Linux - how few know of it

[miriam_e]

When I meet people and discussion falls to computers, as it often does, I've often been surprised at how few people know of Linux. They generally think that putting up with Microsoft Windows is their only option. When told that Linux is a free operating system that can either replace, or co-exist with Microsoft Windows they tend to be either surprised or skeptical. This astounds me. How did Microsoft manage to so impoverish the computing world? Not only have they retarded computing technology by a decade or more, but they have blinded many people to even the possibility of advancement -- a very sad state of affairs.

Thank heavens it is slowly changing. Years ago Linux was something only computer geeks used. Now I know a broad range (but still a tiny minority) of people who have dropped Microsoft Windows, preferring the safety and lower cost of Linux... and in the case of Puppy Linux, the ease of use, speed, tiny size, and ability to revive old computers making them usable again. I think part of the change is coming simply from word of mouth, but also from live CDs, where people can try Linux before installing it on their machines.

On that last point, I've noticed an annoying number of computers recently that have their BIOS set up to prevent booting from a CD. It is easy to change, but most people don't even know what a BIOS is, let alone how to go into their SETUP to change the boot-device order. [sigh]

A ray of hope: lately Linux users seem to outnumber Apple Mac users on the net. (Thank heavens Apple didn't win the war for the desktop -- computer use would be even further retarded than with Microsoft. Apple are masters of propaganda.)

Comments

[beyondfake-0.livejournal.com]

You forget that Microsoft isn't alone, and that Apple has its share of responsibility of retarding the computer world. Actually I would think that they are more responsible than Microsoft. But that is a huge can of worms that I will refrain from getting into.

I love Linux, I have Ubuntu on my Eeepc. However, Ubuntu is the easiest of all the Linux OS to use. The vast majority of people are intimidated by technology so much, or they tell themselves they will never get it, so some thing like Linux is a little more intimidating for people to learn.

I have Windows 7 on my desktop, and I love it. Some days it's nice to sit down and just have everything run smoothly, and not have to worry about software issues.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I agree totally. Apple is even more anti-technology than Microsoft -- that's epitomised by the single mouse button silliness, but there are many other things they have done to retard change -- their motto seems to be dumb down, but make pretty. Worse than that is their compulsion to control everything. Thank heavens they didn't end up controlling the world.

My computers are all old and slow so Ubuntu, Windows, and most distributions of Linux are too big and too slow for them. Puppy fits perfectly.

Installing software is still the biggest problem for Linux, though it is getting better.

Windows 7 works nicely... until it doesn't. My nephew is a great fan of it and has had to re-install a number of times already because of infections, and I notice everytime I show him stuff from one of my thumbdrives when I look at the drive on my machines later it always has a virus posing as autorun.inf on it. It is lovely to know it can't affect my computers. :)