Opinions on Linux

[Cityscape]

Hi guys, I'm curious to know what everybody's opinions on Linux are.
1. Have you used it, how long or often?
2. Did you like it? How is it compared to Windows?
3. What distro(s) did you try, when did you try them?
4. Would you consider moving to Linux full time?

I would love to hear about your experience and what you think about Linux and why. =)

[Cityscape]

My experience is like this: I first heard about Linux in March/April 2009. I always loved testing things, so in May I downloaded the Ubuntu 9.04 Live CD. I installed it in a VM and read through the book Ubuntu For Non-Geeks. I really liked what I experienced. After getting used to it, I loved it. It was stable, easy to use, had some cool features and was very fast. November 2009 I made the full switch to Linux, and i like it enough that I don't think I'll be going back to Windows anytime soon. I've also tried Mandriva.

[Cityscape]

Also, do you think Linux market share will continue growing?

[soybean]

As I recall, I download Ubuntu 6.04 a long time ago but really didn't do much with it at that time. I later installed Ubuntu 8.04LTS and then I spent more time getting familiar with it.  Later, I used 9.04 a bit, then 9.10, which I now have on a PC with Win 7 RC (yes, still have the Release Candidate) and have it installed two ways, being diual-boot with Win 7 and as a virtual machine using VMware Player.

2. Did you like it? How is it compared to Windows?

Yes, I like it.  But, there is a learning curve to endure.  And, I think it still needs to become more user-friendly if it's going to make significant inroads into Microsoft's territory.  Tasks such as installing applications,  hardware device drivers, and browser plug-ins such as Flash and Java are examples of what I'm talking about.  And, many Windows users are not going to want to delve into using Terminal and typing command lines to accompish certain things.  That, in my opinion, is a major deterent to Linux' likelihood of making significant inroads into Microsoft's territory. 

4. Would you consider moving to Linux full time?

Not now; I still have Windows-based applications I want to use.

Also, do you think Linux market share will continue growing?

In addition to comments above, I think Linux will have to be available with a longer time span of support for specific versions.  They basically release a new version every 6 months.  If you were an IT manager in a large organization, would you want to deploy a new version of an OS every 6 months?  Even the LTS (Long Term Support) versions are only supported about 2 years on average, I believe.  Compare this to the longevity of Windows XP.  See what I mean?  On the other hand, with Linux distros being available at no cost, that is a factor in favor of Linux.  To summarize my Outlook, I'll predict it will continue to gain some market share but I think it may be a creeping upward, not a rapid upward trend.

[Helpmeh]

I have to agree with soybean. Although it is free, support doesn't last for as long as some would like, and it just doesn't compare with windows in a user-friendly sense. Most people would rather take 10 clicks to change their settings for something stupid in the control panel than take 5 clicks and about 10 lines of strange code and such with a linux distro.

[EEVIAC]

I like it a lot.  I especially like Knoppix Live and use it to recover data on drives that are not bootable.  On the other hand I generally don't know much about any of the distros.  I'm still tied up in learning too many other things.  Give it another year maybe and I'll give it a go.

I just installed Ubuntu on one of my systems and I was all excited about it, but then after a big *sigh*, I decided to put it off for a while longer..

[BC_Programmer]

I tried installing Ubuntu on my older PC but that failed catastrophically for some reason. I do have Slackware, Fedora, Ubuntu and XUbuntu installed in VMWare as well as Linux Mint on a flash drive.

So far, Slackware has been my favourite, since it forced me to think; it starts off within the linux prompt, in text mode. I had to log in as root, create another account, logout, log in as that account, and the start XFCE with StartX. Most of the tools/utilities/applications available are pretty much what you would expect in any linux distro, and a few "sudo apt-get install <x>" finished up my set of applications.

[Cityscape]

Yes, I like it.  But, there is a learning curve to endure.  And, I think it still needs to become more user-friendly if it's going to make significant inroads into Microsoft's territory.  Tasks such as installing applications,  hardware device drivers, and browser plug-ins such as Flash and Java are examples of what I'm talking about.  And, many Windows users are not going to want to delve into using Terminal and typing command lines to accompish certain things.  That, in my opinion, is a major deterent to Linux' likelihood of making significant inroads into Microsoft's territory.

I have to agree with soybean. Although it is free, support doesn't last for as long as some would like, and it just doesn't compare with windows in a user-friendly sense. Most people would rather take 10 clicks to change their settings for something stupid in the control panel than take 5 clicks and about 10 lines of strange code and such with a linux distro.

I found Ubuntu to be very user-friendly from the first time I booted the Live cd. However tasks like configuring advanced system settings and installing some software can be difficult for a beginner. Like if you want the latest edition of Firefox and you go to the Mozilla website, the only thing you can get is source code. So to install it you have to add a repository, not the easiest task.

Not now; I still have Windows-based applications I want to use. 

If those apps were available for Linux or you did not need them, do you think you would switch?

They basically release a new version every 6 months.  If you were an IT manager in a large organization, would you want to deploy a new version of an OS every 6 months?  Even the LTS (Long Term Support) versions are only supported about 2 years on average, I believe.  Compare this to the longevity of Windows XP.  See what I mean?

True. Ubuntu LTS releases are supported for 3 year and 5 years with the server edition. That is not very good for organizations. However 6 month releases updates can be great for home users.

[2x3i5x]

There's still the thing with having to tinker with the terminal / Konsole / whatever you call that. Command prompt scripts, not very end user friendly, but if you'd like to write a script then that's good for you 

[soybean]

There's still the thing with having to tinker with the terminal / Konsole / whatever you call that. Command prompt scripts, not very end user friendly, but if you'd like to write a script then that's good for you 

Exactly.

If those apps were available for Linux or you did not need them, do you think you would switch?

I could see switching in that case. However, I'd still like to see some tasks made easier before making a switch.  Having to go searching the Internet on how to do something via Terminal is just not my idea of using time productively. 

I found Ubuntu to be very user-friendly from the first time I booted the Live cd.

You make it sound so easy, but what did you do with it then?  Here's what I say to someone who has never used, let's say, Ubuntu and who might be wondering what to expect.  The installation can go very smoothly and Ubuntu will be ready to get online with Firefox, it has an email client (Evolution) already installed, has a media player, a music player, a PDF viewer, an Office suite (OpenOffice), a photo editor (GIMP), etc.  In other words, it's ready to do many of the things Windows users can do with the software found on a new Windows system.  In that sense, it's user friendly. 

But, as soon as that new user want to install Flash Player or download some software they'd like to use, or install a hardware device that requires obtaining and installing a driver, they are likely experience some frustration and bewilderment. They may also discover they simply can't find a driver for a printer or some other device. 

When I initially installed Ubuntu 9.04, the computer was using onboard video.  I installed a spare AGP video card (NVIDIA FX 5200), thinking of this as a minor video upgrade.  But, I found that I would have to use Terminal and use sudo commands to accomplish this.  First road block was an error message saying I needed be at the root level in order to proceed.  I search for how to do that and then obstacle #2 appears.  More research and I find how to resolve that.  Try the procedure again, getting by obstacle #1 (the root requirement) and obstacle #2 only to encounter obstacle #3.  More research and a solution found. Start the procedure again, clearing obstacles #1, #2, and #3, but another obstacle appears.  At that point, I gave up on installing the driver and using that video card.  Oh, and I posted on a Ubuntu forum to ask for assistance but didn't get much help; they basically said the FX 5200 is a "legacy" card and is not supported.  Hmm, I can easily still get Windows drivers for it.

Also, Ubuntu 9.04 had no driver for my fairly new Brother printer, so I could not use it with Ubuntu.  With Ubuntu 9.10, I can install my printer.

So, these are some of the problems new Linux users can encounter.

[Cityscape]

You make it sound so easy, but what did you do with it then?

Read the book . I thought that is was really good book, it taught all the basics to more advanced topics and explained them in a way almost an computer user could understand.

There's still the thing with having to tinker with the terminal / Konsole / whatever you call that. Command prompt scripts, not very end user friendly

But, as soon as that new user want to install Flash Player or download some software they'd like to use, or install a hardware device that requires obtaining and installing a driver, they are likely experience some frustration and bewilderment.

Agreed. These are things that I would like to see "fixed" in Ubuntu. Using Terminal can be complicated to do things. Although sometimes it can be handy (like "sudo apt-get install Pidgin" to install).  Like I mentioned earlier, some software like Firefox is difficult to install/upgrade. That is already getting easier because lots of sites are provide Debain/Ubuntu packages (.deb's) for their software.  .Deb files are very much like .exe's on Windows, you just double click and they install. Flash Player has a .deb file at their site, so that makes it a snap to install.

They may also discover they simply can't find a driver for a printer or some other device. 

When I initially installed Ubuntu 9.04, the computer was using onboard video.  I installed a spare AGP video card (NVIDIA FX 5200), thinking of this as a minor video upgrade.....Oh, and I posted on a Ubuntu forum to ask for assistance but didn't get much help; they basically said the FX 5200 is a "legacy" card and is not supported.  Hmm, I can easily still get Windows drivers for it.
Also, Ubuntu 9.04 had no driver for my fairly new Brother printer, so I could not use it with Ubuntu.  With Ubuntu 9.10, I can install my printer.

I agree. Hardware support is a major issue (although the more people that use Linux the more hardware will be supported). I did manage to get my old Brother printer working but it was a bit difficult. My HP Officejet on the other hand was way easier than with Windows, all I did was plug it in and it worked. And driver installation can be a pain.

If the following were fixed to make Ubuntu more user friendly, it could be a lot more successful.
1. Ease of software & driver installation
2. Customization of system without use of terminal
3. Hardware support

[Cityscape]

they basically said the FX 5200 is a "legacy" card and is not supported.  Hmm, I can easily still get Windows drivers for it.

Were you using the drivers from Nvidia? The specs for that card state "Complete Linux Xfree86 drivers". That is probably why it did not work for you. Modern Ubuntu versions do not use Xfree86 (not sure if many distros do anymore), Ubuntu use X.org instead. I don't think Xfree86 and X.org are compatible. I have a PC with onboard from 2001 with only Xfree86 drivers, I can't get that card to work.

[BC_Programmer]

Were you using the drivers from Nvidia? The specs for that card state "Complete Linux Xfree86 drivers". That is probably why it did not work for you. Modern Ubuntu versions do not use Xfree86 (not sure if many distros do anymore), Ubuntu use X.org instead. I don't think Xfree86 and X.org are compatible. I have a PC with onboard from 2001 with only Xfree86 drivers, I can't get that card to work.

That's kind of irrelevant to what Soybean was saying. The point he was trying to make wasthe driver installation process is not user friendly, and it doesn't support as wide a range of hardware as Windows, out of the box or otherwise.

[2x3i5x]

I had the feeling that linux was better suited for making servers. And also the fact that there's so many types of linuxes out there, how is one supposed to know which is really the one that's suited for them in the long run?

Granted linux has significantly less viruses than windows does, but still .... why make things harder than it really needs to be?

But that comes with the fact that Apple and Mac pay people to develop their OS's as a day job so that's another thing ....

[Cityscape]

I could see switching in that case.

So i really curious now, what would your reasons to switching to Linux be?