning my touchpad off, which was very annoying. So I went to Ubuntu, and recently switched to Xubuntu. I love the fact that bootup takes 15 seconds, and Xfce is only using less than 200MB RAM at login I don't play games anymore, but for anyone that wants to play Windows games, it's probably compatible with Wine anyway
I used to be intimidated by my PC.

Then one day, I saved all my important documents, music, etc. onto a USB stick and DVDs, then I got rid of Windows. I actually took control of my computer!

I've used Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, PCLinuxOS, BodhiLinux, Asturix, AntiX, Netrunner, Mepis, Mageia, ArchLinux....

Every computer is special. For example, Xubuntu may work well on one PC, while on another a person might not have everything they need, but will find perfection with, say, PCLinuxOS.

Long live creativity!! And, not being intimidated by a PC anymore!


Peace!
brian
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Old 03-13-2012, 02:03 PM
 
Location: Virginia Beach
8,346 posts, read 7,023,709 times
Reputation: 2874
Quote:
Originally Posted by plwhit View Post

And with the growing popularity of tablets the age old Windowz vs Linicks discussion is going the way of the Dodo bird....

FWIW ahigherway, OS-X is BSD based....
The growing age of tablets make the LInux platform much more popular.
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Old 03-13-2012, 02:06 PM
 
4,127 posts, read 5,055,421 times
Reputation: 1621
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahigherway View Post
Thank you everyone for responding. This is teaching me a lot about how Americans see Linux and computers in general.

From what I've read here, it looks like people aren't using Linux for a few basic reasons:

- they think it's too difficult
- they think that because it's free, it isn't good
- they think that people shouldn't have to think much about how to use a PC, just turn it on and go.

My personal experience has been quite different.
I started with XP, and much of it didn't make any sense. Everything was done for me, and there was little "control" over what I could do. When a friend told me about Linux, I was suprised at how simple it was! It might have been more of a command-line-based OS a few years back, but things have really changed! It seems like everybody and their brother are making their own distro these days!

As for the fact that it's free, personally, I love the idea that there are lots of people around the world who (unlike me) are able to create applications. They do it for their job, they do it for fun, they do it for the benefit of you and I. Creativity flourishes in Linux!
I used to think that Linux came after Windows. Then I learned that the opposite was true. And how Apple's OSX is basically a Linux-kernel system now, too!

As for having an operating system that works "out-of-the-box," I am one of those types myself. Anyone who uses a computer at all needs to have a basic understanding of it: how to open an application, how to copy files, how to send an email. So no matter what you use, you need to learn a minimum of operations. Linux is no different, except that YOU are the master!

If you know how to use Windows, you can certainly use Linux. One poster mentioned that it's hard to tell which version to use. Ubuntu is over-rated imo, there are now hundreds of other versions out there to try. How many types are there? Here's a quick look:
List of Linux distributions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The timeline on the right is impressive!

Microsoft bought Skype recently. In a while, it might mean having to pay to use skype. Would you be happy about that?
-Fortunately, the world of open source has been producing free video call clients for those of us who want computering to remain open for all to use, no matter how much money you have.


Peace,
brian
Good luck. Be sure to keep us posted when you do your first kernel update!
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Old 03-13-2012, 02:09 PM
 
25,024 posts, read 27,842,561 times
Reputation: 11790
Quote:
Originally Posted by twinArmageddons View Post
The growing age of tablets make the LInux platform much more popular.
Especially if it's running LXDE (Lubuntu, Mint, etc.). Even some smartphones are starting to have LXDE loaded onto them. I think tablets and netbooks were just the thing Linux was made for, since it is so much less resource intensive than Windows
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahigherway View Post
I used to be intimidated by my PC.

Then one day, I saved all my important documents, music, etc. onto a USB stick and DVDs, then I got rid of Windows. I actually took control of my computer!

I've used Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, PCLinuxOS, BodhiLinux, Asturix, AntiX, Netrunner, Mepis, Mageia, ArchLinux....

Every computer is special. For example, Xubuntu may work well on one PC, while on another a person might not have everything they need, but will find perfection with, say, PCLinuxOS.

Long live creativity!! And, not being intimidated by a PC anymore!


Peace!
brian
THere's a lot of distros out there, but the vast majority of them can be categorized by GNOME, Xfce, LXDE, or KDE. Chances are, the Linux distro you are using is running on one of these engines. I've yet to try Lubuntu, but I don't think I won't since I'm very satisfied with how light Xfce is to begin with. I have a desktop HP from 2004 that only has 1GB of ram and a 64MB video card (GeForce 4 MX420) and a single-core P4 CPU that might benefit greatly from either Xubuntu or Lubuntu. That would breathe a lot of life into that PC for sure.
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Old 03-13-2012, 03:14 PM
 
15,913 posts, read 20,141,773 times
Reputation: 7693
Quote:
Originally Posted by twinArmageddons View Post
The growing age of tablets make the LInux platform much more popular.
How so, please explain.
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Old 03-13-2012, 03:16 PM
 
1,569 posts, read 2,038,660 times
Reputation: 621
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahigherway View Post
I used to use Windows XP.
Then someone told me about Linux, and so I tried it.
Now I only use Linux.
The reason? It's open source! You can distribute it for free, no need to pay for a license, you can modify it, tailor it to your own needs and likes, etc.
AND, rather than just 2 or 3 flavors, like Windows, Linux has hundreds of versions (distros), made for different purposes. The sky's the limit!!

---My impression though, is that Linux isn't so popular in the US. Why is that? Does it seem to "communist?" Why must a person buy a Windows license which costs 100 dollars or more every time they buy a computer, even if they don't want it??

Well, I like the freedom to use my computer to do what I want. (And I'm not even very expert in programming!!)

Your thoughts?


Peace,
brian
Most people don't want to bother with that - it's the same reason why people pay hundreds of dollars extra for Apple - because of its perceived user friendliness.

Also, most people don't build their own computers, so they get windows with their store bought computer - and the manufacturer pays much less than 100 bucks for their license of Windows.
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Old 03-13-2012, 03:23 PM
 
15,913 posts, read 20,141,773 times
Reputation: 7693
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahigherway View Post
I used to be intimidated by my PC.

Then one day, I saved all my important documents, music, etc. onto a USB stick and DVDs, then I got rid of Windows. I actually took control of my computer!

I've used Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, PCLinuxOS, BodhiLinux, Asturix, AntiX, Netrunner, Mepis, Mageia, ArchLinux....

Every computer is special. For example, Xubuntu may work well on one PC, while on another a person might not have everything they need, but will find perfection with, say, PCLinuxOS.

Long live creativity!! And, not being intimidated by a PC anymore!

Peace!
brian
I'd love to hear how you "took control" of your computer over how you had "no control" when you ran Windows....

How running <linux> increased your productivity, were you able to type faster? send emails faster? view more Facebook pages per hour? see more Youtube video's per hour? WHAT?

As I posted earlier, Linux usage is slowly but steadily decreasing around the world:



Linux
Windows
Mac

http://www.google.com/trends/?q=linux,+windows,+mac

Linux desktop market share:

Worldwide
, 0.76%
Europe
, 1.14%
South America
, 0.88%
North America
, 0.72%
Oceania
, 0.72%
Africa
, 0.45%
Asia
, 0.34%

http://royal.pingdom.com/2011/05/12/...desktop-linux/

The reason Linux is not used as much in the States as the EU is simple, people here have better things to do with their lives than dink with a computer.

Linux has been and always will be a minor niche OS.

As far a Linux being "too communist" for Americans ~ LMAO

Last edited by plwhit; 03-13-2012 at 03:46 PM..
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Old 03-13-2012, 04:00 PM
 
Location: Mississippi
409 posts, read 253,518 times
Reputation: 137
Quote:
Originally Posted by plwhit View Post
I'd love to hear how you "took control" of your computer over how you had "no control" when you ran Windows....

How running <linux> increased your productivity, were you able to type faster? send emails faster? view more Facebook pages per hour? see more Youtube video's per hour? WHAT?

As I posted earlier, Linux usage is slowly but steadily decreasing around the world:



Linux
Windows
Mac

Google Trends: linux, windows, mac

Linux desktop market share:

Worldwide
, 0.76%
Europe
, 1.14%
South America
, 0.88%
North America
, 0.72%
Oceania
, 0.72%
Africa
, 0.45%
Asia
, 0.34%

Royal Pingdom Royal Pingdom: The top 20 strongholds for desktop Linux

The reason Linux is not used as much in the States as the EU is simple, people here have better things to do with their lives than dink with a computer.

Linux has been and always will be a minor niche OS.

As far a Linux being "too communist" for Americans ~ LMAO
Exactly. If linux was going to eventually be mainstream then it has to be easier to use for the general public.

Stuff like this is what I typically have to do to just update soundcard drivers:
sudo aptitude install build-essential libncurses-dev gettext xmlto xmltoman linux-headers-`uname -r`

and then setup the directories:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/src/alsa cd /usr/src/alsa sudo cp ~/downloads/alsa* . sudo tar xjf alsa-driver*.bz2 sudo tar xjf alsa-lib*.tar.bz2 sudo tar xjf alsa-utils*.tar.bz2

and then compile/install the driver

cd alsa-driver* sudo ./configure --with-cards=hda-intel --with-kernel=/usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r) sudo make sudo make install


Most people have no idea what sudo, tar, chmod, are and they don't have clue what the directory structure of linux looks like so most of it looks alien.
Linux nerds will tell you it's because people are stupid.
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