Linux is Not Windows

[DrHu]

No appeal to newcomers is needed, no appeal to commercialization is needed
--companies in that business can make up their own minds; how to play this game

Linux is not windows
--that is a reality and not an excuse; no excuse/reason is needed
Linux is Linux, windows is windows, OSX is OSX; that's it

It (Linux) shouldn't try to be, that is a Microsoft game: I don't see Apple's OSX playing it that way; Linux distribution in the main, except for a few commercial types, has even less need than Apple to match, be similar to or otherwise follow Microsoft foot-thumps..

The excuses as to why Linux must/should follow Microsoft's de facto *ad-hoc standards in the various windows OS's and office suite applications are just that; an excuse not to have to learn anything new
--this is what (in micro computer histories) caused/allowed Lotus to try to provide a word processor within their Lotus 123 spreadsheet application; why it failed against excel is another matter, and nothing to do with that products value..

[DrHu]

To speak frankly, few years ago I installed Linux but last time I don't have any good internet connection and it seems Linux are very depending on it's repro's ( CMIIW ) any many things have to be downloaded to work on your system.
I am an end user, I want my computer helping me to do my job, instead of me spending time to fine tuning, learning more difficult things. All I just want OS that work out of the box straightly. People like me usually willing to pay what Ms offered.
It's been three days I am fully using this OS on my computer at home. I think first impression count a lot !!!

Maybe windows users don't realize/recognize that windows also needs to connect to the Internet to work correctly,
--to wit: using updated drivers, security patches and if you have an anti-virus or security suite installed: application updates/security patches..

[av1611]

and a feedback on gaming on it

For 'real' gaming things like VMware and VirtualBox are way too slow because they have too much overhead (they simulate an entire PC). For such stuff WINE or Cedega are better suited (they just emulate the API; games think they're running on Windows + DirectX).

If wine ever could get to the point that It could handle games and Punkbuster, I would never use windows again. ...or if we returned to the good old days when game vendors included linux and mac versions

[Committed]

Great article. My sentiments exactly. Linux is not for everbody that's for sure, but imo it is the most customizable and flexible OS there is.

Now if I could only run Quickbooks, windoze would be gone from my life completely. Well except for maintaining my wifes machine. Just yesterday had to clean house for her as Vista slowed to a crawl. She thinks linux is for geeks like me. I thought Mint would get her attention but she's so stubborn. I guess best leave her with her Vista. At least I got her on OpenOffice.

[DrHu]

While I agree that anyone who takes the time to read such articles might better appreciate what Linux offers, I have a feeling that not many will take that time...

Another approach is to simply ignore the chatter that is windows, and only present that which is Linux
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ubu ... ,2293.html

Before rolling your eyes at yet another perceived Linux fanboy, let me start by saying that I love Windows. I've been a Windows user since 1995, and before that, I used MS-DOS. I had Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE. I even went out and bought a copy of Millennium Edition (Ed.: we're sorry, Adam). I was a beta tester and early adopter of Windows XP. I made sure to get my hands on the beta of Windows 7 and I've never even considered switching to a Mac.

I don't subscribe to the lunatic fringe's view that Microsoft is Big Brother or that Bill Gates is evil. Windows Vista didn't steal my girl, wreck my truck, or kill my dog. It's just utterly disappointing and incredibly overpriced.

This approach, simply showing/emphasizing how Linux works and what it offers; no comparisons, no windows does this<-->Linux does this; which probably bores most windows users

Even if the MAC ads were funny
--Microsoft has come back with their I'm four or I am a senior and I'm a PC ads, not in the least funny,

[markcynt]

Another approach is to simply ignore the chatter that is windows, and only present that which is Linux
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ubu ... ,2293.html

I read that article and thought it was the best Linux article for the masses that I ever read.

[yateesh]

thaks for putting up that link, was quite nice reading it. especially liked the lego example
i'm here to stay

[anthony18]

I like that article too. I think there goes a trend to make some distris too windows like, which I - honestly - don't like too much, although I'm involved in one.

[RyanB]

An awesome piece of work ! This should slap the face of those newbies who want to be spoon-fed! (there are none here, I suppose)

[truckerjay]

Nice article. I'm new to linux and want to learn how to make it dance. On the net where is the best place to learn? I have mint7 but plan to dual boot a no frills basic distro to work on to learn.

[dlkreations]

Nice article. I'm new to linux and want to learn how to make it dance. On the net where is the best place to learn? I have mint7 but plan to dual boot a no frills basic distro to work on to learn.

Why dual boot when you can run any distribution you desire in Virtualbox? That way if you by chance bork your virtual machine, you don't take the whole computer down with it.

[smokeymtn_ron]

dlkreations,

I have mint7 but plan to dual boot a no frills basic distro to work on to learn.

I would like to do the same thing.

Why dual boot when you can run any distribution you desire in Virtualbox? That way if you by chance bork your virtual machine, you don't take the whole computer down with it.

Sorry if this a dumb question , is Virtualbox already installed, and how do I put another distro in it? Will this option slow my Mint down? Can you recommend a basic distro with the same things on it as Mint 7 (such as terminal and a few other basics) so I can practice and learn?

[dlkreations]

dlkreations,

Sorry if this a dumb question , is Virtualbox already installed, and how do I put another distro in it? Will this option slow my Mint down? Can you recommend a basic distro with the same things on it as Mint 7 (such as terminal and a few other basics) so I can practice and learn?

This has been said before but I will add it here... the only dumb question is the one not asked... But no, Virtualbox is not install by default.

Your best bet would be to click your menu, and open the terminal. Once you are there, type this:

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sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose

Insert your password, and it will install Virtualbox for you.

However, if you want the newest one, go to http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads, choose the link for Jaunty, and click the link for which architecture you have, either 32bit or 64bit; download it and install.

There is a User Manual on their site on how to properly set up Virtualbox for a Linux or Windows OS.

[absheva]

I am also new to Mint. I have almost three hours of experience, though I have been using Ubuntu since Gutsy. I am in a VirtualBox session right now. My host system is XP. I am currently running an Ubuntu session and this Mint session. It is really easy to compare the two. I built a Vista session but rarely use it.

I am almost positive that VirtualBox can have a Linux OS be the host but I have not tried it that way.

In my layman's understanding VirtualBox is a program that runs on a host operating system. Inside that program you can create what appear to be computers (maybe that's where they came up with the name VirtualBox )

I am not sure I understand your reasoning for a stripped down version. It sounds like you already have Mint installed. You could then load the VirtualBox application. Then in that application you could create a machine and load Mint in there. You would be free to experiment to your hearts content on the Mint in the VirtualBox. If things really go bad you could just delete that machine within VirtualBox and start over.

If all your work and experimenting is done on the Mint in the VirtualBox what would you be running the host Mint OS that your worried about slowing down?

Just some thoughts. YMMV

[truckerjay]

Already read that was a great article. IMHO linuxmint is better than windows in many ways. I am an avid Vista hater couldn't wait to get rid of it. Love the community that helps and love that you can work with linux to make it what you want. Of course learning how takes time.

[smokeymtn_ron]

This is why I like Mint so much!! Thanks for the great answers! As soon as I finish writing this I'll give it a try.

I am not sure I understand your reasoning for a stripped down version. It sounds like you already have Mint installed. You could then load the VirtualBox application. Then in that application you could create a machine and load Mint in there. You would be free to experiment to your hearts content on the Mint in the VirtualBox. If things really go bad you could just delete that machine within VirtualBox and start over

absheva,
I think I must have been brain dead yesterday You are right. I was thinking about dual booting instead of virtualbox.

[minTusual]

I use Linux since 2 years, and I think this article well explain all things that are usefully for new user and not. Great document!

[tacoz]

After working with M$ platforms for so long--as in 1981 when I was asked for DOS support just because I was a COBOL programmer... go figure--when a Mint Live CD came attached with a local magazine I was curious to give it one more try!

Prior to that my first attempt at Linux started when I bought a Caldera CD on-line. It was a frustrating experience and sometime in the second month I reinstalled Windows. However my real transition to Linux started with SUSE 9.1 and over the Christmas holidays of 2004, the upgrade to 9.2 further cemented this transition somewhat. Being Novell users back then, we followed the acquisition of SUSE with some interest and when version 10 of openSUSE became available, I guess my work colleague and I were sold on using Linux but we were still dual-booting with Windows.

I can recall back then we were forever amazed at the interest with Ubuntu. We couldn't appreciate the sentiments and accolades for that distro. Understand that for South Africans most of us consider Mark Shuttleworth a modern hero... and as geeks we were kinda awestruck anyway beyond just that, but that Ubuntu thing just didn't cut it for us in our M$ world in the workplace. Then that Mint Cassandra CD arrived... and redefined our Linux journey and put the first nail in coffin of the dual-boot thingy.

In the workplace, I stopped dual-booting sometime after Elyssa and the discovery of innotek's (back then) VirtualBox. I now work comfortably in both environments. Work related processes run in rdesktop or virtualbox and everything else is hosted on Mint. BTW being a MCSE+I my web server of choice on Mint is lighttpd. I guess the point is... this article (Linux is Not Windows) reflects my journey and yes... at home my PC only runs Mint. My transition wasn't easy... but I did it and I'm still learning... and lovin' the experience!

[DrHu]

After working with M$ platforms for so long--as in 1981 when I was asked for DOS support just because I was a COBOL programmer... go figure--
...
BTW being a MCSE+I my web server of choice on Mint is lighttpd. I guess the point is... this article (Linux is Not Windows) reflects my journey and yes... at home my PC only runs Mint. My transition wasn't easy... but I did it and I'm still learning... and lovin' the experience!

That's just IT hierarchy working well: nothing to worry about.
--for the same reason they put accountants in charge of IT processes and not just procurements..

And don't hire artists, which is what you really need for imaginative viewpoints (creativity).
C'est la vie
--or as Annie Hall said it "lah de dah, lah-lah"

BTW being a MCSE+I...
Nice to see a journey instead of only nit-picking against Foss, Linux, etcetera..
--now I just wish governments (which have all that public money to spend) would get on the same path: this has been quite the struggle, and so far without great success, just because Linux is not windows..

[gcampton]

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Windows user: I wanted a new toy car, and everybody's raving about how great Lego cars can be. So I bought some Lego, but when I got home, I just had a load of bricks and cogs and stuff in the box. Where's my car??

Linux user: You have to build the car out of the bricks. That's the whole point of Lego.

Windows user: What?? I don't know how to build a car. I'm not a mechanic. How am I supposed to know how to put it all together??

Linux user: There's a leaflet that came in the box. It tells you exactly how to put the bricks together to get a toy car. You don't need to know how, you just need to follow the instructions.

Windows user: Okay, I found the instructions. It's going to take me hours! Why can't they just sell it as a toy car, instead of making you have to build it??

Linux user: Because not everybody wants to make a toy car with Lego. It can be made into anything we like. That's the whole point.

Windows user: I still don't see why they can't supply it as a car so people who want a car have got one, and other people can take it apart if they want to. Anyway, I finally got it put together, but some bits come off occasionally. What do I do about this? Can I glue it?

Linux user: It's Lego. It's designed to come apart. That's the whole point.

Windows user: But I don't want it to come apart. I just want a toy car!

Linux user: Then why on Earth did you buy a box of Lego??

I rolf'ed at this.... Mostly because I was the same way when I first discovered linux.