I've finally gotten around to putting this post by me from Medium onto Steem, as promised. I've been stuck for some time for what to write about. I've got a few ideas, but it'll be some time before they see the light of day. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this post.
Yeah, linux sucks. But the alternatives are worse.
This is why community > business.
Windows is a large proportion of the world’s first choice of operating system. It’s reputable, and it’s reliable (ish), and it’s what the guy at Curry’s/PC World¹ recommends, so it must be the best, right?
Well, perhaps it used to be. But over time I’ve been slowly disenchanted by Microsoft. I was one of the many that thought that Windows is the best thing around. But, as Windows started collecting data, I started to realize that the guy at Curry’s might be wrong. Or getting commission on what they sell.
Linux is well known for not being the best operating system in the world.
Linux is a bit like punching yourself in the face. And when someone says, “why are you punching yourself in the face”, you go, “well, it’s free.” — Matt Parker
Its support for graphics card drivers is abysmal, the software you can get on it is limited, and you spend quite a lot of your time in the terminal that harks back to the days when DOS was the only thing around. But here’s the thing Linux has that neither Windows nor Macs has: Community.
It’s not some devs working in an office in sunny California being told what to do by someone who earns 6 figures. It’s people like you and me. People who want to make the operating system they want, not the operating system that the businesses want.
Linux is not designed with profits in mind, because that’s not the spirit of Linux. It’s designed with users and functionality in mind. It’s designed to be free as in beer and free as in speech. That’s why there’s a huge community behind Linux.
The only problem with Linux, the only reason it sucks, is because of the guy working at Curry’s. You see, he’s there to try and get as much money as possible out of you. Some of it is obvious: the endless extended warranties and insurance that they offer you and you never use is just one example. But some of it is not so obvious. They don’t offer Linux as a choice, because they can’t profit off something that’s free. So the non-techie people probably aren’t aware that it is an option.
And that means adoption of the platform is low, and that means that the developers are focusing on the other platforms. Meaning they’re less concerned about releasing software or graphics card drivers for Linux. Which is the sole reason it sucks.
So. A conclusion. What do we do? How can we make Linux suck less? Well, that’s simple. We make people aware it’s an option. And we tell them that it’s not as hard as they might think.
If you’re a beginner to Linux, Ubuntu might well be the best option for you, but if you want a desktop environment that feels similar to Windows, try Linux Mint. I’ve also heard Manjaro KDE is a good one. If you’re a more techie person, you should shop around for a distribution that suits you. DistroWatch is a big list of Linux distributions that you can have a look through.
Footnote: [1] Curry’s/PC World is a popular technology retailer in the UK. It is comparable to Best Buy in the US.
Originally written by me on Medium.
I’ve started using Ubuntu recently and although it is a learning curve I think it’s much better than Windows and quite Mac like.
Some things like installation of software is not as easy as it should be.
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Ubuntu is a nice distro to start on. It does feel like the commercial alternatives.
Installation can be hard at times but it is getting better.
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I'd say Linux is a lot better than it used to be. It may be easier to install than Windows and most people could use it without resorting to the command line. I gave up Windows as I found it frustrating and it seemed designed to stop me doing things. I don't miss it.
I agree. I don't feel Windows is designed to prevent you doing certain things, but I do feel that Microsoft misses some useful features out that Linux can cover. I think this comes from the community side of things: If the community wants it, the community can make it for themselves with Linux - Windows makes it harder for people to do things like that.
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I gave up on Windows because it's bloated, ugly, and loves to update it self and reboot when I don't want it to. Never had any of those problems w Linux.
And Windows lacks customization which is annoying too.
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Been using Manjaro KDE for over a year now with not a single problem. Will never touch Windows again unless Im forced to.
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Linux is not, at all, like punching myself in the face! Linux saved me from buying a new laptop for 3 years! And I could still be using that laptop if I wanted to! I had a cpu clock problem that was a result from overheating, on windows it shut the whole computer down, no matter what I was doing... On linux the problem was diagnosed very rapidly and I was able to get a fix for it on the ubuntu forum!
I'm thinking about installing ubuntu back again, it's free, it's safe, it's community driven, it's better for most software engineers... Linux is life linux is love!
There is a small learning curve, most people are used to windows, that is the only reason they don't use linux based OS,
I installed it on my grandfather's laptop since it is more virus resistant, everytime he has a problem he phones me, no one else knows how to work the with the damn thing..
I would argue two points: 1. Graphics are actually well supported now. Both AMD and especially Nvidia work very well. I have a Quadro card on my laptop and render constantly with it. Check out Popos by System76. Custom built for Nvidia. 2. There is absolutely a way to make money with free stuff. You sell support. Look at RedHat. They put a ton of cash into developing a free thing and do extremely well.
Open source has changed the world already and it has only just begun.
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My laptop has an AMD graphics card but unfortunately it doesn't work with Linux. It's really good to see more and more support, though, and I think that we'll see even more thanks to Steam working to make more games compatible with Linux.
And it's absolutely true you can make money off the back of a free product through support. Perhaps you can even make more money. But unfortunately, Windows has become the "standard" and people are scared of change, which is a shame.
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I have an Nvidia laptop. Tried running Pop but if the screen went to sleep it would not wake.
Its a nice OS. But I had to switch and been using Manjaro KDE as my primary OS for over a year and not one problem. I actually use the beta version and still no problems. Linux4life.
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Ha. Yeah, historically I just keep flipping through the distros until one works well. I definately have had good luck with PopOS, but all on brand new stuff, so maybe its that. Who knows.