What sends noobs running back to Windows?

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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by RetroRemix »

Ummm...I'm not really sure how to explain my views better without telling a long winded story, so here goes:

I first started with Linux way back in maybe 2009-2011, back when Linux distros used to come on magazine CD/DVDs, and I was persuaded by a friend to try out Ubuntu because he had it on his computer at home and loved it. I had never known much of the OS nor ever picked up that Linux magazine before, but I went ahead and installed it to try out something new and different.

While for the most part I enjoyed it, I was a fresh Linux newbie back then and I also had an unhealthy urge to click and install nearly everything I came across in synaptic and software manager and try every option out that looked like it did something cool, and the idea of sudo apt get was almost like magic to me, even though it's basically ubuntu software centre without the GUI, I didn't know back then... it was just so cool having the computer go online and fetch software for you... i tried to install Tomb Raider Underworld that way by putting a website link to the EXE in there for it to fetch, thinking Linux just ran Windows software natively and not knowing of wine yet LOL :oops:

But it didn't take me long to fiddle with something I shouldn't have and break it, it even got so bad that I messed up the dual boot too, so I ended up running away from the thing scared and reinstalling windows vowing never to touch it again.

But I didn't stick to that vow, for some reason a part of my heart had fallen in love with Linux.. and over the years I would use Windows for the most part but every so often I would have the urge to download a distro and see what was new. I don't know why, I found it complicated as heck, I couldn't install my GPU drivers right, something always used to go wrong somewhere because I did something silly.. but every time I came back, every time I screwed up, I also started learning more and more how to fix things and then that eventually led on to me wanting to learn almost every part of what made it tick too.

Every time I come back to Linux, I always switch back to Windows, but then I go back to Linux again. My brain is always going to be in that constant swinging back and forth about it (I'm like this with many other things, even the simple choices lol) but I love them both.

But with Linux, every time I come back I see improvements... I see a new and better way of doing something that wasn't there before, sometimes I see something completely new and just as amazing to my nerd brain is the fact that all the old ways of doing things in Linux are still valid too. You can run the entire thing from the command line if you want, because all the old commands are still there... and it's cool to see that even ancient games, like Micropolis, are still being compiled and updated for modern Linux by the repo authors!

It's not like Windows, where you can download a 23 year old binary and expect it to work for sure. In Windows I guess old software is frozen in time because it was closed source, or the developer saw it as a finished product... but in Linux it's different because the repo authors are still getting their hands on that old source code, looking at it, fixing it, going through it and compiling it for us to download.

Or you can just grab the source yourself and do it... either way, it's like Linux open source software is alive in a sense because it's always changing and being fixed and updated, and that's part of the magic of it. :shock:

Writing this now, I probably will do something stupid to my Linux install, and end up screaming and running back to Windows.. but this panicked noob is a different one compared to the panicked noob that ran away from Ubuntu the first time, this one knows far more terminal commands than then, knows how to fix some Linux things at least, and has an ever growing appreciation and knowledge for everything Linux and Open Source.

Every time I come back, I love it more. And I can only dream what Linux be look like in 10, 50, even 100 years :D

So yes, maybe there are more like me out there, always changing back and forth in Linux (and maybe life too), and falling in love that bit more each time they come back here. Hope it helps you understand.

I know this is a long read, but I get carried away sometimes :!:
Last edited by RetroRemix on Tue May 03, 2022 6:59 am, edited 7 times in total.
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Lady Fitzgerald
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Lady Fitzgerald »

diabolicbg wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 3:52 am ...behind every faulty computer is a person who "did nothing". :lol:
Horsefeathers!
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To ensure the safety of your data, you have to be proactive, not reactive, so, back it up!
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by RollyShed »

Valsodar wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 9:33 pm
What sends noobs running back to Windows?
The constantly breaking packages on their own for no reason + the lack of clarity on how to fix them. Before I switched to Arch, I used Mint for 4 years (mostly 18.3 and for a short period of time - 17.3) and in all that time I had many cases where I was watching a movie and suddenly out of nowhere during the movie there was this message "you have broken packages"
What was causing that? In all the time, a decade or more, I've never had that happen. My partner since 2018, never had that happen.

So what installation failure did you have which caused it?

Oops, one installation had a bit of a problem. The disk rattled, computer had probably been dropped, so I replaced it and no further problems..
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Valsodar »

RollyShed wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 5:13 am What was causing that?
IDK, I was never able to find out. I've had cases where it happened right after first boot of fresh install of Mint. My best guess is it's because the package manager sometimes installs dependencies along with the main program but when you uninstall the program, it removes only the program but not the dependencies which makes a mess in the system.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by RollyShed »

Valsodar wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 6:52 am
RollyShed wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 5:13 am What was causing that?
IDK, I was never able to find out. I've had cases where it happened right after first boot of fresh install of Mint.
Have you done updates before using the new installation?
I find updates take almost as long as an installation. Full installation, depending on the computer, about 8 minutes.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Valsodar »

RollyShed wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 7:50 am Have you done updates before using the new installation?
Yes, I have, every time.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by majpooper »

Valsodar wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 8:01 am
RollyShed wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 7:50 am Have you done updates before using the new installation?
Yes, I have, every time.

Code: Select all

sudo apt autoremove
cleans up the the unneeded dependencies

I don't doubt your experience because there are so many variables involved - your hardware, what set of packages installed, what you have added and removed and how , tweaks you make and how on and on and on. I have heard complaints from Windows users that their computer keeps on freezing up and they have done nothing. I have moved such a user to linux and they have been ecstatic their old PC is snappy again no more freezing etc. And yet they claim they do the same exact tasks, email, banking, facebook etc. that they did on Windows nothing different, so . . . . ? ? ? . On the other hand I helped eight folks move from Windows to Mint and two went back to Windows. So as I don't doubt your experience in that you have done nothing I do believe it's rare for the vast majority of casual or general linux users - for hacks like me who basically are analogous to a monkey with a machine gun when it comes to playing with linux . . . . . yeah I think I have been diligent in finding as many ways as I possibly could to break my system which is why I can do a fresh install purely on muscle memory, not that I haven't broken a few of those as well. Linux is not going to be your cup of tea if it is not working for you - I get that - Windows was not mine that's for sure.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Valsodar »

Back then I was a true noob, so who knows what I might have done not knowing it. :lol: In any case nowadays I'm so... accustom to Arch, that I can't use anything else, it's just not the same experience. Now I use Live Mint only for operations that require the OS to be shut down (or if there are boot problems with the OS), like editing fstab or restoring grub.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by RollyShed »

Yes, an odd problem. Majpooper's suggestion might help.
Valsodar wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 10:11 am Now I use Live Mint only for operations that require the OS to be shut down (or if there are boot problems with the OS), like editing fstab or restoring grub.
Do you mean you don't normally switch OFF at night or after finishing using a computer? We always have with any type of computer, always switched OFF totally, laptops and desktops no matter what system has been installed.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Valsodar »

RollyShed wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 4:19 pm Do you mean you don't normally switch OFF at night or after finishing using a computer?
Yes, that's what I mean. I put it to sleep, that's not a shut down. Aside from software emergencies, the only time I actually shut it down and unplug it from the power outlets is when I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by MurphCID »

Lady Fitzgerald wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 5:02 am
diabolicbg wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 3:52 am ...behind every faulty computer is a person who "did nothing". :lol:
Horsefeathers!
Agreed. Some are just cursed.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Lady Fitzgerald »

MurphCID wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 8:09 pm
Lady Fitzgerald wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 5:02 am
diabolicbg wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 3:52 am ...behind every faulty computer is a person who "did nothing". :lol:
Horsefeathers!
Agreed. Some are just cursed.
Or should be. :wink:
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by majpooper »

MurphCID wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 8:09 pm
Lady Fitzgerald wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 5:02 am
diabolicbg wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 3:52 am ...behind every faulty computer is a person who "did nothing". :lol:
Horsefeathers!
Agreed. Some are just cursed.
Maybe - but . . . . . OK, some how a year or so ago my wife's Documents folder just mysteriously vanished. And she swore she did nothing.
I am pretty sure she did something . . . . and I am also pretty sure she was totally oblivious to what she did. But in her reality it just disappeared.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by RollyShed »

Valsodar wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 6:12 pm
RollyShed wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 4:19 pm Do you mean you don't normally switch OFF at night or after finishing using a computer?
Yes, that's what I mean. I put it to sleep, that's not a shut down.
Hmmm, save the planet waste as much energy as possible?
Switched off means fans not running and wearing out bearings to start with. Heat not degrading components either.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Drugwash »

majpooper wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 5:03 pm OK, some how a year or so ago my wife's Documents folder just mysteriously vanished. And she swore she did nothing.
Things like that happened in "modern" Windows after a certain borked update. Lots of people lost contact with some data folders.
Major screw-ups can happen at any time in any OS due to minor, apparently insignificant changes. Or bugs.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by MurphCID »

majpooper wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 5:03 pm
MurphCID wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 8:09 pm
Lady Fitzgerald wrote: Tue May 03, 2022 5:02 am

Horsefeathers!
Agreed. Some are just cursed.
Maybe - but . . . . . OK, some how a year or so ago my wife's Documents folder just mysteriously vanished. And she swore she did nothing.
I am pretty sure she did something . . . . and I am also pretty sure she was totally oblivious to what she did. But in her reality it just disappeared.
We had a Windows update at work, a big one and it borked a half a dozen systems.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by Valsodar »

RollyShed wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 6:02 pm fans not running and wearing out bearings to start with. Heat not degrading components either.
Image Image Image

What do you think sleep is? Dude, go educate yourself, please, you're embarrassing yourself! :lol:
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by RollyShed »

Valsodar wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 9:08 pmWhat do you think sleep is?
OK, Sleep is fans off but monitors still on.

Are you talking about laptops or desktops? Here that would mean desktops and four monitors still running unless specifically turned off. Printer, is it OFF too? Sound system, OFF?

Note four monitors for two computers. I've only been running two monitors per computer for 30+ years and previous to flat screen, the old CRT monitors definitely drew appreciable power.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by smurphos »

Sleep (suspend to RAM) on any sensible system powers only the RAM, and enough juice to whatever input devices the machine has set up to wake from sleep. No output to screens so the screens power saving mode should kick in, if it's a seperate monitor, a laptop screen will just be off.
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Re: What sends noobs running back to Windows?

Post by MurphCID »

Never use either, I shut down completely when I am done using my computers.
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