Solved Switch to Linux

cereberus said:

The figures speak for themselves - it only has 5% of the market because it does not run major packages like MS Office.

The performance argument is very tenuous as it only applies to a small porrion of gamers, nit general users.
This is not exactly false but not exactly true information either - the MS Offices clones are quite compatible but not 100%.

Where they screw up in my experience is their handling of moderately advanced features as automated references, not just macros.

Most work related packages will not run under Linux (remember the embarrassingly failed Munich State experiment of going to Linux to save money LOL).

No matter how the Linux fanbois try to spin Linux, it is not a good substitute for Windows.

I like to think I put time and effort in to learn an OS but I found there was just too much of a learning curve to use it in anything but basic operation.

I went in forums and I found Linux repliers often did not have the patience to lead you in steps to get a solution (we all agree this and sister forums excel in how they help beginners and have great tutorials).

Doing web searching for solutions often gave a solution that would work on one distro but not on another.

For Linux to ever really become popular, it needs to get rid of all different flavours, having a single distro and develop a good user knowledge base.

Never going to happen though is it?

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hdmi said:

Main Linux problems on the desktop, 2023 edition or why Linux sucks on the desktop

itvision.altervista.org

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XxXxX said:

Linux has its pluses and minuses same as Windows has its pluses and minuses.
horses for courses if it suits you and works stick with it be it Linux or Windows.

Best of luck. Steve ..

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jimbo45 said:

Depends on what you mean by a Work related package. If work related software is accessed (and increasingly it is these days) via cloud servers / Virtual desktop infrastructure servers then these can be accessed by almost any client OS. I have zero problem accessing the corporate SAP HANA development, QA and Production systems from a Linux laptop or other parts of their Windows VDI even if they use that ghastly CITRIX system to access the Windows virtual desktop infrastructure - noe that the SAP HANA systems are acessible by any client OS and has its own development framework built in.

As for the zillion and one Distros -- yes this is a nuisance but essentially the base Linux kernel is the same and it's just various GUI's and windowed apps are the problem.

There's only really 4 distros that users need consider -- All from big companies with a stable and long term future. 1) Fedora from Redhat (now owned by IBM) for those who want absolute leading edge stuff so could be a bit unstable --no worse than say Windows DEV buillds, 2) OPENSUSE -- solid semi-leading edge distro from a classically reliable "Teutonic"supplier S.U.S.E which has quite a large server market in the EU, and 3) Debian absolutely 100% rock solid -- the grand daddy of them all and its derivatives e.g Ubuntu (from Canonical) which loads use but not my favourite, or ArchLinux which gives you a base system from which you can install whatever you want from 100,000's of free apps worldwide (with source if you want to compile stuff yourself) so stability is 100% YOUR responsibility. MINT is an easy one too for Windows users in its GUI for those that needs a GUI.

Actually as far as info is concerned the Archlinux Wiki is a model in its class and info there is often useful for any other debian derivative.


This shouldn't be an "OS" war reminiscent of those hideous "Browser wars" of a few years ago -- just use whatever is the most appropriate for the job in hand. Nothing wrong in using better tools where available. I'd much rather use an electric screwdriver when removing the Lid off a grand Piano than undoing all those screws by hand.

Obviously on a Windows forum the accent must be mainly on Windows but there's no reason why other OS'es shouldn't be mentioned especially where Virtual Machines are concerned.

Cheers from both a Linux and Windows user.

jimbo

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cereberus said:

The figures speak for themselves - it only has 5% of the market because it does not run major packages like MS Office.

The performance argument is very tenuous as it only applies to a small porrion of gamers, nit general users.
This is not exactly false but not exactly true information either - the MS Offices clones are quite compatible but not 100%.

Where they screw up in my experience is their handling of moderately advanced features as automated references, not just macros.

Most work related packages will not run under Linux (remember the embarrassingly failed Munich State experiment of going to Linux to save money LOL).

No matter how the Linux fanbois try to spin Linux, it is not a good substitute for Windows.

I like to think I put time and effort in to learn an OS but I found there was just too much of a learning curve to use it in anything but basic operation.

I went in forums and I found Linux repliers often did not have the patience to lead you in steps to get a solution (we all agree this and sister forums excel in how they help beginners and have great tutorials).

Doing web searching for solutions often gave a solution that would work on one distro but not on another.

For Linux to ever really become popular, it needs to get rid of all different flavours, having a single distro and develop a good user knowledge base.

Never going to happen though is it?

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ringel05 said:

If some rely on Windows specific applications for work then obviously Linux is not going to work for them. That should be as plain as the nose on one's face. For those who don't need to rely on such apps Linux is a perfectly viable alternative. Unless one is a Windows "fanboi" that is............ Oh and I always recommend Windows users load Linux Mint, everything just works, welcome to 2024.

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SlicEnDicE said:

Very well said.

I'm just curious...how many companies really rely on Adobe or MS Office suits for every day tasks?

In my experience, we use those tools only because they can be used and are just part of the Microsoft deals that comes with everything from hardware to software including servers and workstations. All actual work happens in other apps which are non-Windows dependent though...

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cereberus said:

No - most avoid it as it is useless for their needs. It's single biggest failure is its inability to run major packages like MS Office.

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cereberus said:

The figures speak for themselves - it only has 5% of the market because it does not run major packages like MS Office.

The performance argument is very tenuous as it only applies to a small porrion of gamers, nit general users.
This is not exactly false but not exactly true information either - the MS Offices clones are quite compatible but not 100%.

Where they screw up in my experience is their handling of moderately advanced features as automated references, not just macros.

Most work related packages will not run under Linux (remember the embarrassingly failed Munich State experiment of going to Linux to save money LOL).

No matter how the Linux fanbois try to spin Linux, it is not a good substitute for Windows.

I like to think I put time and effort in to learn an OS but I found there was just too much of a learning curve to use it in anything but basic operation.

I went in forums and I found Linux repliers often did not have the patience to lead you in steps to get a solution (we all agree this and sister forums excel in how they help beginners and have great tutorials).

Doing web searching for solutions often gave a solution that would work on one distro but not on another.

For Linux to ever really become popular, it needs to get rid of all different flavours, having a single distro and develop a good user knowledge base.

Never going to happen though is it?

Click to expand...

ringel05 said:

A lot of companies still use decades old Windows specific, job specific software that back then cost an arm and a leg. Switching to Linux would be problematic and expensive as those commercial apps would have to be written for Linux probably at great cost.

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SlicEnDicE said:

Very well said.

I'm just curious...how many companies really rely on Adobe or MS Office suits for every day tasks?

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pseymour said:

And it's not just the desktop. There are back-end integrations, and this thing talks to that thing, which spits out .docx or .xlsx files, etc. etc. That stuff takes forever to migrate to something else. It's not simply a case of putting Linux on the desktop and loading LiberatedOffice or whatever.

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ringel05 said:

Actually it's extremely easy if one doesn't need all of that for work or business applications. Not everyone uses their PCs for work. If all one is doing is playing Solitaire, watching YT videos and surfing the net then pretty much any OS works fine. Of course the biggest block to Linux PC use is the typical user who only knows Windows and whom we still have to tell not to use their optical drive as a cup holder.

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pseymour said:

Obviously, but the question from SlicEnDicE, and responded to by cereberus and myself, was about companies.

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