Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

larrysanger.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 232 posts

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#91

Post by shmerl »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #89
shmerl wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then why did you make a generalization in the first place and keep making it I didn't introduce it either, I simply referenced what the article used, to disagree with the point that Linux is not suitable for "serious gamer", as to say that there are gamers today who switch to Linux and who aren't any less serious than others. > Let's ask a simple question: would your conception of a "serious gamer" include literall…

Ok, if that's the line we're using, then that includes anyone who isn't satisfied with the on-die GPU. That's a sufficiently broad definition of "serious" to include quite a lot of people who would sacrifice performance and compatibility for privacy, so I agree your statement is applicable to that group. That's just not the group I think of when someone uses the term "serious" in this manner. Sure, they're on the spe…

Not sure how smoking is relevant here, but I know many who play demanding games on Linux, using high end GPUs, CPUs, custom PC builds and etc. It's as serious as it gets. And "must use Windows" isn't something they care about, as Linux users.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#92

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #77
MisterOctober wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember Windows NT being a bit of all right -- if I recall correctly, it was based on the Mach kernel as OSX is[was?]. One real historical criticism I have of Windows is that it took them until Win10 to make bash available. They really ought to have, at minimum, aliased a lot more bash commands to Powershell 'cmdlets'. It used to be so frustrating, having to look up all their weird, verbose commands.

Windows NT was designed by some DEC people with lessons learned from VMS, though certain microkernel-like aspects of it were influenced by Mach. > They really ought to have, at minimum, aliased a lot more bash commands to Powershell 'cmdlets'. First of all, I am of the opinion that PowerShell is significantly superior to bash+coreutils in many ways. If you took a step back from your familiarity with the UNIX stack an…

> PowerShell is significantly superior to bash+coreutils in many ways

Presumably it should be, given that PowerShell came out in 2006, while Bash appeared in 1989 and is tied to the model of Bourne shell which appeared in 1977 which itself was tied to the model of the Thompson shell of 1971. Which means that traditional UNIX terminal environments have certain artificial limitations which are tied to these earlier paradigms.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#93

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #81
_emacsomancer_ wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > When there are issues with a Linux install, it's usually transparent enough to debug. > Bull. I've been using Linux for decades and it's always the same story. You have a problem with X, you do a search for your problem with X, you find a dozen solutions that don't apply to you because you're on a different distro or they're from 2013 when half the software stack was different. Ok, so in some cases there can be c…

I won't disagree that Windows has this issue, I just disagree that Linux doesn't have equally frustrating diagnosability issues. Just because you haven't personally encountered them does not mean they don't exist.

There are certainly irritating problems which can arise on Linux, I'm not in any way denying that. But on Windows, the closed nature of the OS makes certain things particularly irritatingly opaque and inflexible.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#94

Post by TACIXAT »

Animats wrote: post #83

I've used Linux on the desktop for over a decade. Currently, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on x64. It still sucks for the average user. The GUI is lipstick on a pig. As soon as anything goes wrong, it's back to the command line. You look up the problem, and there will be a dozen articles about it, all contradicting each other. Look up what it takes to create a desktop icon for something. (Hint: the top result in Google won't work…

I feel it's come a really long way. Maybe I'm just buying machines with supported graphics cards now, but I have not had any catastrophic failures since getting on 18.04.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#95

Post by likeclockwork »

drb91 wrote: post #38
joe_the_user wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

has all the software I need and lacks BS like the Windows interface. Darn, pardon me. I should have said the Windows 10 interface. Yeah, Mate is copying Windows 7/Vista task bar stuff, with perhaps less of that system's unneeded flash.

So it copies the user interface of windows, with all its problems, but it doesn’t carry over the reliable variable DPI support, a notifications framework, a unified reliable software management interface, and consensus on how to provide basic utilities like secret management, file associations, and accessibility controls for the visually impaired. That is, the features of windows ACTUALLY worth copying. Linux is stil…

> Until the FOSS community decides to unify behind a single experience [...]

People always say this whenever Linux is under discussion. No one actually wants this. If you want "one-size fits all" use MacOS or Windows and see how that fits you.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#96

Post by Krasnol »

dgzl wrote: post #90

I started using Ubuntu Linux about 8 years ago, about the same time I started my CS degree at school. Over the years, my interest in Windows shrunk to essentially just PC gaming. When school got serious I stopped gaming as much, and all my needs from both school and personal computing were met with open source tools. Every once in a while I would try a new distro as live CD, just for kicks, and to see how things are…

> But don't feel put off by this, we actually have a lot of fun in the terminal.

I believe you. I grew up on a C64 and later DOS and really, I don't miss it. It's nice to have the console just in case but I don't want it to become something I have to use again. It always was that "waste of time" you're describing there and I've never seen it the other way around. I can do that swishing with one hand. One finger even or my nose if I have to. A double click does it. A GUI where I can see all the options, select them, apply and run. So...human.

Every time I use my Linux laptop I find myself googling up commands or god knows what weird solutions to problems that should be easy and are in their equivalent on Win. It's such a waste of time and I feel lost if I can't go online to do it.

There is a long way for Linux to get there and I see a solution where you can have both. It does not contradict itself. But the biggest problem out there I see is the aversion (or even hate) in relevant parts of the Linux community towards everything GUI.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#97

Post by SlowRobotAhead »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #34
Theodores wrote: post #23

I find it amusing that so people who are quite capable feel compelled to hold onto the hand-rails for so long and won't just dive in to Linux. I was guilty of hanging on to the dual boot for a few years but never ended up using the Windows side or any of those programs that I thought were so fundamentally important to my life. I am not sure why people can't just give Ubuntu a go on a brand new machine rather than may…

> I find it amusing that so people who are quite capable feel compelled to hold onto the hand-rails for so long and won't just dive in to Linux. Well it doesn't help that Linux desktop is backed by one of the most condescending cultures that ever stalked the internet. Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, the way Linux works just doesn't jive with a lot of people? Like, everything has a middleman involved. Driv…

>Well it doesn't help that Linux desktop is backed by one of the most condescending cultures that ever stalked the internet.

Oh, Rust community would like a chance to defend their title! ;)

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#98

Post by bootlooped »

Animats wrote: post #83

I've used Linux on the desktop for over a decade. Currently, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on x64. It still sucks for the average user. The GUI is lipstick on a pig. As soon as anything goes wrong, it's back to the command line. You look up the problem, and there will be a dozen articles about it, all contradicting each other. Look up what it takes to create a desktop icon for something. (Hint: the top result in Google won't work…

I have infrequently fooled around with Linux only a handful of times in the last 15 years. I recently installed it on my laptop but was disheartened to see how much you still need the command line to do some very basic things.

Installing a program (not from the Ubuntu Software Center) and getting a launcher icon into the start-menu-equivalent took way too much time and Googling.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#99

Post by dgzl »

Krasnol wrote: post #96
dgzl wrote: post #90

I started using Ubuntu Linux about 8 years ago, about the same time I started my CS degree at school. Over the years, my interest in Windows shrunk to essentially just PC gaming. When school got serious I stopped gaming as much, and all my needs from both school and personal computing were met with open source tools. Every once in a while I would try a new distro as live CD, just for kicks, and to see how things are…

> But don't feel put off by this, we actually have a lot of fun in the terminal. I believe you. I grew up on a C64 and later DOS and really, I don't miss it. It's nice to have the console just in case but I don't want it to become something I have to use again. It always was that "waste of time" you're describing there and I've never seen it the other way around. I can do that swishing with one hand. One finger even…

I recognize your position, and I even hold it myself sometimes. A fancy Arch setup really is just a glass Castle, and Windows is fairly sturdy with minimal effort. Being able to have convenient out-of-box support for nearly all kinds of SW/HW, and an easy GUI for usage and installation... It really lets you kick back and not have to think about things.

The terminal definitely requires mastery, there's no argument about that, however the ability gained is just tremendous. Even the basic tools like ls, cat, grep, less, man... Are very easy to use, and are very rich with functionality.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#100

Post by jenscow »

joe_the_user wrote: post #3

I switched to Linux about ten years. I basically got tired of having an OS I paid for (in buying a computer) not really be "mine". Lately, I have had few problems installing and running Linux on the various cheap laptops I've bought. Ubuntu with a Mate GUI "just works", has all the software I need and lacks BS like the Windows 10 interface. I don't really think there's any objective barrier to using Linux for a signi…

For most of my "clients" I now install Ubuntu or mint when their windows installation eventually becomes beyond repair (usually through no fault of their own), or they think they need a new one. I tell them I can easily put it back to how it was if they don't like it... but they couldn't be happier. 9 so far.

All they want to do is browse the web, and not have to fight with their computer at random points. I do pity these people who spend a lot of money on their computers for it to not even be fit for purpose.. and spend more money on Norton snake oil, which only makes it worse.

I believe this is why smartphones and tablets took off so well, they just work.

Post reply on HN