Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday July 24 2018, @06:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the welcome-to-the-party dept.

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

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:28PM (12 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:28PM (#711847)

    I'm going to push back on this one. Not because there is anything wrong with the Linux community (except the condescending pricks who admonish people for asking basic questions). But because users people don't want to have to go search for "how does this work?" all the time. Those of us who are technically inclined are used to figuring things out. Most users do not want to do this, and more importantly, are not capable of knowing the right solution for their predicament from a wrong one.

    Linux works, but it works differently, and that is a learning curve most people don't want to struggle with. Their home computer is a consumption device, not a tool they use for their livelihood. Given the option of "spending an hour trying to get this to work" or "doing something else I enjoy", it is easy to see which option they will choose.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +5  
       Insightful=4, Informative=1, Total=5
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by isostatic on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:29PM

    by isostatic (365) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:29PM (#711848) Journal

    That's exactly why I use linux on the desktop, rather than something incomprehensible like windows. Sure it's easy to load a webbrowser, but anything more falls apart in windows.

  • (Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:50PM (6 children)

    by bobthecimmerian (6834) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @07:50PM (#711865)

    But look at the colossal popularity of Chrome OS. You start it up, you open a browser, you do everything in a browser. Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Mint, OpenSUSE, Void, Elementary, they all install Firefox, Chrome, or Chromium by default. *Poof*, anybody who uses Chrome OS can happily use Linux. The learning curve is under a minute, "click this button to start your browser, then do the things you normally do on Chrome OS".

    Now if you need a particular program or a particular game and you're not a tinkerer, then Linux is not for you. But that's not most of the home user market. My wife let me switch her computer from Windows to Linux because she uses browsers, PDF viewers, a file explorer, and printing.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday July 24 2018, @08:40PM (5 children)

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @08:40PM (#711898) Journal

      I installed Linux Mint Cinnamon on an older AMD desktop on the shop floor for the employees to use for general web browsing. No one ever asked me about how to operate it. They click the start looking thing and open firefox. Linux just works in that case.

      • (Score: 2) by ilsa on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:01PM (4 children)

        by ilsa (6082) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:01PM (#711914)

        While this may be true, this is a phenomenally limited use case. If all they are doing is using a web browser, then they can literally use *anything* to serve that purpose. You are no longer using a computer. You are using a fixed-purpose appliance... the equivalent of a kitchen microwave.

        Replace their daily driver computer with a linux box, have them use that without issue, and THEN come back and say "Linux is easy!"

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Alfred on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:44PM

          by Alfred (4006) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:44PM (#711956) Journal
          Well since most people only use computers for the browser...it is entirely possible for people to come back happy
        • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 25 2018, @01:31PM

          by LoRdTAW (3755) on Wednesday July 25 2018, @01:31PM (#712318) Journal

          Browsing the web is a phenomenally limited use case? And what exactly does joe blow do on their computer besides browse the web that is such a deal breaker? (Okay, I'll give you gaming.)

        • (Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Wednesday July 25 2018, @01:45PM (1 child)

          by bobthecimmerian (6834) on Wednesday July 25 2018, @01:45PM (#712325)

          But that's the point - hundreds of millions of people only use their computer for the browser. So if Linux provides a fine browser experience - and it does - then many people can use it as their daily driver computer.

          • (Score: 2) by Lester on Thursday July 26 2018, @01:22PM

            by Lester (6231) on Thursday July 26 2018, @01:22PM (#713071) Journal

            Disagree. That was ten years ago. Now people use tablets for that.
            Most people with desktops also write docs, read pdfs, spreadsheets, watch movies, edits vĂ­deos, images

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @08:05PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @08:05PM (#711873)

    Linux works, but it works differently, and that is a learning curve most people don't want to struggle with.

    The same can be said for OS X. Learning a new way of doing something familiar is a PITA, but the fun part from the perspective of someone trying to help people switch is, at least with a Mac, when, once they get the hang of the new approach, it's not uncommon for them to verbally observe that "this makes more sense; the way I had to do it on Windows is so backward".

    I wish I could say the same about any newbie-friendly Linux distros. In the cases of those I've tried, they generally work the same kind of backward as Windows, so you don't get the benefit of discovering that the new approach makes more sense; you're just stuck learning the new approach to doing the same old thing. Like making the transition from Win7 to Win10, only less painful trying to find all the crags and corners where Microsoft has move settings or, worse, significantly renamed and moved.

    • (Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday July 24 2018, @08:19PM

      by Arik (4543) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @08:19PM (#711882) Journal
      "The same can be said for OS X. Learning a new way of doing something familiar is a PITA, but the fun part from the perspective of someone trying to help people switch is, at least with a Mac, when, once they get the hang of the new approach, it's not uncommon for them to verbally observe that "this makes more sense; the way I had to do it on Windows is so backward""

      In my experience this was common with earlier Macs, but the latest iterations are much weaker there.

      And I'm curious what you are actually talking about when you say 'linux' through your post. You're referring to a GUI, but Linux is not a gui, nor does it contain or imply a gui. You might be referring to GNOME? Or KDE? Or any of the dozens of other clients for the X-Window system?
      --
      If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:01PM (1 child)

    by Gaaark (41) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:01PM (#711915) Journal

    Ummm... but was it not a learning curve going from win7 to 8 to 10?

    I know my mother in law had a learning curve (so did my wife as she had to go over and help her mother learn it).

    It's not really the learning curve: it's mostly that windows comes on every computer a person is likely to buy.

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:18PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:18PM (#711929)

      Everything is a learning curve. DOS to Windows 3.11, later Windows 95, Windows XP. The shift around Windows 8 and 10 (compare Ubuntu's Unity desktop from years before Win8). Always learning. Compare an original Mac - the beige cube - to a modern Apple - the user had to learn, evolve alongside.
      I tell people that switching from Windows to Linux is very much like switching to MacOS. Somewhat true as MacOS is BSD Unix with a Nexxt desktop manager. But more that all the apps you need are there, but have new names and new icons. Then I tell them updates will handle both the OS and the apps, AND never interrupt their day (or presentation). Sold.