Re: Why?!

[Ed Cogburn <ecogburn@greene.xtn.net>]

Charles Collicutt wrote:
> 
> Hi,
>    Before I start I'd like to make clear that this is *not* a flame or a
> troll, I genuinely want to know the answer to my question as I would quite
> like to continue using linux.
>    Could someone tell me why I'm using linux not Windows 95? I've been
> told that linux is much better and I believed it and have been faithfully
> using linux (apart from the occasional trip into a win95 partition to play
> games) from then on. I've come to the conclusion that yes, as a server on
> a network, linux is much more stable and you don't need to reboot often.


	Yes, as a server, Linux is successfully competing against WinNT and
others.  I personally don't believe Linux is ready for Joe Blow the
average Win user, however.


> But for the home user, why bother? Linux is so much harder to set up
> (it may not be incredibly difficult but it is still much much harder than
> "stick the cd in the cd-rom drive and click on "next" until it's
> installed, possibly changing a few values on the way" which is all you


	Did Win come preinstalled on your system?  Sometimes that 'ease of use'
about Win comes back to bite you.  I've seen, with sound card software,
the installation of some software become nightmarish with Win.  Most
people get Win preinstalled and never see the potential problems,
because some tech at the company they bought their computer from has
done the hard work for them.


> have to do for windows). It's a complete bugger to install new things -
> dependency problems, compile problems, configuration problems. Oh whoopee,
> it's Open Source, it's free. So what? There's plenty of free Windows


	I don't really see these problems.  Are you compiling the sources for
packages that are already available as a deb package?  dselect makes it
reasonably easy to upgrade; as long as you stay away from the current
'unstable' branch, because of what its name implies.


> shareware and freeware - it just isn't "free" in the Open Source sense,
> should the average home user really care? Besides, all these developers


	If you don't see the distinction between OpenSource and 'shareware'
then I'm afraid that maybe you would be better off with the MS Win
hegemony. Most shareware is junk IMNSHO.


> working together on Open Source software has had no major effect that I
> can tell other than making me install new versions of everything all
> the time to enable the installation of something else and getting huge


	So stop installing so often.  I came to the conclusion awhile ago that
keeping up to the bleeding edge was, in the long run, a negative, since
you spent so much time trying to fix errors from the current 'unstable'
branch.  Stay with hamm until slink replaces it as a stable version. 
Don't worry about trying to 'keep' up with current developments because
you can't.  Remember, with Win you only get an update once every three
years or so, while OpenSource software is in a constant state of
development.


> phone bills because of that. In windows if I want to install something new
> I stick the cd in and away I go - done. In linux I download the source,
> fight for hours with Makefiles and header files - or if I'm lucky
> ./configure will show me all the problems I need to fix in advance. OK, I


	You aren't downloading the source for stuff thats in a deb package are
you?  Stick to the stable branch (hamm) of Debian; life is a lot easier.


> can install .deb files (or .rpm files or whatever) instead but then I have
> to hope the package maintainer has kept everything up-to-date and hasn't
> mucked up - the number of times gzip complains about not being able to
> uncompress .deb files is amazing - and then I find someone's mucked up the

	I've never seen the problems with gzip as you say.  You might have a
poor connection to the Net.  If your paying by the hour for Internet
access then staying up to speed with Debian will become expensive. 
Apparently, many or most Debian users have unlimited-time access to
ftp.debian.org.  Why not just wait untill slink comes out as 2.1 stable,
get a cd of it and then upgrade your machine.  Stop trying to keep daily
or even weekly up to date with Debian.  Its just a hassle.


> dependencies and have to spend ages mucking around on ftp.debian.org (or
> mirrors) looking for stable-ish versions that will work and let me get on
> with it. Besides, most packages are optimised for a 386... As far as I can


	The stable branch of Debian (hamm, 2.0) rarely has these problems
because those bugs have already been worked out.


> tell the following summary is true:
> 
> Windows
> -------
> *) Complete ease of use - a GUI even an utter luser can understand.


	Debatable.  The ease of use also means no freedom to modify things so
that they do what you want, and not what Redmond insists that you do.


> *) Plenty of support for developers at MSDN - with plenty of free
> downloads of SDKs.


	Well, of course, MS wants keep as many developers as possible working
with their OS and nobody elses.


> *) Piss easy installations.


	Bull.  I've seen some *ugly* installations in Win95.


> *) GAMES - is there a single good game on linux apart from ports of Quake?


	What do you expect?  Linux is only 7 years old and currently unheard of
in the mainstream world where all those games developers live.


> *) Oh look, is that *another* cover cd with free demos and software? Guess
> I won't be spending ages downloading like I would with linux then...

	Several companies ship CDs full of Linux and other software.


> 
> Linux
> -----
> *) Astronomical phone bills after downloading new software.


	So just update once every 6 months or so with a new CD of Linux.


> *) CDs from CheapBytes may be cheap - but they're not free and they get
> out of date very quickly.


	How often do you get to update Windows?  OpenSource doesn't mean 'free'
in a financial sense.  Like I said earlier, Linux is in a constant state
of development, unlike Win.


> *) Basic installation is easy - but from then on installing new software
> is not what I'd call easy.


	The installation of non-distribution software will be addressed in the
future, when the Linux Base Standard comes of age.


> *) Great community of people ready to help - but should I need help?


	Ever tried calling MS for help?  Do tell us what they charged you.


> *) Not a single good game in sight :(


	If games are the only thing you are interested in, then go back to MS
for now.  It will take Linux at least a couple of years to get the
attention of the mainstream games developers.  I did hear recently
though that a Linux game company has formed; others will inevitably
follow.


> 
> Please help, I really don't want to give up something that is apparently
> so good - but I can't see why it is good for a home user...


	I honestly think Linux isn't really meant for the typical 'home' user
(Although thats how I use it, I'm not using Linux to run a server) at
this time.

	Go back to MS, but keep checking in on Linux every 6 months or so.  The
things you are looking for will come eventually.


> 
> --
> Charles
> 
> --
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-- 
Ed C.