Why do new people give up on Linux?

[kindofabuzz]

But until Linux is as easy to use as Windows XP (what I'm on at the moment), I'll be sticking with it as long as it's supported!

It is just as easy. It's just different. Once you learn it you will never want to go back to Windows. I got on an XP system last week and was like "confused is this unicorns??" I had no idea how to get around or do anything really. I guess that's how Windows users feel when they get on a Linux system. Take a little time to learn Linux and see where the real power is. With Windows, you are told what to do. Linux = freedom to do what YOU want to do.

[JeffShepherd]

It is just as easy. It's just different. Once you learn it you will never want to go back to Windows. I got on an XP system last week and was like "*** is this ****??" I had no idea how to get around or do anything really. I guess that's how Windows users feel when they get on a Linux system. Take a little time to learn Linux and see where the real power is. With Windows, you are told what to do. Linux = freedom to do what YOU want to do.

I have just spent most of last week and today trying to install Ubuntu 11.04 and have now given up with it. Prior to that Mint 10 screwed up my hard drive completely.

More than half of the distros I have tried do not want to install.

I have installed windows several times as well as upgrading from one version to another with absolutely no problems at all.

I don't need to keep typing in passwords in Windows but in Linux it seems I have to everytime I want to do something, this is one of my pet hates with Linux. Another pet hate is the seemingly constant need to use the terminal, sudo apt etc, I do not need to do anything like that in windows.

I feel the sheer number of different distros is also off putting for people wanting to try out Linux and the different desktops.

In Linux's favour I do think it has come a long way since I have started dabbling with it and it is getting closer to what I would call "usable". Eventually I would like to migrate to Linux permanently but there are a couple of programs I use that are Windows only and from what I have read it is a complete pig to get them working through wine and since I use these programs a lot Windows still needs to be my main OS.

[AdamS]

I have just spent most of last week and today trying to install Ubuntu 11.04 and have now given up with it. Prior to that Mint 10 screwed up my hard drive completely.

More than half of the distros I have tried do not want to install.

I have installed windows several times as well as upgrading from one version to another with absolutely no problems at all.

I don't need to keep typing in passwords in Windows but in Linux it seems I have to everytime I want to do something, this is one of my pet hates with Linux. Another pet hate is the seemingly constant need to use the terminal, sudo apt etc, I do not need to do anything like that in windows.

I feel the sheer number of different distros is also off putting for people wanting to try out Linux and the different desktops.

In Linux's favour I do think it has come a long way since I have started dabbling with it and it is getting closer to what I would call "usable". Eventually I would like to migrate to Linux permanently but there are a couple of programs I use that are Windows only and from what I have read it is a complete pig to get them working through wine and since I use these programs a lot Windows still needs to be my main OS.

1. I have installed Linux on 643 systems to date.

Some more then once, due to the want to try newer and better when it comes out. Facts are the installs have ALL been far far easier and better then windows in every way.

So your complication makes utterly no reasonable sense to me. Even if I hit a wall with a system and a distro, I have ALWAYS found a distro that works. This is an extremely rare occasion.


2. Windows suffers from viruses in the BILLIONS. Every time I convert a client to linux from windows has been due to infections. 18.5 months later, not one infection on any linux system yet. Thus the need to enter your SUDO password to install and make changes, pails in comparison to needing to use anti virus and anti malware BS. Just because windows lacks any security to safe guard its systems like linux uses.

18.5 years of windows used and sold and only 18 months of linux. I will never go back, Linux has reduced my problems from clients 10,000 fold.

So from were I stand, best of luck with your (trapped for life and a great expense os) called windows lol. Your going to need it.

[exploder]

People give up on Linux because to many distributions are released with major bugs and regressions. Also, people want updated applications without re-installing every 6 months and I don't blame them. I put PCLinuxOS KDE test 2 on 3 computers today without a single problem. I let people try out the install on my computer and explain to them that it is a rolling release and they want it! The new artwork gives a nice streamlined look that's not so different from Windows 7 and people seem to get comfortable with it pretty fast. I have given people PCLinuxOS KDE disks at work and they always end up installing it and liking it. You get a distro with good hardware support, nice default look and a rolling release and people really start to enjoy using Linux. I can't wait for the final release of PCLinuxOS 2011 KDE so I can convert more people to running Linux!

[jroa]

I feel the sheer number of different distros is also off putting for people wanting to try out Linux and the different desktops.

I know exactly what you mean. With thousands of different choices, it can be very confusing for a curious Windows user to even know where to start as far as choosing a Linux distribution. We all think that it is great to have so many choices, but a Windows user who wants to try Linux could get confused and frustrated just trying to decide on a distro. It would be like going to a restaurant in a foreign country and trying to pick a meal from a menu that you can not read.

[Elisa]

...It would be like going to a restaurant in a foreign country and trying to pick a meal from a menu that you can not read.

I don't think so because if u r not stupid and can at least to read, there is almost om every serious page information which distro is for newbies.
If a user is not a newbie there is no place for a debate about disappointing of a hard question - which distro to choose, right ?

[AlbertP]

It is sometimes really not needed to use terminal, but some people in the forum prefer terminal commands, instead of the GUI and thus also tell newbies to use terminal. You should tell a newbie to use Software Manager instead of apt-get and right-click a file > Open as Root if gksu gedit ... gets a long command. And cd'ing to a folder is just confusing. Right-clicking the folder > Open in Terminal is in my opinion easier for people new to Linux.
It also happens that people that want to be helpful, don't know that there is a GUI way of doing something.

[Elisa]

...It also happens that people that want to be helpful, don't know that there is a GUI way of doing something.

Who, who can manage CLI doesn't know any of its GUI alternative?
I mostly point to CLI to show that CLI is not your enemy, it's a big and powerful and quick tool.
As for apps CLI apps save a lot of RAM, e.g. amarok is RAM sucker, use mplayer-nogui, rtorrent is cool torrent client and e.g. irssi is a cool irc client, finch is a cool chat (IM) app, mutt is fine mail client end so on and so on.
BTW try to compare when u run a GUI app how much RAM it sux and the same purpose but CLI app, u'll see

[AlbertP]

But newbies sometimes start to dislike Linux because they seem to need CLI for everything. That's what I wanted to tell.

[Elisa]

That's on the way how you teach Linux
It's needed to explain that there are more ways how to hit the target and show the differences or + or - of them...

If even a newbie should seek long in menu tree how to do or where is something, then it'd be useful, like we did in school, put down the notes
One line in CLI is quicker then...

[MALsPa]

Right-clicking the folder > Open in Terminal is in my opinion easier for people new to Linux.

That kind of thing helped me a lot when I was starting out. Looking at directories in a file manager, then opening a terminal and looking at the same directories there. I remember using the embedded terminal emulator a lot in Konqueror, just trying to get an idea of what was going on.

[MALsPa]

Why do new people give up on Linux?
Because some things are simply not meant to be.

I do think that sums it up quite well!

For a lot of people it would be so much better to just get computer that already comes with Linux instead of having to figure out how to install it themselves. Some people say that starting out with Linux pre-installed doesn't help you to learn Linux as well, but it's kind of nice to just get up and running and go slowly and get a feel for things.

I got a Linux computer and I just played around with it for about a year before I even tried to install Linux on my own. That year I spent just messing around with that computer really sold me on Linux; I still had my XP computer, and I could see for myself how much less maintenance the Linux computer required over the course of that year.

I guess it depends on the person, but I know I didn't want to try installing Linux at first. It's kinda funny to think back on that now because I've done tons of installations and it's no big deal at all. But back then I was completely intimidated by the thought of doing a Linux installation.

[AlbertP]

I'm helping someone with a dual-boot, where Mint 10 did not need any maintenance at all (except from setting up the printer a 2nd time after its IP was set fixed). And I'm often busy for a whole evening to solve Windows XP problems. Even though it's a computer with SiS graphics (Mint is stuck to Vesa but that's no real problem - will replace it with an ATI lying around as soon as I get time for that).

[owend]

I enjoy messing with computers and their settings in an amateur sort of way, and installing different distros for fun/learning/distraction, and when I need to actually work I find a Linux distro more productive than Windows XP (hated Vista!). I currently run Mint 10, only blip is my Canon scanner which has (of course) no Linux driver, so I run it through WinXP in Virtualbox, it's a couple of clicks from one to the other. I'd never go back to Windows.

The terminal is an option, I find that almost everything can be done through the GUI - the main exception is updating Grub 2, which is due to my own messing around, not Linux, which, with Mint at least, sets up Grub 2 automatically for multi-boot (I've got 4 distros live at present, LMDE, Mint 9, Mint 10, Suse 11.4).

And lastly, I LIKE the password requests! They don't take up much time, and they stop you doing stupid things without having to at least think first in, for example, Gparted. I can still be stupid, but at least I can't blame the machine.

[The-Wizard]

mine worked with simple scan [Linux generic drivers]

[ronandiver]

....and then there are the totally PC inept,like me,who in their madness download everything known to man when i had windows XP...and killed my machine.

I have to admit,i'd no idea what Linux was....was offered a £100 new windows or Linux for free...guess what ?

It's a great O/S.....can't ever see me going back.

FORZA LINUX !!!!

[owend]

The-Wizard: I'm all eyes! I've tried Simple Scan, and I get the message "No scanners detected", although it's powered on and connected. Have you added any extra drivers or changed settings anywhere?

[AdamS]

alt f2

select the box run in terminal

type in exactly like this

Screenshot-9.png (157.95 KiB) Viewed 1735 times

or for simple scan

Screenshot-10.png (227.27 KiB) Viewed 1734 times

[The-Wizard]

owend

no nothing special just had it plugged in and switched on Before i loaded Mint [mind you it is 10 yrs old but seldom used]

[owend]

Guru: tried both approaches and got the same response - I get the same response "No scanners detected"