Posted on 12/06/2012 7:52:51 AM PST by ShadowAce
Linux support chat excerpt:
[Susie Smith]: I need a driver for my Brother Laser 4040
[Tech]: Write your own you stupid NOOB!
pinging myself for later reading.
> ...You’ve got the source code for the kernel, so you
> can configure and recompile it specifically to....
:)
Linux fanatics (oops I mean Linux fans) have a habit of naming things after fantasy characters and mythical beasts. Dream stuff.
Quite apropos!!
Options are good. You don’t have to use all the options.
The biggest problem with Linux is the various flavors.
Windows is bad enough with 4 or 5 variations of each version. Linux has dozens.
Several years ago, I tried a few. They were okay, but sluggish, had limited applications, and didn’t recognize some of my computer hardware and peripherals. No version recognized my PCTV card and one version failed to recognize my wide-screen monitor.
One almost has to become a Linux expert just to figure out which variation is the more usable.
Linux is still a toy for geeks who like to play with Linux toys.
Windows has also always come with a command line. In really old versions of windows you invoked it by running command.com. Last 10 odd years, you invoke it by running cmd.exe. It’s not as powerful as the unix shell, but you can get a lot of things done on it & with cscript, it becomes quite powerful. And for the last 5 odd years, you also have Powershell on windows which is as good as any command line.
PowerShell is an extremely powerful CLI. Windows Server 2012 (or whatever they end up calling it) is managed entirely through PS. Even the GUI is just an interface to PS. That means you can manage a WinSrv 2012 machine from any other machine, of any flavor. Looks like MS is finally playing major league ball, and playing it well.
We understand it. We've done it. We may be MS-to-Linux migrants or vice versa but we understand the technology and the process.
The average mouth-breathing home user would no more try that process - complete with text editing of config files and IP addresses - than they would walking on their hands. It's nearly incomprehensible - even the helpers are confused - and that thread had a successful outcome! Just imagine multiplying that by millions of users, computers, printers, etc. especially on Christmas morning. Madness.
Option 1: call Microsoft support or the OEM support line
Option 2: go to puppylinux.com and rely on the kindness of strangers as well as their punctuality and patience
Is Option 2 really a panacea in terms of widespread adoption? Don't worry, Aunt Sue, just register for the forum ('How do I register?' etc.), post your question, sit back and wait and hope, then wade through gibberish like '/usr/lib/cups/filter/cpdftocps failed.' Aunt Sue may have no clue about /usr/lib/cups/filter/cpdftocps but she certainly can understand the failed part.
HP laser printers are ubiquitous. Aunt Sue goes to hp.com where she has downloaded Windows printers many times. Get the file, install it and off you go.
Aunt Sue chooses a Linux driver. She gets this: 
N/A don't stand for North America!
But Sue perseveres. She clicks to the next screen:
She frowns at 'HP does not provide telephone support for Linux printing.' But she clicks again:
Sue is agreeable. She is willing to learn about HPLIP but at this point she still hasn't tracked down a driver and isn't sure she wants to become the family Linux trailblazer when all she wants is to print the digital photo she took of her nephew before he leaves.
I am not a Linux hater nor am I a Microsoft apologist given their shocking track record. Lord knows it seems like they've cost me as much money as I've earned through their products. But the flexibility of Linux and the nearly infinite distros ensure that market fragmentation is a fact of life even for good versions, smart users and user-friendly software (apps/drivers). On the other hand, the Linux devotees seem married to the idea that because Linux isn't Microsoft all its other idiosyncracies are immaterial.
Admittedly Red Hat and some others have made inroads in the standardization/support arena but open-source, ironically, cripples branding because Joe Sixpack can't pick up a box at Best Buy and see one, two or three recognizable logos to check for compatibility with his systems as long as the market continues to pursue highly specialized, individualized configurations.
A very "broad brush" to paint
windows and OSX as the SAME !OSX is certified Unix® with a
"Benutzerfreundlichkeit" interface.
Most of those strengths are only strengths for power users and programmers. Most people want their computer to work like their microwave, they don’t want to be recompiling anything, they want to push some buttons and get work on their document. “You have the code and can change it” is not only not a selling point to regular folks, it’s a turn off, it’s really telling them “you get enough power to screw things up beyond repair”.
I did read that thread—nowhere in there was a “Write your own” comment. There was plenty of evidence of people actually trying to help. I never claimed that it would be easy, or a 1-minute fix.
More work gets done under Linux than with any flavor of Windows.
Bump!
On the server side? Yes, I can agree with that. On the desktop? No.
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