I just wonder why you would write such nonsense like this. I mean really, I’m actually very irritated that I spent the time to read through all that blathering about windows and mac just to get to one summarizing paragraph about “your view” of Linux, that is:
“Even the most modern Linux distribution that are aimed squarely at consumers, become a command-line and config-file nightmare if you want to do something esoteric like plug a WiFi dongle into your machine.”

What gives you the right to evoke such completely baseless and entirely false nonsense? Seriously, have you even tried Linux since 2001? Well I suggest you do, and since you don’t seem to know much about anything but the history of windows, you should try one of the “easier” distros such as Ubuntu GNU/Linux (try 10.04 beta for instance).

Where’s your review of installing and using Linux? Because if you did this, and showed the steps that were undeniably easy, and the steps that were obviously not – you would invalid this entire article in less time than it takes to read through all that nonsense about windows nt and the like.

This article is way behind the times, and it’s complete poppycock. You should be ashamed to call yourself any kind of technically related person. And while I respect the idea that you have a right to post your own such nonsensical opinion to the Internet, I truly wonder why you took the time to write this posting in the first place. Really, what’s the point? You aren’t helping anyone, and you certainly are not helping progress or technology… in my humble opinion.

Sincerely,

Shannon VanWagner
Technology Professional and Shepard of the Modern Computing World
humans-enabled.com

@jearle, what are you suggesting? That Linux should become even more stripped down than the other two major operating systems (win/mac) to succeed? Both Mac osx and Windows have a terminal. My guess is that you know this already, and if you do, that’s even worse. On the Mac, the terminal is in Applications>Utilities, and hey, it even uses GNU tools – yes, from Richard M. Stallman(doh! you better stop using Mac you Richard Stallman haters). On windows, navigate to All Programs>Accessories>CMD Window, or hit windows-key+r > type ‘cmd’, then hit enter. How is it that ONLY Linux is wrong for using the Terminal? The terminal is a necessity, in any operating system, it’s part of what makes the computer a computer. Not having a terminal is like controlling your television from the 3 crappy buttons on the console, as opposed to using the remote control with all the special buttons included.

This is the kind of thing I’m talking about. People who know enough to create entire blogs are posting biased and unproven nonsense in an attempt to “knee-cap” Linux without even explaining what it does, vs. what it doesn’t, and without even including the merits/demerits of their own “prize”, “consumer” operating system. It’s Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD), and it doesn’t help anything, certainly not progress or technology. This is, of course, my humble opinion as a technology professional. I say again, where’s the review of Linux to show it’s strengths and weaknesses. I could refer you to a few if you like.

@SWW – First of all, in my writings, I will dispense with the term “consumer”. Because on the operating system I use, I am a user – not a “consumer”. In addition to being a user of GNU/Linux, I could also be the “System Administrator”, or I could even be all those things, plus the “Creator” of GNU/Linux if I want to be. This is a beauty of Linux. Somehow the term “consumer”, to me, implies that the poor fool who uses the “product” is going to be limited and restricted to “putting coins into the slot machine” to get anything at all (and mostly losses). If someone needs help exploring GNU/Linux, come and talk to me. I promise I won’t call you a “consumer”, in fact, I will call you a very smart person just for even thinking outside the box.

As for the chrome article, in its pre-Linux-release stage, there were a few steps involved to get it working (with the flash plugin at least) for Linux, yes this is true. But the point is that it was still an available choice for Linux. As I’ve updated that posting you mentioned to show, the Chrome browser(with Flash included) is now easily installable through simple clicks of the mouse. You won’t even have to click “next” or “finish”, just download and click “install” to install the new Chrome browser in Linux. Also, the built-in flash-plugin will remain updated(for security and functionality) automatically. For those who are interested, head over to google.com/chrome from your Linux machine.

As for using Beta software, Google and Gmail were in “Beta” for years. Would you argue that “consumers” weren’t “supposed” to use those “beta” applications either at that time? If you did, I would argue that a lot of people(millions actually) didn’t follow your guidance on that one. In the world of technology as an enabler for humankind, the term “Beta” is a promise for more fine-tuning, it’s a moniker for a period of time when the said software is being polished and crafted, if even by “user” suggestion to something even better. Beta’s not a bad thing. Why not have the whole world test your software, as opposed to only the “few” so called “experts” you have in your company. This is how Google “very successfully” does things actually, and it’s a different paradigm than “other” companies. My point is, just because that’s apple or microsoft keep their software locked down while it’s in beta stages, doesn’t make it the only and best way to do it.. Just look at Google, or Youtube, or Facebook, or many “Beta” sites out there. As for Ubuntu 10.04, the full release will be available in 21 days. Me, I think it’s glorious that I have access to it before the full release. Let me ask you this, did you recommend that “consumers” not try the “Beta” windows 7 too? Besides, if the release candidate is so great, why are there dominoes of service packs later on? I recommended Ubuntu 10.04 beta because I have tested it personally, several times on different machines and it works wonderfully. I don’t think in terms of limiting people and restricting them from their technology, I think in terms of empowering and enabling them with technology.

And now for the last bit. I just read in a comment, someone who is bashing Richard M. Stallman. Funny, because like I pointed out, Richard M. Stallman’s licensed as “Free as in Free speech” by the GPL, are in the Mac OSX, and Linux, and Solaris, and on and on. The tools are FREE. You didn’t pay Richard M. Stallman for anything and yet you bash him as if he charged you an expensive price for something that was not worth it. And yet, you’ve paid exorbitent amounts of cash to Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and the like… and you don’t bash them. So you’re bashing the guy that hands you something for FREE, but not the people you paid a lot of cash to. Interesting, that’s all I can say.

Shannon, to suggest that saying Linux is not ready to contend as a viable option for the consumer desktop, competing with Microsoft and Apple is somehow bashing Linux then you perhaps should walk away from technology in general and operating systems in particular as topics of serious discussion.

I use ubuntu and freebsd every day. Just … not as my main desktop OS.

And another thing …

If I see “one more”, thing, in “quotes” I’m going, “to” fucking “hurl”.

I set this elderly lady(from Australia) up with Ubuntu GNU/Linux a year ago, and she couldn’t have been happier to have it all, openoffice.org, scribus, gimp, and for FREE. She was even dialing up to the Seattle free 56K Internet, using GNOME-PPP. I haven’t heard any gripes from her ever.
http://www.humans-enabled.com/2009/04/my-example-of-pci-56k-dial-up-modem.html

I setup another “older lady” (her name is Penny) with Ubuntu because she absolutely could not stand vista. She would rather use win98, but she opted for Ubuntu instead. So then she was using the computer, and the only gripe she had was that the genealogy program called “PAF” she had, wouldn’t work with Linux. So after I looked into it, turns out the PAF works beautifully in Wine – I set her up and she was good to go. But then, her daughter’s computer had a hardware malfunction, and so she passed her Ubuntu computer on to her because the daughter needed a computer immediately for her home business. I remember the day she took the machine over.. Penny called me up and said the large monitor she plugged in, wasn’t working with Ubuntu. So I talked her through rebooting into the recovery menu option, then we used the “Attempt to Fix Graphics Configuration” and sure enough, it fixed it and she was on her way.

I’ve also setup my mother in law, she lives in another state, with Ubuntu Ultimate edition (in a dual-boot configuration with winxp), she’s been booting into Linux since.

I’ve also installed Linux on my Son’s friend’s computer (using wubi). He recently contracted a nasty winxp virus, and had been booting into Ubuntu GNU/Linux for months (per the directions from his dad)…. But then I recently cleaned off the virus from his winxp machine, where most of his games are installed. So this scenario might be iffy… lol

Every chance I get, I send people home with an Ubuntu GNU/Linux cd and ask them to try it out.

Wow… “John C. Welch”: Excuse me your highness, but there are such a thing as other computer professionals in the world. What do you know about what I’ve done with computers? Oh, and mind that gas pedal when you get in your prius lunchbox there buddy.

@Jared Earle, I reread your post, but this time I skipped over the initial paragraphs about winnt and apple. Your point, at least as I interpret it, is that Linux will not succeed on the desktop until we professionals are willing to spread it around to others..and that it’s to “command line hell” whenever installing Linux. This is what I disagree with, it’s so easy to install Linux(write a blog about it.. really), most of the time. But there are exceptions, and just like any other os, sometimes things don’t go perfectly. But is this the fault of Linux, or is it a matter of the hardware makers not making their products for Linux? So if you would have said that Linux can be made a lot better, or that hardware makers should embrace Linux to make it easier to install on an even wider range of hardware, I would have agreed. But as far as the “granny test”, I think it’s the most helpful thing you can do for a person – setting them up with Linux that is.

Oh, and one more thing. If you looked at my blog the link from my previous comment, you will see that I used the Terminal to get the 56k modem configured on the said machine. So this breaks your “don’t use the terminal rule” right? I say no, because who expects your “granny” neighbor to be installing/configuring hardware on their computer anyway? Regardless of the operating system? Can you say Geek Squad at Best Buy? In America, that’s one place they’d be headed to have their computer maintenance done.

I mean, let’s talk through it.. You buy your “granny” friend a Mac Pro tower… would you then talk her through(on the phone), the installing of a PCI modem on it? Nope, not gonna happen. Same scenario and result for windows. The point is, there are certain administrative tasks that will use the terminal, or perhaps otherwise non-GUI means of performing maintenance on a computer that no computer professional would suggest the end user perform(over the phone) anyways. So it’s a moot point.

And contrary to what your article here states, it’s actually very, very easy to install Linux on most computers(assuming you are using a modern Linux OS, i.e., Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, etc.). In fact, I would argue that so long as a person’s computer boots successfully to the Linux LiveCD(this is another feature windows/mac lacks), a person would have an easier time installing Linux, and keeping their currently installed operating system(s) intact than with windows or mac anyday. Let me put that another way – Linux is easily installed, and has some of THE BEST options for being installed alongside other operating systems, to include even the linking to the alternative operating system (and installing directly onto the windows NTFS operating system(for wubi)) than the other OSes. Try to do that with windows, nope – not gonna happen.If you install windows while Linux is already installed – it will destroy your Linux – it won’t even give you the option of having a “choice” to boot to one or the other. For mac, if you partitioned correctly, you can hold the alt/option key when you power on, and then choose to boot to the Linux partition, although I haven’t tested whether installing Mac OSX will be friendly to the Linux if it’s installed after the fact(particularly if the Linux takes up the whole drive). I think I will test this right this moment actually, I have a mac sitting next to me over here. I’ll install Ubuntu Linux, using the whole drive, and then I’ll come back and install Mac OSX and see what happens. Will it give me the option to move the pre-existing OS over and install itself (like Linux does). I’m thinking NOT. With Linux, the install will resize other OSes partitions(both on windows or mac) and then install itself alongside. In this respect, Linux is actually more advanced than other systems.

So here’s the thing, what if the IT Pro were to configure the Linux machine to work well(this could even mean having a remote help solution(i.e., SSH or VNC or something)), and then give it to granny? What’s the likelihood you would you ever have to help granny remove a virus from her machine? Try Vundo or Smitfraud, or various other rootkit type nasty malwares… would you recommend trying to talk granny through trying to remove one of those on the phone? Good luck with that one… namely because with malwares like windows live antivirus – it’s hard enough to get on the web while the virus has the machine possessed, much less try to fix anything. Are you going to walk granny through using combofix, or booting into safe mode and trying to modify the HKLM/software/microsoft/windows/current version/run registry key, or removing the un-delete-able-by-normal-means malware *.dll’s that are in the system32 folder? Good luck with that.

No you still don’t get it.

My dad uses Vista. The reason. If he needs it set up HE can do it. He puts the disk in, boots from it, follows a few instructions (mainly clicking next), et voila, a fully working system. Updates are installed automatically and everything is as user friendly as it gets. He then downloads some free AV tools from Microsoft and he’s happy.

My mum uses Windows for the same reason.

I use Windows 7, Mac OS X and Slackware. I use Slackware to play (I’ve used Ubuntu and it’s nice but I prefer Slackware). For me it is fun. I use Windows 7 because it assures me compatibility with systems that we use at work for when I work at home, and also for gaming. I use Mac OS X as my main OS. Why? because it’s rock stable, it came with this computer, and I prefer the way it works.

I wouldn’t wish Linux of any kind (except perhaps Google Chrome OS) on any mainstream user. They don’t want to hack, they don’t want to play. They just want to switch it on, use it and piss off. If it goes wrong, they want to put the disk in, follow a couple of on-screen prompts and be up and running again. They don’t want to have to worry about proprietary or FOSS drivers. As John put it they don’t want to dick around.

I can offer technical support to mum and dad should they need it, as using a tool like gotoassist I can remotely log on to their desktops and deal with issues myself. I’ve never had to do it and don’t want to. Should something go wrong, I want them to deal with it. If that means a backup and reformat, so be it. For them only 2 OS families can do what they want. Mac OS X or Windows. They don’t want a Mac, so Windows it is.