Joy of using linux

#1

Post by minhajuddin » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 9:04 AM UTC

Re: Joy of using linux

#2

Post by roel_v » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 9:55 AM UTC

I like Linux as much as the next guy, but his argument is basically 'Linux couldn't open a file that everybody else could, but by dicking around with random half-assed documented tools we could do it anyway!'. Basically, 'we managed to do something that is absolutely trivial for everybody else by jumping through hoops and spending a bunch of time on it to do it the convoluted way.'. Hmm right, not exactly a compelling argument for Linux's superiority.

Re: Joy of using linux

#3

Post by skbohra123 » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 9:56 AM UTC

neat, but not worth being on front page.

Re: Joy of using linux

#4

Post by motters » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 10:20 AM UTC

roel_v wrote: post #2

I like Linux as much as the next guy, but his argument is basically 'Linux couldn't open a file that everybody else could, but by dicking around with random half-assed documented tools we could do it anyway!'. Basically, 'we managed to do something that is absolutely trivial for everybody else by jumping through hoops and spending a bunch of time on it to do it the convoluted way.'. Hmm right, not exactly a compellin…

I think this is primarily about finding a hack which is a short-cut to doing something in the officially recommended way (with Windows and Access)

Re: Joy of using linux

#5

Post by pistacchio » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 10:23 AM UTC

my joy of using linux gone away long ago when i realized that i was spending more time searching forums, hacking drivers, trying solutions, paying more for compatible hardware, not having my laptop extra buttons work or trying to speed up a virtual machine just to have a usable photoshop than actually _using_ it.

i'm a happy mac user now (user, not fanboy) that enjoys having a posix compliant terminal in a window and photoshop in another, all working out-of-the-box.

i'm happy to pay for this.

Re: Joy of using linux

#6

Post by chrisjsmith » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 10:26 AM UTC

motters wrote: post #4

roel_v wrote: post #2

I like Linux as much as the next guy, but his argument is basically 'Linux couldn't open a file that everybody else could, but by dicking around with random half-assed documented tools we could do it anyway!'. Basically, 'we managed to do something that is absolutely trivial for everybody else by jumping through hoops and spending a bunch of time on it to do it the convoluted way.'. Hmm right, not exactly a compellin…

I think this is primarily about finding a hack which is a short-cut to doing something in the officially recommended way (with Windows and Access)

And the resulting way is far simpler and didn't require paying for anything.

Re: Joy of using linux

#7

Post by pistacchio » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 10:27 AM UTC

motters wrote: post #4

roel_v wrote: post #2

I like Linux as much as the next guy, but his argument is basically 'Linux couldn't open a file that everybody else could, but by dicking around with random half-assed documented tools we could do it anyway!'. Basically, 'we managed to do something that is absolutely trivial for everybody else by jumping through hoops and spending a bunch of time on it to do it the convoluted way.'. Hmm right, not exactly a compellin…

I think this is primarily about finding a hack which is a short-cut to doing something in the officially recommended way (with Windows and Access)

> And the resulting way is far simpler and didn't require paying for anything.

because, of course, time is free.

Re: Joy of using linux

#8

Post by mironathetin » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 10:27 AM UTC

Well, this is also my experience with linux: many things you want to do just don't work out of the box. There is always (nearly) a way to do things, though.

But if you really want to do work and not always fight against your tool of choice, linux is not the thing to use.

For coding, I replaced it with Mac OS. This saves me 98% of the problems I had on linux.

To be fair: I wouldn't know an out-of-the-box way to convert a MS Access file to csv on the Mac either.

Re: Joy of using linux

#9

Post by waterhouse » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 10:30 AM UTC

roel_v wrote: post #2

I like Linux as much as the next guy, but his argument is basically 'Linux couldn't open a file that everybody else could, but by dicking around with random half-assed documented tools we could do it anyway!'. Basically, 'we managed to do something that is absolutely trivial for everybody else by jumping through hoops and spending a bunch of time on it to do it the convoluted way.'. Hmm right, not exactly a compellin…

How about this story? "Something goes wrong and shit doesn't work. At this point, we would expect to be completely stymied. But no, instead, we manage with a bit of googling and dicking around to fix it!" The comparison isn't with opening this particular file on different operating systems; it's with how you can recover when shit goes wrong (which does happen now and then on all operating systems).

Re: Joy of using linux

#10

Post by Joakal » Fri, Jun 10, 2011, 10:30 AM UTC

Wouldn't using the synaptic package manager work better? I've heard it touted as one of the reasons for Linux being superior than Windows and Mac (except for App store) by having a central repository of many programs. Want Gimp? sudo apt-get install gimp or mark Gimp in the package manager and it'll download and install all the related packages and dependencies.

My only gripe is that the search is not good but Google spoiled me.