05-01-2003, 03:22 PM | #1 (permalink) | |
Human
Administrator
Location: Chicago
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ATTENTION: "Why Linux is Not for You: The Lengthy Rebuttal of a Linux User"
Just a quick warning, this is fairly long. Perhaps you'll want to read it in installments As such, I'll be making a seperate post for each of the 5 parts. BUT, if you're considering trying out Linux or "switching" to Linux, I would say this is a must read.
(Link for those would would rather have the OSNews layout of this article - http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3297 Quote:
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Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling Last edited by SecretMethod70; 05-01-2003 at 10:34 PM.. |
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05-01-2003, 03:24 PM | #2 (permalink) | |
Human
Administrator
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
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Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling |
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05-01-2003, 03:28 PM | #3 (permalink) | |
Human
Administrator
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
__________________
Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling |
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05-01-2003, 03:30 PM | #4 (permalink) | |
Human
Administrator
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
__________________
Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling |
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05-01-2003, 03:32 PM | #5 (permalink) | |
Human
Administrator
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
__________________
Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling |
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05-01-2003, 03:39 PM | #6 (permalink) | |
Tilted
Location: Only in your mind
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Quote:
Now, I have seen Win2k Advanced Server installed on plenty of desktops, mainly by warez kiddies who think they're being "cool". |
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05-01-2003, 03:56 PM | #7 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: a van, down by the river
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The classic "It's the user's fault" argument. Which I completely agree with. It is the user's responsibility to understand what the hell they're getting into. Unless, however, they are paying Redhat or similar CO to take care of them. "Caveot Emptor." Great article.
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05-01-2003, 06:36 PM | #9 (permalink) |
Poo-tee-weet?
Location: The Woodlands, TX
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well i just set my system up so i can easily switch between windows and linux... not dual boot but close...
linux is different... its harder to use... why am i trying it out... so i can... to see what it is... i had never used it for any amount of time before... and wanted to see what its like... what have i found... its neet... a combination of gui and command line stuff... will i stick with it... maybe... i dont know yet...
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-=JStrider=- ~Clatto Verata Nicto |
05-01-2003, 07:03 PM | #10 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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I pretty much have no practical use for it, I just want to see what it's all about - knowledge for the sake of knowledge, ya know. I'm not planning on doing a full switchover, I just want to play around with it for awhile - it'll give me something to do over the summer while I'm not in school
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05-01-2003, 08:16 PM | #11 (permalink) |
Upright
Location: Inebriation
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I'll never be a Linux man, for the basic fact I play games, and Linux != gaming.
"...and Counter-Strike (Using Wine or WineX)" Something about running an OS to run an emulator for another OS that seems pointless. Until Linux gets better hardware support and software support, I'll be happy with 5-month reformats, thank you very much.
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On a scale of one to ten, I am soooo drunk. |
05-01-2003, 08:25 PM | #12 (permalink) | |
Sultana ruined my evil persona
Location: Los Angeles
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Wow, after reading that I don't think I found anything I can really dissagree on (or remember ).
Why do I use linux? Cause I want to control my OS. Not my OS controlling me! Quote:
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His pants are tight...but his morals are loose!! |
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05-02-2003, 11:07 AM | #14 (permalink) |
Crazy
Location: blah
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Very good article. I've run Windows as long as I can remember, but for the past few months I've had a Linux install on a separate partition (Redhat until a few weeks ago, Slackware now), and am now in the saving money phase of building a new computer to run strictly linux. I'd have to say Windows is my primary OS, as I play games a lot, so I just leave my computer in Windows. I use linux when I feel like playing around with it, really. I'm still in the experimental, hacking around with it phase.
I agree with the points the author was trying to make. People use what OS is right for them, and there is no point in trying to compare them directly, as they serve seperate functions. It was overall a good article. |
05-03-2003, 07:06 AM | #16 (permalink) |
Psycho
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I didn't read the article, might do it some other time. I just went through the tedious task of removing RedHat 9.0 from my Thinkpad. What a pain in the ass.
Next time I play with an alternative OS, it will be on a 'puter I can angrily kick, then throw into the recycle bin. I am not a programmer, (but I am pro grammer, stupid fark reference. It won't happen again), and Linux requires skills or patience I don't have. I went to Windows after DOS 6.0 mandated it. I have not typed a .bat or anything since. Maybe lazy, or pragmatic, but I just want to turn on the machine and see it work. MSoft is annoying, I will deal with that. When trying to set my screen resolution requires compiling? Never mind. When gurus perfect the open source I will get back on the bandwagon, (I used to beta IBM's OS2 in the 80's before it was Windows). Then, you will be too expensive, and another arrogant "I am the best, you need me, I was counter culture, but now I am the way" elitists. Right now, I just want to point and click, and drag and drop, and get pics of our grandchildren. I am not as 'puter savvy as the rest of you, but, it too damn long to get redhat off my Thinkpad! It seems open source wants to take over your computer also. |
05-03-2003, 07:14 AM | #17 (permalink) | |
Insane
Location: Central N.Y.
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Quote:
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"If I had it to do all over, I'd do it all over you." |
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05-03-2003, 06:16 PM | #18 (permalink) |
Loser
Location: Central Missouri
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Of course he can argue: Linux does what I want it and need it to do.
Well thats great, no one can really argue with that. MacOS 7 on a Performa 550 will do what I need it to do. It can get on the internet, play simple games, run an office app, and print. And you can even put photoshop on there and have it do work with images. My point is that he doesn't make a point that isn't obvious. |
05-04-2003, 10:42 AM | #21 (permalink) |
Psycho
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<b>Bullgoose</b> wrote, <i>It's based on Debian Linux (My personal favorite)</i>.
I have read good things about Debian. After I go through my post Redhat anger management sessions, I might give that a try. Ya know something, computers don't explode, don't take up much space, and don't leave parts scattered all over the floor when they stop working. Just format and try again. Whats a few hours of wasted time. If it works, it wasn't wasted. If I learn from it, it wasn't wasted. I am rambling, must go to session. Redhat bad, Poof good, Redhat bad, Poof good. |
05-04-2003, 11:32 AM | #22 (permalink) | |
Insane
Location: Central N.Y.
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Quote:
I'm a Linux advocate; I use Linux on a daily basis, and I love it; that being said, it took roughly 3 years of almost weekly re-installs, endless Google searches, printing REAMS of how-to's and generally tearing my hair out. I'm 56; I bought my first "modern" computer about 5 years ago; one of my kids has it now; I build my own at this point. Sometime about 3-1/2 years ago, I had a real "WIN-moment"; I got the blue screen of death for about the 200th time in one day, so I fired up a search engine and went looking for an alternative, that's when I first heard of Linux; I have been from pillar to post with Linux; right now, I quad-boot WIN98 (and I rarely boot it) Redhat 9.0, Debian 3.0 "testing", and Knoppix 3.2 (more to come about Knoppix). The reason I suggested you NOT try Debian is the installer. It's a fact of life in the Linux community that Debian is really difficult to install; there's various reasons for this, but suffice it to say that Debian is not newbie-friendly. To get a handle on Linux, I am suggesting that folks who aren't familiar with Linux try Knoppix. This gets tricky now; the lineage of Knoppix is kinda like tracing a European royal family's lineage, if you get my drift. Knoppix is a German distribution that's based on Debian GNU Linux; this is a very good thing; what's even better is this- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO INSTALL IT ON YOUR HARD DRIVE TO USE IT! That's right, it runs off your CD-ROM drive, it has absoloutly no effect on any installed operating systems (read: any Windows version). It only requires that your computer be able to boot from a CD-ROM (most computers built since '98 can, if yours can't, there are alternatives.) My point is, there is no commitment whatsoever; if you don't like Linux, you just remove the CD-ROM disc and go your merry way, if you DO like it, there's many options at that point. Now the kicker; Knoppix is FREE, it can be downloaded and burned to a CDR for no cost at all, except for the time it takes. If you don't feel that you can do that, PM me and I'll see what I can do. Just don't write off Linux because of a bad experience; it takes time, but it's one helluva lot easier now then when I started. Give it a chance.
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"If I had it to do all over, I'd do it all over you." |
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05-04-2003, 11:34 AM | #23 (permalink) |
Tilted
Location: Here and there
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The way WINE works is by trapping Win32 API calls and replacing them with calls to its own versions of the Win32 libraries -- which is why its emulation is incomplete a lot of the time, and why it's recommended that you copy DLLs from an existing Windows installation for some things.
Of course, if you have an existing Windows installation to copy DLLs from, I figure you might as well use it for whatever it is you were going to use WINE for.
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"It seemed to me that if humanoids eat chicken, then obviously they'd eat their own species, otherwise they'd just be picking on the chickens." |
05-04-2003, 08:12 PM | #25 (permalink) |
Banned
Location: no trees, fields of wheat
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I like linux. Other than the fact I can't get my crappy winmodem to work, it's great. mandrake is my current distro, but it seems <i>too</i> newbie friendly. I would love something that would be a bit of a tougher install, just for kicks.
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05-04-2003, 11:42 PM | #26 (permalink) |
Psychopathic Akimbo Action Pirate
Location: ...between Christ and Belial.
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I'm a dual-booter. I can't live without my games.
And actually, I've been stuck in Windows lately because the Linux kernel doesn't currently support my AGP chipset. However, the pre-patch does, and I'm going to try it out later this week, so we'll see.
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On the outside I'm jazz, but my soul is rock and roll. Sleep is a waste of time. Join the Insomniac Club. "GYOH GWAH-DAH GREH BLAAA! SROH WIH DIH FLIH RYOHH!!" - The Locust |
05-05-2003, 08:59 AM | #27 (permalink) |
Stop. Think. Question.
Location: Redondo Beach, CA
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I don't understand why people keep thinking Linux is a cure-all for Windows. Linux, like any other OS, is another choice with its pros and cons.
Choosing Linux for the desktop is similar to deciding if you want to run MacOS, Windows 9x, 2000, or DOS. If your current OS doesn't do it for you, then make a switch to whatever you want. Otherwise, stick with what you know. IMO, Linux is an OS for those folks needing/wanting the power of UNIX. It's meant for power-users that know what they're doing. Hell, 90% of Windows users have no clue about disk partitions and file systems let alone what Services do what. I suppose that's my criteria with Linux - if you know everything there is about Windows and still need more, then make the switch. If you still can't figure out how to partition your hard drive, forget it. Linux needs to be repositioned in the marketplace. It's an alternative, not a replacement.
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How you do anything is how you do everything. |
05-05-2003, 08:34 PM | #28 (permalink) |
In Your Dreams
Location: City of Lights
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I used only Linux for around a year (RH7.3/RH8). It ran great for me, and taught me a lot. I didn't play games, so that wasn't a problem for me. What WAS a problem (and what made me go back to Windows) was that I lost all my settings (in my home dir and /etc) during a backup and reinstall when I got a new machine (stupid CD was bad, but burnt fine). After looking at how much data I had just lost, how many hours of vi-time and google-searching were down the drain, I said "screw it" and went to Windows. Also, Windows has a program to make my DVD-ROM region free (there's no RPC1 ROM out for it yet). I love Linux, and will probably run it in the future. For now though, I'm sticking to windows.
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05-05-2003, 08:49 PM | #29 (permalink) | |
Human
Administrator
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
Let this be a warning to all COMPUTER users in general to always backup important data and do it often. If running Linux you may want to consider making seperate partitions for /home - this can also help alleviate the risks involved.
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Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling |
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05-06-2003, 05:11 PM | #30 (permalink) | |
In Your Dreams
Location: City of Lights
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Quote:
Running /home in a seperate partition. I can't believe I didn't even think of that, what an idiot. I'll probably do the same w/ /etc. Thanks for pointing out an obvious suggestion! |
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11-29-2004, 01:55 PM | #31 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: Comfy Little Bungalow
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I am still amazed
I read the article and I agree entirely with the bulk of it. Perhaps I should have stopped at the article itself, but Ijust had to read a bunch of the replies, many of which tried to argue for/against Linux/Windows almost as if they had not read the article.
Should you switch to Linux? The answer is yes, and the naswer is no. It's that simple. For me, I have been playing with linux for sometime, even used it for a whole semester when my dual boot system made a left turn and I was unable toboot into windows. For that whole semester, I used Mandrake Linus to read my mail, to research (mostly using my browser), and word processing. It worked not the same, but MUCH better than windows did. Now I'm making the switch to Linux because 1) I'm a geek, 2) Linux does what I need it to do, and eloquently as well and 3) I am tired of the direction that Microsoft is taking with licensing and DRM and I want am alternative. But, clearly, I am going into this with my eyes poen and my expecatations grounded in past experience. If everyone did this, I would not be surprised to see the desktpo share for Linux to be closer to 10 per cent, ubt too many people want to leave Microsoft more than they want to move to Linux, just as was said in the article, and this will lead to disappointment 99 times out of 100. A shame, as most of those users would probably embrace Linux under different circumstances. Still, Linux is here to stay, and where it goes from here depends entirely on who uses it, what it's used for, and whether or not it's recognized for it's potential rather than the state of Linux today. It could go far... or not... Pierre |
11-29-2004, 02:40 PM | #32 (permalink) | |
In Your Dreams
Location: City of Lights
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Quote:
ahahahaha.. a year and a half ago I wrote that.. forgot I even had... man, how times change... |
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11-29-2004, 02:52 PM | #33 (permalink) |
Professional Loafer
Location: texas
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A lot of games being released are having linux binaries written for them. Such as Quake, Half-life 2, CounterStrike, etc. There are many games being ported. They require you buy the cd, just as you would for a windows machines, and then they tell you how to get the game running under linux. It's not hard, just different.
I dont play many games, but I do a couple, and play them on both windows and linux. I have 1 machine that runs windows xp pro. The other machines, 6 or so run debian linux. I use linux because I like it. I think it's more configurable than windows and thats one of my many reasons for running it. Windows however does have its vantage points. I'm not going to get into the windows vs. linux ordeal here. If you want to try linux, go for it, start out slow and get more and more in depth. Latch and myself are both linux gurus and I certainly am and sure he probably is too, willing to help with questions you might have regarding linux. Please however try to find the answer yourself first, because there is a plethora of info. about linux out there.
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"You hear the one about the fella who died, went to the pearly gates? St. Peter let him in. Sees a guy in a suit making a closing argument. Says, "Who's that?" St. Peter says, "Oh, that's God. Thinks he's Denny Crane." |
11-29-2004, 10:42 PM | #35 (permalink) | |
Psycho
Location: Toronto
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Quote:
I also keep Windows around on another partition for games that won't work in Linux. For day to day stuff though, it's Linux or nothing. I'm much more productive in it anyhow. Virtual desktops are my poison That's the beautiful thing about Linux. You can configure most anything to your liking, instead of conforming to somebody else's idea of a suitable working environment. The best advice I have to give would also be to take it slow, research, and ask questions. Most Linux users started off in the same place, so they're sympathetic of any beginner's situation. Plus, you might learn skills that will help down the road with other issues. There may be those that feel high and mighty (RTFM, anyone?), but they can safely be ignored...there's many other friendlier users who will be quite willing to help. It really is a great community.
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perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5,(41*2),sqrt(7056),(unpack(c,H)-2),oct(115),10);' |
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Tags |
attention, lengthy, linux, rebuttal, user |
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