Sage advice from a high school friend: "If you can use Windows, you can use Linux. If you can't, get a Mac. While you won't be able to use it either, at least it'll look pretty."
Upmodded you because i don't see why your comment points should be negative, but let me assure you that your 50 year old aunt won't be able to install MythTV or whatever on windows either, it depends on the app, not the OS.
I did learn. That doesn't mean most people could figure it out on their own. It's very complicated to install programs on most Linux distros. Any non-programmer would give up in frustration.
>It's very complicated to install programs on most Linux distros.
Maybe that's true for MythTV, but for most programs Ubuntu has the simplest install/uninstall process in the world. In fact, its package manager is the "killer app" for me that makes me dread using other operating systems. If I want a new program, I just go to the "add program" menu, search for the program by name or browse by category, click a box, and wait for it to install. To uninstall the program, I just unclick the same box. There are no shortcuts to missing or moved programs, no cluttered desktops, no mystery programs that don't show up in the "add/remove software" menu. It's slick.
Of course, you've stated that you haven't used Ubuntu, which just happens to be the most popular Linux distribution in the world, so you and I can both agree that your experience is incomplete.
I was mostly referring to your dislike for the "copy apps to the Applications folder" on OS X. It's not that hard; in fact I think it's one of the nicest parts of OS X. (and I'm not a Mac user, BTW.)
As for Linux... I posted something like this earlier; if you can't learn to use your software, then you're going to have to pay someone to write easier-to-use software. You act like it's the end of the world that software you didn't pay for doesn't work exactly like you want.
It's not hard to install applications on a Mac once you know how. It's just very counterintuitive, and a little tedious.
I don't think there's anything wrong with Linux being hard to use for the average Joe, and I certainly wasn't complaining about it. You're totally missing the point. The original quote was "If you can use Windows, you can use Linux." For 99%+ of the population this is untrue. Any moron can get around Windows with no prior instructions. They might not be editing the registry, but they'll be able to download and install programs. Not so with any Linux distro I've ever seen (haven't used Ubuntu yet).
It may be true for people who have been 'trained' to use windows.
If you start with a fresh person though, using linux is pretty simple. My kids all grew up using linux (No windows really allowed in our house).
"Any moron can get around Windows with no prior instructions."
Really not true. How often do people search and search for the right sub menu to change some hidden setting? What about the constant registry issues not to mention viruses etc
99% of the population don't download and install programs. Sorry, but they don't. So your argument makes no sense. For 99% of the population, as long as they can run firefox, office prog + email, they're all set. In which case Windows, Linux, OSX all work for the average joe.
You're seriously crazy if you think 99% of people don't download and install programs. I mean, you have to download and install flash, and >99% of people have that.
Everyone under 50 uses bittorrent or emule or something to pirate music. Do those programs come installed?
Everyone under 50 uses instant messenger. Is AIM installed by default? How about Skype?
"Any moron can get around Windows with no prior instructions."
Totally untrue. Give a Windows machine to someone who doesn't know anything about computers, and watch them fail. My parents bought a nice (~$3500) computer in 1998 and I set it up for them. From then on, Handholding Central. My dad couldn't figure out much on his own, and his wife was only a bit better (and only because she'd used a Windows machine at work sometimes).
When they decided that they needed to upgrade in 2006, I strongly recommended a Mac Mini to them. They bought that, and it took about 2 hours of instruction for them to know their way around, and I get a LOT fewer calls now.
Just an anecdote, but the point is that the fact that you've learned so much about Windows does not mean that Windows is naturally easier to figure out. My own switch, in 2003, was much more difficult, but that's partly because I was coming from Gentoo, and there were things I used all the time that couldn't be exactly duplicated ("select to copy" is something I still miss).
I think installing programs in Linux is easier than Mac or Windows, but it is fundamentally different.
You do all of your installing and uninstalling from one application, called "Synaptic Package Manager" in Ubuntu. It works really well as long as you figure out you need to launch Synaptic to install anything.
that's probably because GNU/linux programs must/can run on windows (emphasis on GNU)
other OS like OpenBSD doesn't give fuck about windows users. It's just created and used by and for themselves (altho others port it to virtually every os - OpenSSH? )
and no, i feel no hate from OpenBSD people toward windows users, at least not as much as linux users' in forums -- maybe if u really love what you do, you have no time to criticize others shrug
to me, OSX is also created for windows users (people who are less computer savvy) so i feel it's lacking (i use tiger for 3+ years)
