Make 2013 the year you switch to Linux

PC World ^ | 1 January 2013 | Katherine Noyes

[ShadowAce]

For many PC users, the prospect of switching away from Mac or Windows and onto Linux can be a nerve-wracking one.

After all, Linux holds only a minority share of the desktop market, and not all of us know people who are already using it. The idea of making the switch can often feel like taking a blind leap into the unknown.

On the other hand, those of us on Windows are now facing the prospect of Windows 8, which by most accounts is not a happy one. Will it be more painful to jump into Modern UI, with all its attendant quirks and learning curve, or to move to a Linux distribution  and at least have a choice of desktop interfaces and experiences?

I'd like to make the case for the latter.

Linux today has at least caught up with Windows for most purposes; in many areas, it's actually overtaken it. And now, with the transition required by Windows 8, it can be a whole lot less painful getting used to a Linux distribution that's at least based on conventions you're used to.

Need more convincing? Here are five reasons why I think there's never been a better time to switch to Linux.

1. Windows 8

For years Windows users have been able to coast along contentedly in a familiar paradigm, but with Windows 8 that's all changed. A mobile-style interface without a Start button is now the reality facing Windows users who upgrade, and it's not necessarily an easy transition.

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2. Flavors for every taste

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3. Superior security

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4. Modest requirements

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5. Open and free

Last but certainly not least is that Linux is totally free and unencumbered by license restrictions.

[TomGuy]

Linux: by geeks, for geeks.

I played with some distros a few years ago.

Too many distros and variants of distros to figure out the usability of any of them.

Some variants did not recognize my computer equipement/peripherals. No version recognized my PCTV card.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Gotcha on the keeping the hand dirty. Skills not used are mostly skills that need to be relearned!

Ack as well on just emailing and surfing. But ... then someone sends you a link to a youtube video or a PDF document or a music clip from Soundcloud or .....

Now you need to set up your browser so that the plugins work with each multimedia type. On the pay OS’s, it’s somebody’s job to make sure all this works or at worst you get a button that says “Push here in order to make this work”. On Linux, it doesn’t quite work this way. Points being:

1. Email and Surfing quickly descends/devolves into multimedia consumption.
2. Multimedia consumption (particularly if you wish to never leave the browser environment) requires some knowledge and sophistication regarding browser plugins, codecs, third party software and the like.

[Behind the Blue Wall]

Well I moved to Chrome OS last year, which is sort of the same thing, right?

[Moonman62]

Linux: by geeks, for geeks. It’s improving, but still has a core requirement that the user be able to deal with “oops, oh, just type this obscure incantation...” I keep trying to like it, and keep giving up. As a programmer for 35 years, this does not bode well for the average user. I can make it work, but the unrelenting brokenness and tinkering just means its not ready for the general public.

I agree. I used Linux years ago, but finally switched back to XP. I'd like to use Linux again and give it a try every year, but end up disappointed for the reasons you mention (plus one of the Redhat "spins" tried to steal my email password last year). Usability and compatibility are still terrible in the Linux world, and the Linux fanbois are hostile to anyone who points that out. I'm jumping straight to Win 8 this year. For $40 it can't be beat and it's easy enough to make the interface behave like Win 7 or XP.

A Linux live cd still makes a great rescue disk, though.

[Lees Swrd]

I used to run this distro a lot it did everything I think I even used it for Netflix that uses silver light.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=ultimate

[ShadowAce]

Yeah--Chrome OS is based on Linux.

But since I do not like Google, I don't use it either :)

[TexasRepublic]

I have used half a dozen distros on mostly Dells for the past four years and never compiled anything.

[GeronL]

There are a few things that I wish Linux did, but I am still happy with it

[zeugma]

It would be an interesting experiment to see if the drivers work through a VM.

[Red_Devil 232]

She started with XP on a laptop to run the programs that control her various machines. She keeps that laptop exclusively XP and uses it when she has to, but is slow. She also has a dell inspiron Duo (net book) that came with windows 7 that will run the programs. The Windows support person said that the mother board in her HP desktop was not made to run win7. The desktop starts up with a screen that says the windows 7 she is running is not genuine. She can close that pop up and run programs for a few mins. then it crashes to a blue screen of death.

[FredZarguna]

As a software developer who has coded for every platform you can think of from IBM-370 mainframes where I wrote my thesis in the 1970's to iPhone and Android, and who currently has literally dozens of desktops and VMs running all flavors of Linux, OSX, and Windows that I need to support clients, let me lay it on the line for you:

You wife CAN NOT use Linux.

Sorry. It's just not a consumer OS, and I don't care how many geeks posting on this thread claim that it is. It isn't. Not even the lexicon of Linux is suitable for casual users. As someone else said: it's by geeks, it's for geeks, and even the most friendly distros available are way beyond the capability of most people who don't work with computers for a living. In contrast those who simply use computers as tools to get work done -- in my experience with many, many customers -- simply cannot use Linux.

I know I will be flamed by the Linux partisans for saying this. I use Linux myself, and understand their loyalty. However, they arent' doing you any favors by recommending this, so let me give you just one simple example to convince you this is a bad move.

You just bought your wife a new laptop and want to play a movie in the Blu Ray disc player on the laptop. Here's what you do in Windows: insert the Blu Ray disc, and it plays. Here's what you do in Linux: First, install VLC. Here are some instructions from the software developer. Tell me if they make any sense to you: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-ubuntu.html.

Now insert the Blu Ray disc. Doh! it doesn't play. That's because you also need to install decoding keys and libraries. You won't know this until you Google "Videolan / VLC Blu Ray" Good luck with that.

Eventually, you will figure out that you need to head over here: http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ Does anything on either of those two webpages make the least bit of sense to you? If it does, go right ahead and install linux.

Otherwise, stick with a consumer OS: Windows or OSX. Those are the choices.

[FredZarguna]

You’re right, they’re wrong. IT professionals who actually have to deal with Support and with clients would never recommend Linux to people who can barely master a consumer OS.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Good point. I’m pretty wedded to Fedora for my day to day use so I probably have to jump through way more hoops than one might for other distros. Was reading today that basically since Fedora is Red Hat and Red Hat is a US based company they can get their rear ends sued off if they include any sort of proprietary codecs and the like. Other distros (for example Canonical that fuels Unity/Ubuntu) are incorporated on the Isle of Man which is apparently a sheltered location. So by tying myself to Fedora I end up possibly having to jump through more hoops than I would otherwise.

I may give this one a go inside a VM and see what it can do.

Thanks.

[familyop]

"Make 2013 the year you switch to Linux"

That's a good idea. Otherwise, we're giving money to radical, socialist tyrants through global companies that are outlawing our freedoms. They are very much against our Second Amendment and do put much money toward anti-Second-Amendment efforts. Use Linux, NetBSD or similar systems. They're free ("free as in beer," too).

Starve the beast.

[Behind the Blue Wall]

I might give the full Linux a try at some point. Chrome satisfied my desire to get free of MS and Apple, with minimal cost and hassle.

[ctdonath2]

“you pretty much do not know what you are talking about.”

I write iPad apps for a living. Last job I used Linux for cross compiling to ARM processors with g++. I was just like your son, programming from age 10. A kid has the time and inclination to work thru all the obscure incantations needed to make Linux work. I’ve hacked Minix, the precursor to Linux. I have every qualification you could demand.

And I can say without question that Linux is still not ready for most general users. Much better than it was, but still full of “oh, oops, you just need to do this obscure incantation...” which stops most people.

The real test of usability isn’t your 9yo boy, it’s his 59yo grandmother.

[ShadowAce]

You misunderstand—My kid doesn’t program. He plays music. He is not technical.

[ctdonath2]

The problem with Linux is that it’s made by people who implement and fix what they want to - there is no incentive to do the 10% of work which nobody in their right mind would want to without considerable compensation, work which must be done to make things work without hassle for common users. Microsoft and Apple have the incentive and money to pay people to make their OSes work; Linux does not - hence the recurring problem of no (or old/broken) drivers, and other “uh, now what?” user-stopping problems.

[ctdonath2]

I do understand. He’s a bright kid who understands how things organize into working solutions. High musical skill is closely correlated with competence in computing. I bet he’s good at puzzles too. He has exactly the kind of mind which, given whatever time he needs, can manage with Linux.

And that’s just it: given time and inclination, one can make Linux work. That vs OS X, which just works. Or vs Windows, the result of billions of dollars and decades of effort to make it work in ways nobody would volunteer to but it must.

[dinodino]

If it were me, I would run Linux on the netbook and migrate the XP drive into a virtual machine and running under Linux. I bet it would work just fine.