7 Mistakes New Linux Users Make

Datamation ^ | 12 October 2016 | Bruce Byfield

[ShadowAce]

[freedumb2003]

It is getting harder and harder to convince new hardware to do an external boot.

Only some thumb drives are truly bootable. And of course you need 2 computers — the one you use to download the distro and the other which will be the new Linux box.

I don’t think Linux is for most. Once I do it all my bourne shell programming comes back to me but it takes a few days. I really don’t care for the wondowed interface.

YMMV

[Texas Fossil]

Thank you. My transition was slow because for many years I used a CAD program and absolutely lived in a spread sheet. I was totally dependent upon ASAP utilities plugin for excel. At one point I had a Redhat Linux box on one side of my desk and a Windows box on the other side. I needed both to do the job I was doing then.

There are some extremely powerful spreadsheet programs now for Linux users. One even has (undocumented) RegEx find replace. Only one I’ve ever used that did.

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[freebird5850]

Bflr

[Dahoser]

Because of limited experience, many Windows users do not understand that a new operating system means new programs and new ways of doing things.

It really bugs me when people put the blame on users for being users. Most users of a platform reasonably expect another platform to be similar and grumble about the differences they encounter in varying degrees. Some of it is surely unreal expectation or inexperience, but a lot of it is just habit in doing things. Users get in the habit, for example, of pressing the Home key to go to the beginning of a line and then find it doesn't work that way on another platform and it throws them off. Perfectly normal response.

I do put a lot of the Linux transition blame on people who recommend it by claiming, "I do everything I did in Windows and have never looked back. You'll hardly notice the difference." For what it's worth, I see the same from any number of Apple users. I typically tell people that they'll be able to do the same things, but not always in the same way though the differences won't be so severe that you will be sitting on the side of the road in sackcloth and ashes wailing in agony.

[upchuck]

Thanks for posting this.

This "Win 7 Pro till I die" user has a Linux Mint 19.1 DVD from osdisk.com and will be installing it shortly on my computer.

[Kommodor]

Clicking install?

(I kid, I kid)

I use Linux at work and sometimes mess around with it at home, but ... when I’m not at work, I generally don’t want my computer to be work.

[Openurmind]

Right on! Are you going to install it over your windows as dual boot so that you can still go grab stuff from your windows folders while booted in Linux? Or install it as just a Linux only machine?

[ShadowAce]

It really bugs me when people put the blame on users for being users.

It's basically a response to users complaining that Linux isn't Windows, and doesn't do thing the way Windows does.

You are correct--different platforms do things differently. However, most people (especially inexperienced ones) tend to think that Linux is just a "free" version of windows.

[Openurmind]

I agree... For quite awhile I put off loading Linux because of comments and reviews like this. They sure don’t help in trying to promote Linux at all. Then I pulled the trigger and immediately realized with this mint cinnamon, I was working with an easy comfortable environment that can be closely compared to win 7. Off and running right out of the gate.

The only thing I noticed is that everything was just labeled with different terminology was all, even though it functioned the same as Win 7. I also realized I had been timid of something that I didn’t need to be timid of and kicked myself in the rear for not making the change much sooner.

[Redleg Duke]

Bump for future reference

[Montana_Sam]

Having to run Win10 on my work machines - my main metal and three test machines - has soured me completely on Windows. I've been using Fedora for over a decade with great success. But it is not for the incurious. LibreOffice, k3b for DVD burning, geany for programming, Glade for GTK+3, etc., are all second nature now, but there was a mild learning curve in the beginning.

Am a huge fan of the Mate/Compiz desktop as it is ideal for research. Nothing else can touch it in terms of research productivity.

[COBOL2Java]

I use Linux at work and sometimes mess around with it at home, but ... when I’m not at work, I generally don’t want my computer to be work.

I'm a 508 Compliance tester. You want to *really* have fun, install JAWS on your computer, then attempt to work after disconnecting the mouse/trackball and turning off the monitor! Woo hoo! :-)

[Openurmind]

“And of course you need 2 computers — the one you use to download the distro and the other which will be the new Linux box.”

One could make the live CD stick on a working computer and then make that same computer linux or dual boot linux from the stick. That’s what I did. I made the stick in Win 7 and then installed it dual boot over the windows on the same machine. 2 computers are not actually required, It can easily be done on one.

[Boomer]

Thanks. I wasn’t aware of Krita or Calligra as an option to Photoshop and Office. They are now installed on my Mint box although they aren’t showing up as an option to use. Maybe a restart is needed.

[sparklite2]

I have Mint in a dual boot. It passwords me to distraction such that I hope to never rely solely on it.

[butlerweave]

Win 7 has less than a year left of support

[Openurmind]

I actually don’t mind it. It’s nice to know that absolutely nothing it detects can be installed without one. And the sleep/hibernate can be set so that it doesn’t keep going to the login screen if idle too long.