Are MS business practices actually going to have you switch to Linux?

[SpaceGhostC2C]

3 minutes ago, noahdvs said:

I don't see custom installations as a plus in the majority of situations. With everything installed the same way to the same locations, I can activate or refer to any program I install simply by using its executable's name (e.g., `firefox` for Firefox and `kate` for the Kate text editor). Every package is managed perfectly by my package manager instead of everything being thrown wherever and disconnected from the rest of the system like on Windows. I use Chocolatey on Windows for the few times I actually do anything with Windows, but it's still not the same as a Linux package manager.

I know you are happy with how it works. You are also a Linux user. If you want to understand non-Linux users, you must not think about what makes you happy, but what would make them/us happy  

For instance, I have a DOS-old love for folder structure management. I don't like "program files", I don't like "user\program data" either. I want everything self-contained, programs grouped by my own criteria, etc. Linux is a nightmare for that. I'm not necessarily representative of most Windows users (and in fact I started by saying that it's a matter of time before I switch - I already have an old laptop in Lubuntu, and I have installed and used a full no-GUI debian cluster in the past), but the point is just to illustrate that understanding Linux adoption amounts to understand the unsatisfied needs/desires of non-users, not what makes Linux users happy - it's preaching to the converted  

 

3 minutes ago, noahdvs said:

I use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with KDE now, but I liked Ubuntu. What didn't you like about Ubuntu?

 

Nothing?  

Probably Unity was the worst part of it, and Canonical's past sins haven't help my willingness to use it either. I would probably have been a happy Ubunter 10 years ago or so, I think.

I also didn't like how the installer failed to see the Windows partition: I remember GRUB being very good, certainly better than Windows, for dual booting, but last time things got reversed. I ended up having to install Ubuntu on a different drive to avoid accidentally destroying the Win installation it couldn't see, and then Windows had no problem seeing all the OSes and setting up a boot menu. But since I haven't tried this again with subsequent distros, it could be a general Linux problem nowadays.

 

I think my next Linux run is going to be Mint, or maybe I re-try with Scientific Linux (but that's the one that died for good as soon as I tried to install an official Linux GPU driver). We'll see, I just need work to give me a break in order to do the next

[Sniperfox47]

On 5/26/2017 at 7:05 AM, lass9391 said:

Something like fedora but without the whole no proprietary drivers and codecs would be super intuitive and stable.

Afaik that's pretty much what the next release (18) of Ubuntu is going to be. They're dropping Mir and Unity and jumping on board the Gnome 3 bandwagon alongside Fedora.

[noahdvs]

2 hours ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

I know you are happy with how it works. You are also a Linux user. If you want to understand non-Linux users, you must not think about what makes you happy, but what would make them/us happy  

For instance, I have a DOS-old love for folder structure management. I don't like "program files", I don't like "user\program data" either. I want everything self-contained, programs grouped by my own criteria, etc. Linux is a nightmare for that. I'm not necessarily representative of most Windows users (and in fact I started by saying that it's a matter of time before I switch - I already have an old laptop in Lubuntu, and I have installed and used a full no-GUI debian cluster in the past), but the point is just to illustrate that understanding Linux adoption amounts to understand the unsatisfied needs/desires of non-users, not what makes Linux users happy - it's preaching to the converted  

 

Nothing?  

Probably Unity was the worst part of it, and Canonical's past sins haven't help my willingness to use it either. I would probably have been a happy Ubunter 10 years ago or so, I think.

I also didn't like how the installer failed to see the Windows partition: I remember GRUB being very good, certainly better than Windows, for dual booting, but last time things got reversed. I ended up having to install Ubuntu on a different drive to avoid accidentally destroying the Win installation it couldn't see, and then Windows had no problem seeing all the OSes and setting up a boot menu. But since I haven't tried this again with subsequent distros, it could be a general Linux problem nowadays.

 

I think my next Linux run is going to be Mint, or maybe I re-try with Scientific Linux (but that's the one that died for good as soon as I tried to install an official Linux GPU driver). We'll see, I just need work to give me a break in order to do the next

I understand the needs of average Windows users pretty well and I know that most of them just want a simple system that works and isn't too different from what they're used to. It's pretty easy to get that in Linux already except when Windows only programs get involved. As long as they can install programs in a way that is familiar, whether it be from double clicking on a package or installing a program through an app store, they don't care how the system is structured.

I can see how Linux wouldn't be your ideal OS and I don't think it's going to change unless AppImage packages really kick off or unless you don't mind compiling everything from source.

 

People love to hate Canonical, but I don't think it's completely justified and I think some of the reasons for hating such as NIH syndrome are based purely on speculation. Like Ubuntu/Canonical or not, Linux owes a lot of the support it has now to Ubuntu. I can understand hating Unity even though I like the layout though. I haven't ever experienced issues with installing Ubuntu except for when Windows started using UEFI. Ubuntu and OpenSUSE actually install with secure boot enabled on my laptop, unlike most of the other distros I've tried.

[Flygenring]

13 hours ago, Sniperfox47 said:

Afaik that's pretty much what the next release (18) of Ubuntu is going to be. They're dropping Mir and Unity and jumping on board the Gnome 3 bandwagon alongside Fedora.

Yeah I heard about that, I just hope they get rid of all those error popups.