B
Bill Yanaire
A friend sent me a post after working with Linux for awhile. Linux is just
not ready for prime time.
Ok, I thought Linux would be fun. But it's not. You know why? It doesn't
work. It doesn't do squat. Let's see how fast the nerds come out of the
woodwork to ream me out. But I am going to tell the truth.
I didn't have high hopes. I knew that Linux demanded some computer know-how,
but I'm a very experienced computer user. The last time I purchased a full
computer system was 1998. Since then I've built them myself. I've installed
Windows more times than I can count. Not just simple installs, by the way,
but rather complicated installs with multiple RAID arrays, etc. Not
bragging, just setting the scene.
Just setting up my video card correctly required two separate installs, a
variety of command-line scripts, and a rather clunky workaround. And that
was just to get my screen working at its native resolution. Thankfully I
have two computers at my desk, or I wouldn't have been able to use the
internet to figure out the problem.
Then came the internet. There is no easy way to get Flash working. In some
cases (mine, as it turns out) it is impossible. So, no YouTube. No flash
games. No even moderately complicated websites. In other words, 75% of the
websites I visit don't work. It's not like Flash is this cutting edge thing.
It's been around forever.
Every piece of software has its own idiosyncrasies, some of which conflict
with each other. I was crashing when I tried to run Open Office with Firefox
open. Why? I have no idea. It was the first thing I did. I hadn't even
customized the operating system at all. It crashed. It still crashes even
now. It is crap.
This wouldn't bother me if it weren't for the ridiculous defense of Linux
put up by its fanboys. It's easy, they say, you've just got to think
differently. I can think fine. I can work on a Mac, even though I don't have
as much experience with them, because they actually are well designed. Linux
is a complete disaster. You know that saying, too many cooks spoil the pot?
There is a lot of spoiled pot here, people. Spoiled pot, all over the place.
Just watch what happens when you mention Windows. The nerds come out in
force then. Vista sucks, they say. It's slow. It's got spyware. Hell, with
Linux I don't need spyware--the thing trashes itself. But what's the point
of getting on the internet without spyware if none of the websites work?
I'm not even going to try to explain the convoluted, overly technical, and
completely buggy way software is installed. It's so easy, they say. Well,
it's not so difficult on Windows, either. Download. Double click. Damn,
that's so difficult, isn't it?
That would all be fine if Linux boosters didn't constantly claim that
everyday computer users could use Linux with little or no loss of
functionality, and with little training. Bull. It is way too complicated for
even basic tasks. If I don't have the patience to deal with its ridiculous
learning curve, I'm sure most people don't.
One guy actually said that Linux was easier than doing a fresh install of
Windows XP. Only someone who has never done a clean install of Windows could
say it is difficult. You put the CD in. Click a few buttons. Tell it your
time zone. Voila. Done. Difficult? No.
So, why did I do this? Mostly, I needed to get to the internet while I wait
for Vista to arrive in the mail, likely tomorrow. And when it does, I will
install that resource-hogging, bloated, tool of corporate oppression right
the hell over Ubuntu Linux, the supposed software of global group-hugs. And
you know what I will do then? Rejoice. Laugh. Celebrate. Revel in enjoyment
that only a true nerd can appreciate. Because Windows (whatever its faults)
is actually a system people can use.
And so, in this moment of rejoicing, I will engage in a little bit of what I
said yesterday was BS. I will invest a hearty amount of metaphysical meaning
in Ubuntu Linux. It is every bit a hippie piece-of-crap product. It follows
no discernible rules. It revels in chaotic freedom, to the point that it
never knows what it is doing. With apologies to Tim Leary, it turns on,
tunes in...and then drops out. And like a hippie junky, you worry that one
day you're going to find your computer dead in a pool of its own vomit.
Do I sound irritated? I am. Just for the record, I'll do the same to Vista.
I'll report all the difficulties I run into and compare them to Ubuntu, just
for fun. And you poor non-nerds out there will just have to either wade
through it or ignore it.
Stop comparing Linux to Vista! the nerds kept saying. Well stop saying it's
so much better than Vista, then! All you're doing is inviting comparison.
Well, starting tomorrow (less the FedEx gods' wrath falls on me) that's
exactly what I'm going to do. Mwuwahahaha!
not ready for prime time.
Ok, I thought Linux would be fun. But it's not. You know why? It doesn't
work. It doesn't do squat. Let's see how fast the nerds come out of the
woodwork to ream me out. But I am going to tell the truth.
I didn't have high hopes. I knew that Linux demanded some computer know-how,
but I'm a very experienced computer user. The last time I purchased a full
computer system was 1998. Since then I've built them myself. I've installed
Windows more times than I can count. Not just simple installs, by the way,
but rather complicated installs with multiple RAID arrays, etc. Not
bragging, just setting the scene.
Just setting up my video card correctly required two separate installs, a
variety of command-line scripts, and a rather clunky workaround. And that
was just to get my screen working at its native resolution. Thankfully I
have two computers at my desk, or I wouldn't have been able to use the
internet to figure out the problem.
Then came the internet. There is no easy way to get Flash working. In some
cases (mine, as it turns out) it is impossible. So, no YouTube. No flash
games. No even moderately complicated websites. In other words, 75% of the
websites I visit don't work. It's not like Flash is this cutting edge thing.
It's been around forever.
Every piece of software has its own idiosyncrasies, some of which conflict
with each other. I was crashing when I tried to run Open Office with Firefox
open. Why? I have no idea. It was the first thing I did. I hadn't even
customized the operating system at all. It crashed. It still crashes even
now. It is crap.
This wouldn't bother me if it weren't for the ridiculous defense of Linux
put up by its fanboys. It's easy, they say, you've just got to think
differently. I can think fine. I can work on a Mac, even though I don't have
as much experience with them, because they actually are well designed. Linux
is a complete disaster. You know that saying, too many cooks spoil the pot?
There is a lot of spoiled pot here, people. Spoiled pot, all over the place.
Just watch what happens when you mention Windows. The nerds come out in
force then. Vista sucks, they say. It's slow. It's got spyware. Hell, with
Linux I don't need spyware--the thing trashes itself. But what's the point
of getting on the internet without spyware if none of the websites work?
I'm not even going to try to explain the convoluted, overly technical, and
completely buggy way software is installed. It's so easy, they say. Well,
it's not so difficult on Windows, either. Download. Double click. Damn,
that's so difficult, isn't it?
That would all be fine if Linux boosters didn't constantly claim that
everyday computer users could use Linux with little or no loss of
functionality, and with little training. Bull. It is way too complicated for
even basic tasks. If I don't have the patience to deal with its ridiculous
learning curve, I'm sure most people don't.
One guy actually said that Linux was easier than doing a fresh install of
Windows XP. Only someone who has never done a clean install of Windows could
say it is difficult. You put the CD in. Click a few buttons. Tell it your
time zone. Voila. Done. Difficult? No.
So, why did I do this? Mostly, I needed to get to the internet while I wait
for Vista to arrive in the mail, likely tomorrow. And when it does, I will
install that resource-hogging, bloated, tool of corporate oppression right
the hell over Ubuntu Linux, the supposed software of global group-hugs. And
you know what I will do then? Rejoice. Laugh. Celebrate. Revel in enjoyment
that only a true nerd can appreciate. Because Windows (whatever its faults)
is actually a system people can use.
And so, in this moment of rejoicing, I will engage in a little bit of what I
said yesterday was BS. I will invest a hearty amount of metaphysical meaning
in Ubuntu Linux. It is every bit a hippie piece-of-crap product. It follows
no discernible rules. It revels in chaotic freedom, to the point that it
never knows what it is doing. With apologies to Tim Leary, it turns on,
tunes in...and then drops out. And like a hippie junky, you worry that one
day you're going to find your computer dead in a pool of its own vomit.
Do I sound irritated? I am. Just for the record, I'll do the same to Vista.
I'll report all the difficulties I run into and compare them to Ubuntu, just
for fun. And you poor non-nerds out there will just have to either wade
through it or ignore it.
Stop comparing Linux to Vista! the nerds kept saying. Well stop saying it's
so much better than Vista, then! All you're doing is inviting comparison.
Well, starting tomorrow (less the FedEx gods' wrath falls on me) that's
exactly what I'm going to do. Mwuwahahaha!
MOdnZUe2-RjKtnanZ2dnUVZ8qGdnZ2d@giganews.com...