Linux: @#$@#$%#$^ !

[rob86 2]

I should change my topic to Linux: :(:D:D:D I'm really liking Linux now that I understand it more. Is it really so much harder than Windows? You know, I'm not so sure now that the frustrating stages are almost over. To be completely honest, it's beginning to feel a lot easier than windows. Once you understand the basics like file permissions and being root, and how to navigate the filesystem in the terminal, it all kind of comes together. Some things are overly difficult, for example, when installing (I still haven't done it) my video card, I had to give the .run file permission to run. Then I had to log in as root, then I had to kill X (I didn't even know what X was!), then I had to do something else, and then it failed anyway. Apparently I can just go to the synaptic manager and do this, I don't know, but installing that video driver seemed unnecessarily hard..Or maybe we just take for granted that we know so much about Windows from using it all the time and it makes it seem like it's easier.My friend who really convinced me to install Ubuntu (she installed it a few days before me when her windows died) is hating it. She's good with computers, but she's noticing the same things we all do. Everything with linux is like a research project! You can't do anything without consulting some kind of manual,forum or webpage. Once you know these commands from experience (I can sudo all over the place ) it starts to seem easier. Things are weird with linux though, we both installed the SAME version of Ubuntu. We both tried to get a particular windows program working in wine. It worked pretty well for me, but I couldn't decode ogg files in it (it was a sound editing software). It didn't work for her, but she can play OGG files fine. I downloaded every ogg decoder and update that I could find, and I still can't play them! Weird!I have absolutely no desire to ever go back to Windows. Some day I'll get a new desktop computer or laptop - Linux of some kind will be going straight on it.-edit-After reading razoredge's post, I'm starting to wonder if there is lots of more that ever exciting linux frustration yet to come! I think it's always good to have Windows as backup in case things get too stressful. What keeps us using Linux despite it being so time consuming? I find myself spending hours trying to fix a simple problem (get something working in Wine) instead of booting up windows and doing what I want to do (use the program for 15 minutes!). I think I should just get XP booting up fast and then it wouldn't seem like such a hassle to use it. It takes forever to start up XP with all the junk I have on auto-run. Restarting Ubuntu is pretty fast.

Edited September 7, 2009 by rob86 (see edit history)

[rayzoredge 2]

I can't honestly be a straight Ubuntu user because of the fact that I have to use Windows XP for things that are tied to Microsoft, like my video streaming to the Xbox 360. Some people have gotten that to work, some people haven't... and it's very much like Rob86's OGG playback problem: I followed my video acceleration tutorial to get 1600x1200 and NVIDIA graphics to the T, and I kept having to start from scratch because Ubuntu kept returning the low-graphics mode.

 

However, I'm glad that TS brought up the very simple, yet mostly unrecognized solution of being able to boot with a LiveCD to fix things with a GUI instead of typing away at a command prompt that most people would not be familiar with. Also, I'm very grateful with having learned the beauty of Ctrl+Alt+F1 to log in using a CLI and killing Gnome Display Manager in the background with "sudo killall gdm" to solve graphics problems with nano and xorg.conf.

 

Linux would be downright perfect for people that had the drive to learn something new or are very comfortable with the command line interface AND if the community could figure out a workaround for everything proprietary. They've already broken barriers with restricted drivers and proven that OpenGL does have a stand in competing with DirectX, so it's really only a matter of time. As of right now, I think that Ubuntu has an awesome role as a great operating system capable of doing mostly anything. If you're happy with a computer to use productivity software (OpenOffice), surfing the web (Firefox), working with personal photos (GIMP), listening to music and watching movies (Rhythm Music Player, Movie Player), and playing simple games from time to time, Ubuntu hits the nail on the head and drives it through. Even if you have Windows programs that you would want to run under Linux, you could try to use WINE to get them to work, or run them under a virtualization program (VMWare). I'm just not special enough to be able to get media streaming working without Windows Media Player, which was the PITA that killed hours of my time, and it's that much of a necessity because I need entertainment for three kids.

 

Rob86 makes a damn good point with taking for granted what Windows does for you in the background. Really, we take for granted a lot of stuff that the computer does for us... you should see how much code goes into something as simple as showing you those pretty, user-friendly icons on your X Server.