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Thread ID: 124673	2012-05-12 03:02:00	Why I still don't like Linux	Tony (4941)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1274930	2012-06-05 23:36:00	Nobody was forcing any of them to buy Office 97. They could all have kept using Office 95 and had no compatibility issues. At the time I had a lot of local body and Govt Dept customers, I had to be able to read such things as tender documents, HSE info, work orders. All Govt departments upgraded to Off97, quickly followed by the local bodies so I had a situation where my admin staff couldn't read electronic documents from my main customers. I rang MS support, only to be told that I had to buy Off97. I tend to be a bit rabid when it comes to extortion and so I went hunting for alternatives and I discovered Star Office (5.1 IIRC) would open '97 docs and save as 95 and it was free. It wasn't long before I decided that MSO wasn't needed as StarOffice did everything I needed to do and my Staff liked using it. Then moved to Linux a couple of years later. It was easy, my staff found it easy as did my wife. I sold up that business back in '04 but I stayed with Linux ever since. Later I found that you could get a plugin for '95 to read 97 docs but that didn't matter, the break point was the MS support attitude. Best decision I ever made.	Yorick (8120)
1274931	2012-06-05 23:56:00	but CLI can be very good when supporting someone as they can do a copy and paste whereas with the GUI their setup may be different to yours so what they see isn't what you see . I use both depending on which I find easier . Agreed, CLI is useful and like you, I use it as well when needed and I use terminal for some deep admin stuff usually using Midnight Commander . . . . which was, to start with, a nostalgia thing, took me back to the old Norton Commander and Xtree Gold days . :D However, for non technical users, I prefer to get them to use the GUI manager, because hopefully they'll learn that they can figure stuff out for themselves using the help prompts and other cues in YAST . Copy and paste support is good for a fast fix, but I'm a Trainer not a help desk guy, my goal is to teach people how to be able to dig themselves out without having to learn a new text command that they are going to use very rarely, so rarely that the likliehood is they will forget them in any case . Gads, I occasionally do software installs via the CLI, usually the bleeding edge version of OOo that's not available from the repos, and the other day I forgot a single letter in the tar syntax, brain fade and no visual cues to get me back on the right path . The point is that CLI is a great tool, if you're using it all the time, however the modern Linux distro is so reliable that the average end user almost never has to fix anything and the old adage "Use it or lose it" definitely applies to CLI commands .	Yorick (8120)
1274932	2012-06-06 00:37:00	and Xtree Gold days. :D That brings back memories. but I'm a Trainer not a help desk guy, my goal is to teach people how to be able to dig themselves out without having to learn a new text command that they are going to use very rarely, so rarely that the likliehood is they will forget them in any case. I can certainly understand it as a trainer. usually the bleeding edge version of OOo that's not available from the repos, and the other day I forgot a single letter in the tar syntax, brain fade and no visual cues to get me back on the right path. I am surprised you aren't using LibreOffice.	mikebartnz (21)
1274933	2012-06-06 00:49:00	A little naive. That would have worked if no one upgraded but if one person upgrades it then becomes a necessity for others to do so to become compatible. It's just fact. If nobody, _nobody_ upgraded past Office 95 then there would be no issue. As you say, very unlikely to actually happen, but still true.	Agent_24 (57)
1274934	2012-06-06 11:37:00	This is actually the critical issue and the sticking point as well. (plus lots more) Post #95It's good to see a well-reasoned and extensive commentary on my post, even if maybe "he doth protest too much". Most of what is said there I can't disagree with, and if I was 15 years younger (crikey, I'm sounding like a real old fogey!) and had the current incarnations of Linux I'd be much more willing and indeed likely to change to Linux as my main OS. It's probably that long ago when I first tried a Linux distro - what a nightmare! to make any changes one had to probably edit a configuration file of some sort, the feedback from apps was totally obscure, CLI was king, etc. etc. That is what I am meaning when I say that things have greatly improved in the Linux world since then. However even back then I was wanting something I could do real work with rather than having to spend huge amounts of time tinkering in order to get anywhere, although I was much more prepared to do that then. At no time in this thread have I said that Linux is not a good OS, and properly tailored (Android) and in the right environment (Apache) it is a great OS. All I am saying is that these days, I am not prepared to invest the time required to get to the same level of familiarity with Linux that I have with Windows. It would be probably the same with any other OS that I was confronted with - I've never used a Mac for instance. I titled this thread "Why I still don't like Linux" after I'd tried the latest Ubuntu distro and found it wanting (for me). As a result of feedback I tried PCLinuxOS, and find it to be very good - the easiest Linux to install and use that I've come across. Unfortunately we can't re-title threads, otherwise I would have probably changed it to "Why I won't be changing to Linux - but it was a near thing!" :)	Tony (4941)
1274935	2012-06-06 11:48:00	I guess you have to find a reason to change! For me it was the concept of being able to use a great operating system with no costs to install and upgrade and not having to maintain a virus scanner. I don't really think the learning curve is as great as it might seem once you have a reason to commit yourself to the change.	johnd (85)
1274936	2012-06-06 12:01:00	I love Linux but I doubt I will ever ditch Windows, too many applications and a lot of games that are incompatible. There's also a few things on Mac that are useful too, so you might as well run that also.	Agent_24 (57)
1274937	2012-06-06 12:12:00	Yeah if I didn't play DotA / SWTOR, I'd be all over it like white on rice. For now, I'm content running it on my work desktop :)	Chilling_Silence (9)
1274938	2012-06-06 12:54:00	I get a news letter from The Geek Stuff (www.thegeekstuff.com/2012/06/happy-4th-birthday-to-the-geek-stuff/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGeekStuff+(The+Geek+Stuff) ) Which often has useful stuff on it's site.	mikebartnz (21)
1274939	2012-06-08 14:36:00	I am surprised you aren't using LibreOffice. I'm an OOo guy so I'm now with the ApacheOO team, the LO guys have done a brilliant job but I'm confident that AOO (As OOo is known these days) will be back to it's full strength very soon. There's been a lot of work going on, still is, but we've had one release, we're starting to look at the Symphony UI integration and the community under Apache is growing. We live in interesting times.	Yorick (8120)
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