For years now I have been trying to get away from windows and explore other operating systems. With all the security flaws in windows its no wonder people want to try to find something else that is secure. So I did my research and I read a few things that said that Linux, Unix, and FreeBSD was the way to go. So I tried my hand in it. I read the disclaimers and all that. I know that they say that it is difficult to start out and it is totally different from windows operating systems. But what I dont understand is why they choose to make everything so darn difficult. Yes, I said choose. Just now I'm reading a quick start read-me file for the ubuntu distro based on debian and it says to add repositories and DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHAT THE HECK A REPOSITORY IS. I've been to IRC channels and try to talk to Linux users to get help and they are all jerks. No one wants to take the time to explain anything to you. The manuals and tutorials are crap. And the GUI looks like poop! So I ask, what is so great about Linux anyways? I haven't seen anything to impress me yet. It was only my curiosity that drove me to check out Linux but it sucks.

Reasons why it sucks:

1) Drivers for linux are impossible to find and most of them are written by some college nerd that pretty much might be the same person writing viruses for windows.

2) The GUIs (desktop manager or whatever they call them ) look terrible. I've downloaded themes for gnome and it still looks like poop.

3) Installing applications are impossible. You open up terminal (command prompt thingy) and type a bunch of mumbo jumbo and you still get errors and nothing ever works right. You have to be a rocket scientist to figure that crap out.

4) Everyone who uses linux is some egg head nerd that thinks he knows everything so why would he WANT to help you. Hence, the Linux community are a bunch of snobs. *flips bird*

5) The initial installation process takes like 4 score and 7 years. I mean really, what the heck is it installing all that time? I've tried debain, ubuntu, and fedora, all the same crap.

6) Cause I said so.

No more will I attempt to use linux.

I have suse 9.3 installed to dual boot on my laptop.

It installed without any problems and loaded drivers for all my hardware.

Visually it looks very similar to windows and the desktop background looks stunning.

It is all GUI driven and works perfectly.

It has the advantage of being able to modify the text config files to configure it more specifically to your needs ..... i suppose this is where being a nerd comes in handy.

I also used to use Linux, but like you said, there were NO applications that were useful for me! I couldn't even find a driver for my network card! Even if I found an application, it took me like a day to figure out how to install it....It was a good file server until I was just fed up and went back to Windows....

I think Linux is a very good alternative to windows, but its not yet as easy to use as windows. I used to think the same thing about linux, I was just like you (probably still am just a little bit) the only reason I wanted to install it is because I wanted to see for myself what the big deal was, and just like you I wasnt really impressed. The main purpose for linux right now is networking, some friends I stick a lot with like it very much, as do the programmers. The only way to love linux is to hate windows (which I dont), Im not using it right now because for everything I do windows is easier, but Im not denying the fact that we will see linux competing with windows in the next couple of years. I think that some distributions have a very big future, and some very good programs are being made (right now you can find a good web editing program called Quanta wich is really awesome, way better than dreamweaver, there is also gimp for graphics, not as good and pretty as photoshop but for being free I think its awesome, I have yet to try this audio editing program which I forgot what its called,just like this there are more programs) It does take time but I think its worth learning new things.

I use a linux distro called slax, and it boots from a freakin CD! and you can install it anywhere! flash drives, hard drives, whatever! It works. And there's many different editions, so use whichever one works for you. google it.

No offense intended, but this sounds like a typical response from someone who does not understand the operating system or is unable to use it effectively. I'm not arrogant or foolish enough to think that using Linux automatically makes you 'elite' or any better than someone who uses Windows, but there is no denying that Linux is quite excellent - and it's free.

Most distros are ment for the Power User, meaning that a computer newb won't have a clue what to do. I've had a computer since the DOS-SHELL's and I still cannot figure out how to use linux. But, without linux, our lives on the internet would be very diffucult. Most web serversout there run some kind of linux distro, because it is a no BS operating system. They even have cell phones that use linux! If you are a hardcore gamer, or a plain guy that just knows how to use a basic computer, before getting a distro, do some studying first. Learn the basics of linux so you know how to use it. It takes practice to learn how to use linux. People went through the same thing after windows came out. They didn't know how things worked, and they took classes, bought books, etc... To sum it up, give linux a chance. It will be worth you while.

As i check Distrowatch.com every day in the last 3 months since i've set up my mind on linux i've learned and seen a lot and one thing is sure: there's a linux distribution for everyone and in many cases linux desktops look better than windows and can be way better customized. As about user-friendlyness just lately there's a real fuss on making linux very user-friendly.

The only 2 big problems i see at linux this days is bad hardware support from manufacturers and the lack of will from people who don't give it a chance. When windows came up we did't have other nice alternative and we stuck with it gettinG nervous and hitting our heads into walls and thus we learned it and now we're happy. If the same would be done with linux many of us would use linux as it's free and there is a lot of open-source software for about everything.

Personally i lack CAD software in linux and am not happy with the commercial ones and gamers lack 3d accelerated support (which lately is solved on many distros)and lack of games written for linux.

As mentioned already Suse is very user friendly, same is Mepis,Ubuntu,PClinuxOS,Xandros-not free-,and so on. Almost every distro fights to get as user-friendly as possible and make most of tasks automated so that the user won't bother with network configuration and so on.

My advice would be to get a live cd of some distros and check them out.There are many, i would suggest Mepis or Ubuntu (kubuntu if you want a more Windows-like desktop).

ah, and check up www.distrowatch.com .Cheers!

Wow... my boss wanted me to explore other operating systems for their pc's, incliding Linux
After reading all this, I better not go into that, knowing that the pc won't survive (pc+window=no good)
Anyways, after all this programming they did on Linux, there should be available drivers, software and all, but where-ever I look, everything runs on windows and Linux versions for most software is way too hard to find, those peoples who made windows and those who made Linux better fuse and make a operating system wich is both secure and easy in use.

Before you go complaining about something that is for the most part free (except for distributions like Red Hat) you have to realize the limitations of anything that is free. The Linux developers do not program as a full time job most of the time. If you are not spending all of your time doing something like the people who created Windows how can you compete with them. Microsoft is a multi billion dollar company with millions of dollars who can hire full time programmers and lots of them. You always have to sacrifice if something is free.

I tried Linux a couple of times, but never on a computer that I owned or used regularly. I honestly didn't find it too bad. I guess I never had to get into installing things and finding drivers, but I was 14 at the time, and I didn't find it hard to grasp at all :\

Maybe I'm odd?

I've been wanting to dabble in Linux for awhile, because I'm convinced there is something a whole lot more efficient and stable than Micro$oft's Windows. Time has just not permitted me to dedicate the amount of time it would take to learn a new operating system. I have since upgraded a few times from my crappy IBM Thinkpad 365XD, but I still own it nevertheless (I suppose due to sentimental value :lol). I'd like to put Linux on that, partly b/c I've heard others do it, and mostly because the memory is only upgradable to an embarassing 40 mb, and it couldn't handle the recent upgrades (or downgrades depending on how you look at it) to Windows. If anyone has any tips, or advice on how I can start this project (distros, instructions, etc), feel free to post.

Thanks in advance.

Our professor tasked us to install Gentoo(one of the most difficult) Linux a few days ago in a 1.2 GB harddisk! It was very painstakingly irritating because you have to boot from cd and type everything, every command including the partitioning, making the files system and compiling and installing KDE (it's GUI). There's no next button and no install wizard but at least it takes very little space. We never thought everything would fit into 1.2 GB of disk space but apparently it did!

Installing Linux alone is far more difficult than windows and you have to rely on its manual to really get things right but once you get things done it is fulfilling. The GUI is fantastic! It looks like it was created using java and the graphics are super clean. Bu the most important thing probably about it is that it works really well even with an old x86 PC and 64 MB RAM. But then again you can't exactly bring your Windows applications to the system because they wouldn't work, I would probably have dual boot (XP and Gentoo) on my PC next time and install PHP, MySQL and Apache on Gentoo and the rest of course on Windows.

The new gentoo instaler will be totally GUI and seems to make everything easy. You will still need to make some choices because that's Gentoo about: tweaking and getting the most highly performance out of your PC. But it will be just like selecting things and checkboxes."Asteria Solutions Group, Inc. has taken the latest gentoo installer for a test drive. It's not finished yet, but promises to bring the powerful distribution to a larger base of users.". See http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=12995. Cheers!

I haven't installed Linux yet (I will soon, though), but I wanted to reply anyway. Linux is very different from windows. It's not meant for users who just want to play games and organzie their photos. It's for power users that want to dig deep into their machine and get the most out of it. They don't need GUIs; all they need is the CLI. If you don't like the way Linux does what it does, go back to Windows. No one is forcing you to use Linux.

1) I agree.
2) If you like Windows 98/ME/2000 look, then KDE has a theme for that.
3) With SuSE Linux, just click on an RPM in Konqueror, and click the Install with YaST button (or something similar)
4) I use Linux and I can barely pass as a Windows nerd.
5) SuSE Linux was installing tons of packages (aka free software that you would pay tons for in Windows versions, half of which you can either unselect in the first place, or uninstall later)
6) That's a matter of opinion. Don't go telling the world why you can't do things, when they have been done.

Hmmm.. well, I just started Linux class Tuesday.. and here I am, replying on a computer running Fedora Core 2 o.o
The teacher gave us install CDs and a blank computer and just.. let us go crazy. 15 minutes deciding what to install... an hour waiting for it to install... and here I am, connected and playing with Firefox o.o


Everyone says the install is a pain, and the GUI is bad.. but when I launched it, I was actually surprised at how much it looks... a very lot like Windows XD

Oh well.. maybe I missed something o.o

Installing SuSE Linux for me was relatively easy, between deciding what packages to install and selecting the timezone. I ran into a resonable bottleneck - the partitioner wouldn't let me shrink my windows partition more than it recommended I should, leaving me with about 220 MB of free space. Is there any Windows XP theme for KDE? I sort of like Thin Keramik, but an XP theme would rule (especially for a long time Windows user like me).

FROM THIS POINT FORWARD I AM SORRY FOR BEING RUDE BUT YOU JUST POPED MY BUBBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear duymongurl (o something),
For your information, Linux is one of the if not the best Os's ever to come! And besides i and alot of friends use Ubuntu linux and we have had no problem with it!! Why do you have to be sooo darn insulting? i mean you get everything in linux for free! You dont have to pay huge bucks to get it like you have to in Windows! Just becuase you don't know how to use linux and just because you had a hard time with it's graphics doesn't mean linux is all bad!!! I mean did you know that there is only 3 to 4 viruses for linux IN THE WORLD!!!! Ain't that good enough for you ! And why did you go and ask for help in the chat rooms! of course they were rude cause they just want to chat! the are not CUSTOMER SERVICE Representatives! Why did'nt you try the help forum in ubuntu.com? They helped me step by step it the last click!

So PLEASE be more polite when ritisising Linux Before even knowing it!!!

Sorry for the (Rudeness) But you left me no choise!,
TRY THE FORUM!!!!

Bye Bye!

Whoa whoa whoa!
What's all this about?



You should be grateful to the person that wrote the drivers for your devices! They could also just go and do something else instead of writing device drivers for some dude that just got a new e.g. TV card.

There are numerous reasons why the manufacturer of some hardware equipment does not write drivers for Linux, but only Windows:

1) The company just does not feel like it
2) The company employees don't know how to do it
3) The company has an unwritten "contract" with Microsoft that pressures them to hesitate writing drivers for Linux
4) etc.

So, it's not some coder's fault that the drivers do not work well, after all, most manufacturers even refuse to publish any driver writing documentation for their devices and, therefore, leave the driver coder nothing to start with! That's the primary reason for most non-working/partially-working drivers for Linux being present on the internet.

Why do you think NTFS disks are read-only in Linux? Because Microsoft won't publish any information about writing drivers for the NTFS file system (I guess we should all understand why)!


So, give it a rest already!

OK you must really just be stupid if you cant figure windows out and say that it looks bad. To be honest, it look a ton better than windows becuase you can configure so many more things and get many more applications and such.



This is not true. Many Linux OS' like Suse (which i use) have many of these drivers on their servers and can be installed using their installation system and such. Otherwise, if you actually read the README file and follow its instructions, it really isnt hard. If you get an error, just page up and see what it is. Like it tells you what it is checking during the MAKE INSTALL command and just go to Yast or the other installation utility and install it. You most likely just did not include many compilation / programming tools when you did your basic installtion and most of these are needed if you install other opensource code. Besides that, installation is simple (yes not as simple as windows but its because of why Linux is so good at what it does since it optimizes all installations to your personal computer when you install using make)



Have you ever heard of KDE??? KDE makes your desktop look just like windows and actually better. You have a taskbar just like windows which you can change ever aspect of it or install a theme that already has made those changes. You also could install a slider that can act like the taskbar thus making the Linux desktop look similar if not exactly like a Mac OS which is nice and enjoyable.



Read my response to 1.) since its just about the same but this really used to be the case. Now that Linux has gained much popularity, many vendors are releasing good drivers for their hardware in both Linux and Windows version and can be installed directly from the Linux OS' server and from their websites. You can optimize the source or just install an RPM that are simple to find and your done and the hardware works. Nothing hard about it.



No way. The majority people who talk in Linux forums are the newbies who are trying to figure out what they heck they need to do to get it working. The reason this is is because Linux just uses different more exact terminology for the same things that windows does. Once you learn the terminology, it becomes easy. Plus, there are a ton more forums about linux than windows because so many questions can be asked. Yes, you might have to search for a while to get an easy answer if you are newbie in order to get your issue resolved but once to find it, you have learned so much that the hard answer you can understand so in the future you wont have to search as long. Plus, with every update, many of those problems are fixed and you dont have to do anything like that anymore.



This is so not true. My installation for a fully built Linux OS (not Gentoo since it compiles everything) running Suse 9.3 or 10.0 took less time than Windows since formatting takes like 2 seconds. I'd say it to 35 minutes and included KDE, all the Programming Tools, a bunch of games, OpenOffice, Apache and PHP and other web development tools / hosting, and a file server. What else do you need from an initial installation. It takes roughly an hour to install windows and then you have to do all the updates and software thus approximately takes 1 day to fully setup a windows pc where linux takes 1 hr and you only have roughly 1 more hour left to install any misc software.

Finally, your 6th reason is not a reason at all and you just need to learn that with change comes hardship but once the hardship is passed, the rewards are great. Try Suse it is simple and once you become advanced it still does the job for you.

If you want it all: Buy a Mac. Yo uget all the Unix goodness, the easy to use interface, great Apple only software (iLife), and commerical software.

You get your Apache, PHP, MySQL and your Photoshop/Dreamweaver all in one boot and no hassles. Not to mention iLife...

Yeah, but unfortunately, "all" means more money , and I doubt that some people have much of that... Of course, many people also like to experiment with Linux on Mac too, so getting a Mac won't be a reason to say goodbye to Linux!

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