Posted on 04/04/2018 3:53:50 AM PDT by ShadowAce
I’ve been running Linux on the desktop for decades. When I was starting with it, Linux was, comparatively, harder to use than the GUI-based operating systems then available from Apple and Microsoft. That was then. This is now.
Today, Linux, especially such distributions as openSUSE, Ubuntu and, my favorite, Linux Mint, are just as easy to use as macOS and Windows. And they don’t have the security bugs.
What’s that? You don’t mind dealing with a few bugs? Well, on the latest Patch Tuesday, as Woody Leonhard put it, an “enormous number of patches spewed out of Microsoft this month, with two ponderous cumulative updates.” Every month, we see a new flood of critical Windows updates. Maybe updating Windows is your idea of a good time. It’s not mine.
As for Apple, a “shameful” security flaw was discovered in macOS last fall, and the malware rate for the OS went up 270% last year. If you still think Macs are secure, you haven’t been paying attention.
No, if you want a desktop operating system with a real proven security record, you want Linux. As David Taylor reported recently, “The clear consensus among experts is that Linux is the most secure operating system.”
OK, so you’re sold on the security factor, but you still don’t want to commit to an OS that doesn’t run your favorite applications? Nowadays, the alternatives that are available are excellent. For everyday work, you can substitute LibreOffice or even Microsoft Office Online for Microsoft Office, use Gmail instead of Outlook, and you’re good to go.
I know, I know: “Using Linux is just too hard!” Please.
The Linux desktop hasn’t been hard to use for ages. You can go weeks — months — without touching a shell.
(Excerpt) Read more at computerworld.com ...
It would take me hours(updates always fail ) to install Windows 10 ,run updates and install everything I would need but Linux Mint to have it the way I want takes about 30 to 45 minutes
Just to add to your remarks.
There are Linux distributions that are specifically made to run on older or lighter spec machines.
In most cases, I suspect you are getting a current-ish Kernel with a lightweight window manager/desktop environment.
“Do I still need to compile the OS before I manually install it using shell commands?”
That’s crazy talk.
Some apps have to be run using PlayOnLinux (a Wine front end) but the ones I use run wonderfully without so much as a hiccup.
I'll never go back.
I'm a Linux bigot, but this is FUD. From a security standpoint, I figure OSX and Linux are about equal with a slight edge to OSX due to the AV scanning that is a part of OSX.
That said, I like the way Linux works better than OSX. At the moment Mint is my distro of choice, as I got tired of living on the bleeding edge with Fedora. :-)
Didn't see that. I am not entirely sure it's a good thing that these are kernel drivers.
Have you tried running these as VMs? Seems like a logical solution. That way, the instances will outlast your hardware.
hahaha.
Windows is only "better" if your time has no value.
LOL! Check out Steam sometime.
Yeah--keep in mind who the author is. :)
O365 sucks big ones. Braindead and buggy.
Time is the reason I switched to Linux some years ago. I was in my office one morning, Windows had updates, and of course I had to reboot. I was a bit cranky that morning, so that reboot really irritated me. I then calculated how many *hours* of my life I had spent "rebooting" Windows -- which went way back to 1990 and Windows 3, for which you needed DOS, LOL.
I figured there had to be a better way. I knew about Apple (my first PC was a Macintosh II), but the hardware was just too expensive. I had heard about Linux, so I googled, downloaded a couple distros, and the rest is history.
With an XP Virtualbox installation and Wine for old games, there is not a single thing I miss about Windoze.
I have not messed with Virtboxing since it was first introduced - but just for clarity - I was referring the utility of some legacy OSes for specific tasks outside the vulnerability of internet connectivity. Those PCs I mentioned all mostly live where they work. So - having them on one machine isn’t much of an advantage. The PowerPoint PC is only used at the theater where I work. The Reaper PC is for recording - only used when I’m working sound.
That said - I do need to revisit the Virtual Box situation 0- I would benefit from having an XP system with a few legacy programs I’d like to access. Most notably the previously mentioned Ulead PhotoImpact - which I still like to use for webmastery stuff.
Same here. A Windows install takes hours to complete.
Microsoft has gone hysterically insane with updates. They need to write solid code instead of demanding constant daily, even hourly, updates to crappy code.
I don’t think Steam will allow me to play Battlefield 3 on Linux. Wine lists it as “garbage”. Linux will always be held hostage to wine when it comes to FPS games.
I can run Vassal(native) and TOAW IV(wine) on a Raspberry Pi which is good enough for me for that.
Building from source is still kinda fun these days. It can really breathe life into hardware that otherwise is bogged down by un-needed services by default distro installations
The worst part of changing over is the package management system change. I'm using Mint these days and have for a few years now, but I still miss the RPM command that would show me the packages in order of when they were last installed/updated. That was really useful when building documentation. Haven't figured out how to get the same info with apt.
True.
If I want a toy, I install windows.
Windows is still suffering from the “mobilitis” that went through the market a few years ago. Everybody wanted to be tablet/phone-ready. Linux distros dabbled with it - but were able to move on a bit quicker than windows.
Windows phone was a flop - after MS remade their PC OS to match the phone tablet “experience” - so dumb, and the OS still suffers from it.
That said - if anyone has an old Windows Phone sitting around and you have a LG Smart TV - there is a pretty good remote control app in the Windows Store. I actually prefer it to the MagicRemote that came with the TV. It has a cool screen capture feature. Also lets you use the phone’s touch surface to control the on-screen pointer - the stock remote stinks for that task. Makes good use of a phone that might otherwise go to the junk pile.
OK...I have WIN10 on my laptop (came with it)....Do I just download a version of LINUX and start using it, or do I get rid of WIN10 (like to)....??? I’m not a techie...
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