Posted on 04/17/2022 10:59:50 AM PDT by ShadowAce
I've used pretty much every desktop out there, and the Linux desktop is still the best of the best.
I've been working with desktop computers since CP/M-80 was the operating system of the day. Since then, I've used MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, AmigaOS, System 7, macOS, Xenix, SCO OpenDesktop, and more versions of Linux than you can shake a stick at. Even today, I have Windows 10 and 11 and macOS running on test boxes. But what I run on my production PCs and laptops is Linux. Here's why.
First, long before there were PCs, I was running Unix on minicomputers. My first "desktop" was the Bourne shell on a VT-102 terminal. I cut my teeth on shell commands. So, naturally, early Linux came easily to me. Linux turned 30 last year and it was about this time 30 years ago that I started using it on a desktop.
But, enough of techie nostalgia. True I'm still comfortable running a Bash-based terminal for my desktop, but I don't have to. Despite the eternal garbage about how hard Linux is to use, anyone – anyone – can use it today. Heck a decade ago, I taught my then 82-year-old mother-in-law how to run Linux and we didn't even share a common language! She's a native Spanish speaker, I grew up with English, and neither of us has a lick of talent in learning other languages.
So, the bottom line is, no matter how much someone tells you that "Linux is hard!" They're wrong. Oh sure, I'd never have a newbie try say Arch Linux, Knoppix, or Slackware, but it's 2022. You don't have to do Linux the hard way.
Personally, I recommend Linux Mint both for newcomers and for seasoned old pros, like, well … me. Why? Because its default Cinnamon interface is easy to use. If you can run Windows, you can run Mint. If anything, Mint is much easier.
True, unless you buy a PC with Linux already installed, you must install it yourself. But, hello, you can buy PCs with Linux already on them today.
Just go to Amazon and you'll see Linux laptops from HP and Lenovo. Alternatively, you can order one directly from Dell. I particularly favor the Dell XPS 13 models. Or, you can order one from a company such as System76. They make great boxes and have their own easy-to-use Linux distro, Pop!_OS.
If you elect to install Linux, you need to know a little bit about your computer. But, honestly, it all boils down to knowing how to burn an ISO image to a USB stick, rebooting your computer from it, playing with it to make sure it works, and then pressing the install button. That really is pretty much all there is to it.
Another perpetual complaint is "It's so hard to install programs on Linux!" Oh please! Sure you can still install software with apt-get etc., etc., but why bother? You just use the GNOME software installer, the Mint Software Manager, or a similar search for a program and press a button installer. There's nothing to it.
Why bother at all? There are so many reasons.
First, Linux is far more secure than Windows – or macOS for that matter. I mean Windows has its own day of the month – Patch Tuesday – just for fixes.
True, "more secure" is not the same thing as perfectly secure, but security is a process, not a product. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something. But, in the 30 years I've been running desktop Linux I have never – never – even encountered malware or a virus. My Linux servers on the net are attacked dozens of times a day and to date, the score is Steven 100 - Hackers nil.
Linux software is almost always free. LibreOffice, for example, is every bit as good as Microsoft Office and won't cost you a penny. Sure, there are some programs, Adobe Photoshop, that can't easily be replaced on Linux thanks to its third-party software ecosystem. But, if all you need is basic image manipulation, Gimp will serve you well and it's also free.
Say you must – must! – have Microsoft Office. Fine, then run the free Microsoft Office Online web apps off your favorite Web browser instead. There are other ways to run the full versions of Office, and other Windows-only applications, on Linux with programs such as Wine, CrossOver, or just run Windows on Linux with a virtual machine software such as VirtualBox. But, mea culpa, all these methods are complex.
Finally, unlike Microsoft and Apple, Linux distributors are not looking over my shoulder. Microsoft has made it perfectly clear that they see the future of Windows is on the cloud. Apple, of course, controls everything on its Macs. Me? I like having control of my systems. I'm old school that way. If you're not concerned with your privacy or who ultimately owns your PC, that's fine – but that's not the way I roll.
Looking ahead I don't see myself ever not running Linux on my desktop. Give it a try, you just might find it's exactly what you need as well. ®
I went to work for Microsoft and had a blast. No ties either!
“The Linux crowd embraces the truth that command line makes computing better. Th Windows crowd still has their heads stuck in the sand.”
You are probably not up to speed on what Windows Poweshell is capable of and how it’s used. And before you claim I don’t know the Linux side, over 40 years ago I could start at a ksh prompt and start typing grep piped to awk piped to some back tick do loop .... hit the return and 9 out of 10 times have no syntax errors. :)
And there in lies the problem. If all you are doing is surfing the internet, writing emails, legacy gaming and creating basic documents, then no problem... use Linux. If you use your computer for other things such as 3D model design, advanced photo and video editing, computer aided physical training where you have to interface with exercise hardware and sensors, or a myriad of other tasks that are slightly out of the mainstream... then you likely do not have a lot of options and Linux is probably not one of them.
“I recently upgraded to Win10 about 6 months ago. I still prefer Win7”
I tried to use DH’s Win 10 laptop yesterday which has Office 365 installed. It doesn’t recognize most of the keyboard shortcuts of Win 7 and MS Office 2003, and prior versions. Incredibly frustrating! Every day I have to use a mouse is a bad day for me.
“The single biggest reason people won’t try Linux is fear, “\
The single biggest reason people won’t try Linux is they are OK with the system that came with their pc.
And most people have never heard of Linux.
In the real world, Laptops rule
” I haven’t owned a television since 2008”
Bought 65” in 2013.
Bought 75” in 2019 and moved 65” to mbr.
Boughtv 85” in 2021, moved 65” to den and 75” to mbr.
"Desktop" in this case does not mean the hardware profile. It's the work environment.
But I agree--I'm on my third Linux-exclusive laptop since 2000.
Tim Cook’s products actually get fixed. Tim has one OS for PCs. Tim’s OS gets commercial applications.
The primary output of Linux devotees is more Linux distributions.
Sorry guys, but I’ve grown tired Linux distributions where hardware, like networking gear, doesn’t work out-of-the-box or sleep mode never works correctly.
I have a Ryzen box at home, running Fedora. The system is fast, but it feels like a VAXstation II GPX, from 1987.
just started full time at Boeing, project targets Petalinux on Arm but we use Windows/Visual Studio/Red Hat deployed on Virtualbox VM for dev.
Just turned 70 and no plans to retire or to wear any ties..
>VAXstation II GPX
running OSF-1?
_______________
< Linux PING >
---------------
\
\
.--.
|o_o |
|:_/ |
// \ \
(| | )
/'\_ _/`\
\___)=(___/
Linux bump
I have a similar background as the author with OS starting with CP/M, MSDOS, DRDOS etc. I tried Fedora and then Red Hat, dual booted up through current Ubuntu. Windows 10 works fine and has recognized every device, old and new that I have plugged into it.
While I have no issues with running Linux, I don’t find it to be better than Windows 10. The last version of Windows that I bought was Windows 7 that came with a Dell computer I bought when Win 7 was brand new, my cost for Windows software is the same as Linux. I have skipped every other version of Windows since Win 98. I will skip Windows 11 and wait for the finished version, probably Windows 12.
The article did, however convince me to replace my current Ubuntu with Mint. I’ll miss Gnome Mahjong but I can always revert to my Windows 7 version.
Why a binary choice? Windows 10 could run a virtualized Linux or vica versa.
I have no problem with the original Apple or it’s OS iterations.
Still think Avadis Tevanian wrote the best Unix GUI/OS in history. Still think that for every evil thing Steve the Younger did (like the infamous Bandley 2 incident) he was of course the greatest product/marketing guy in computer history.
But Tim Cook is Ichabod Geek, a ridiculous caricature of a cretin trying to be hip. His only credential is that he’s a cheapskate jerk willing to undermine the entire country with his outsourcing scam that was originally rejected back in the early 90s.
Apple is on terminal path to IBMOblivion with a dick like that at the helm. There’s a reason nothing new has come outta there in years. Ive is gone and he was just a complement to Jobs anyway. Cook will be just like Gates: trying desperately to latch on to one “neato-keeno” idea after another which will fall flat on its face...think Bob OS.
I understand how you feel about LINUX and it’s endless variants that serve mainly to drive people nuts. But out of that we actually have the potential for corporate nutcase free software where we know our cash isn’t going to support the Globalist Facist State.
It may be mangy, but it’s all we got.
Ultrix
back when X10 was distributed as product
(it was a bumper sticker, remember?)
Have an old Toshiba laptop running Mint 20. Runs cleaner than another laptop that I have Win 10 on (a constant headache and slow). Have Brave, Firefox, etc. browsers, Open Office and most other utilities. At some point I may just erase Win 10 on the newer laptop and install Mint 20 just to utilize the newer processor, network and graphic chips.
Good for you!
You must have never left the Microsoft Campus.
Ever try to go out for lunch in Redmond?
I had a wife and kid I liked to be around
occasionally. Before you Microsoft guys chased us out I
lived in North Bend.
I quit wearing daily ties in 1992 or so.
Aloha and happy Easter!
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