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Forbes.com has published a piece by contributor Jason Evangelho entitled "5 Reasons You Should Switch From Windows To Linux Right Now".
When I published the highlights of my journey switching from Windows to Linux on my everyday laptop... it became one of my most viewed pieces this year. From where I'm sitting, that tells me a ton of people are interested -- are at least actively curious -- about ditching Windows and making the jump to Linux.
With that in mind, I wanted to present five reasons that may lead you to consider switching. Know that these are subjective, and they're targeted at the average Windows user and not folks who rely on Windows-exclusive applications for a paycheck.
One thing to know right up front: the modern Linux desktop OS is no longer the obtuse, bewildering and command line driven thing it used to be. Not remotely.
It's nice to see a free operating system getting some love in the mainstream press. Forbes running this article is more the story here than desktop Linux having advantages over Windows.
Be sure to read TFA to find out what the five reasons are. (Or see spoiler, below.)
1: Linux Gets Out Of Your Way
2: You're Not A Slave To The Terminal
3: Installing Software Is Even Easier
4: Updates aren't a headache. They're glorious
5: The Linux Community
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:11PM (17 children)
2003, an electrical engineer coworker asked me about Linux and whether or not he could use it. I asked him what software he commonly used: Firefox - yep, Firefox is there. Word - yep there's Open Office, and he paused... Outlook for personal mail - sure, Thunderbird is a good equivalent, and he stopped there: "you mean to tell me that I'm going to have to learn all new names for the software I commonly use?" "Why, yes... that's going to be part of the learning curve." "If I have to do that, I don't think Linux is for me." "No, if that's how you feel, no it is not."
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by looorg on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:16PM
That is what I did to my parents machine(s), I rename all the things and sometimes switch icons so they always look the same. It was the easy solution to all the questions. "Where is the browser again?" "It's the big blue e icon ...", not that they actually run Internet Explorer -- but they don't really know the difference anyway.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by krishnoid on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:28PM (13 children)
Funny how his issue was with the naming and not the functionality. Maybe (?) it would have worked to switch him to those applications on Windows first, then say he could use them identically on Linux.
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:27PM (12 children)
This is exactly right, and is one of the reasons I have always applauded the development of cross-platform, Fee Software. I have always had the best success converting people from Windows to Linux when:
1) They already use cross-platform, Free Software (Firefox/Chrome, Gimp, LibreOffice, etc.).
2) I install the cross-platform, Free Software on Windows, let them use it for a while, then convert them to Linux if they so desire.
3) They have learned to hate Windows so much that they are willing to switch operating system and (if they haven't already) applications in one fell swoop.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Pino P on Wednesday July 25 2018, @03:42AM (11 children)
For someone switching from Edge, Paint Shop Pro, Quicken, Word, PowerPoint, and basic use of Excel, I agree with taking a first step by trying free software on Windows. And so does FSF [fsf.org]. But then come the hard questions:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 25 2018, @04:01PM (4 children)
1) Calc - did you create this spreadsheet and its macros yourself? If so, you should be able to do the same in Calc, it has a record macro function.
2) GiMP isn't that hard to use. Did you try the "Layer" menu on the menu bar? There is also "Help"
3)TurboTax Online version
4) Steam?
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Wednesday July 25 2018, @05:02PM (3 children)
No. Amazon created this VBA-driven Excel workbook that it provides to sellers on its platform. It's possible to sell on Amazon without using the workbook, but skipping client-side preflight validation of product feed files implies relying exclusively on the server's authoritative validation. In this case, feed errors may cause listings to appear incorrectly or not at all.
That shows layers, but not adjustment layers. Adjustment layers are a feature that Adobe Photoshop has had since version 4, released in 1996. Such a layer is created by applying filters to layers lower in the stack, and it automatically updates itself by re-running the filters whenever the lower layers change. Think of it as like Make for layers in an image. This feature is commonly requested in GIMP but not yet implemented.
JavaScript required? A lot of users here on SN and on the green site have a bug up their fourth points[1] about that.
Steam is a store, not a game.[2] So let me rephrase: What's a good battle royale shooter distributed through Steam that supports Linux?
[1] bug up one's bum: a state of continual annoyance (about something)
[2] You're not referring to Nintendo's Code Name: STEAM for Nintendo 3DS, which is turn-based strategy, not a battle royale shooter.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday July 25 2018, @07:24PM (2 children)
Did you give Amazon feedback on this? If Libreoffice Calc's macro language is rich enough, it seems like it might be in their interest to provide a multiplatform option that doesn't require you buy Excel for Mac or keep a Windows PC around.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday July 26 2018, @05:03PM (1 child)
I plan to ask Amazon for LibreOffice Calc support once my supervisor (the owner of the seller account) returns. But I fear that Amazon's answer would be (some more tactful phrasing of) "If you can't afford $120 for Windows and $100 per year for an Office subscription, how can you afford $480 per year for an Amazon seller account?"
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday July 27 2018, @12:33AM
I've actually had to use OpenOffice to open a corrupted (?) Excel worksheet that Excel itself wouldn't open. So ... reliability concerns, ease of interchange, maybe you'll hire more people and you don't want to buy 3-4 Office subscriptions if you can avoid it? Or tell them you work for Sterling Ball [cnet.com].
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Wednesday July 25 2018, @04:08PM (5 children)
I presume the question is, "How do I sell things on Amazon?" Since I've never tried to sell things on Amazon, I don't have any idea how to address this.
I don't know what an "adjustment layer" is, but layers are Control-L or "Windows | Layers".
I used TurboTax online for years with no problems. I stopped using it when their prices got too high, and I realized I could get the same results doing it myself. But it works fine from Linux, and has for many years.
I don't know. I do 99% of my game playing on consoles, as I realized that gaming catalogs on Linux were sparse. Since PC gaming was a minor concern in my big picture, it was a decision I could easily live with.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Wednesday July 25 2018, @05:08PM (4 children)
A layer created by applying filters to another layer or other layers, which automatically updates itself upon changes to the layer or layers it depends on. This feature, used for nondestructive filtering, has been part of Photoshop for over two decades.
With the other 1% being games in a state like the following, right?
And good luck playing console games with community-maintained mods, unless they're for 20+-year-old retro consoles.
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Thursday July 26 2018, @02:08AM (3 children)
Adjustment layers sound pretty cool, and would be a nice addition to GIMP.
This article, however, isn't targeted at special needs users (yes, it was an irresistible double-entendre). It is targeted at the vast majority of people for whom a computer is a launcher for software most likely to be available on Linux (whatever that means for any given individual). Your needs are uncommon.
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Thursday July 26 2018, @03:03PM
Interestingly, Krita supports the adjustment layer functionality, but it calls them Filter Adjustments.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday July 26 2018, @05:07PM (1 child)
Different people have different uncommon needs, I concede. But I imagine that just about everybody has at least one or two uncommon needs.
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Thursday July 26 2018, @11:24PM
My experience is that uncommon needs are not that common. The majority of people don't need anything beyond a Web browser.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @10:10PM (1 child)
An electrical engineer said that? Tell him his I.Q. is "Brown Orange Black".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 25 2018, @03:58AM
An IQ of 13 - that's pretty low....