I, for one, have been an avid Linux user since 1996.
If you want to convince people to try out a different OS, you have to show them benefits. The old arguments are tired...you can't just say "there are alternatives" or "open source is kewl")
Get a little more detailed, open it up for discussion...
Did you know that Windows is the most supported OS of them all? Did you know that if you dont want to have to write your own drivers, wait 6 months for games to be ported, and not have to worry about software not being compatible with your OS that Windows is actually a decent OS? XP so far has been terrific, I've had very few problems with it. I'd only use an alternate OS if the software/hardware support was near or on par with the Windows OS.
Face it, we live in an individualistic society. In such a society, people care about the benefits, not the features. Linux can be all these great things, but still...
1. Network File System (SMB & NFS) support from the file manager is lacking 2. Gaming is lacking 3. Office is lacking 4. Multimedia is lacking 5. Support is lacking
Look, I'm a Linux enthusiast...but how can I expect to sell the home desktop user on the benefits of linux when there are 5 HUGE detriments right there....*shrug*
Not really much that can be done....except keep working on those big ones.
Give me a linux OS that runs 3d max and all adobe products and I'm there. And WINE is not an option. I want native support. That's all.
So instead of trying to convert users why don't email discreet, adobe, macromedia, etc and tell them they have 1000s of customers waiting. I'd appreciate it. :)
there are reasons to use linux (or any flavor of *nix for that matter). none of them urge me stronly enough to make me want to spend the mass amounts of time on learning it though.
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no one sleeps yet. let's keep it going until the morning.
well colossus said it.... get the big firms to the point they do support *nix... and you'll see how fast it goes....
no alternatives to adobe on *nix..... and come-on dont say gimp *lol* *cmyk*?! =)
no alternatives to macromedia.......
and so on... but anyways i love my debian... and would never give it up -> well at home... really working on it is nearly impossible - coding works - but nothing design/dtp/multimedia related....... its a pity...
I used to despise Microsoft (Windows) before XP, but now im a fanboy, i admit. It has (as gearman stated) the most widely supported driver database, and, yes people, believe it or not, it's STABLE! I've had my system at times, running for 3 or 4 months, literally, with everyday use (gaming, internet, 3d work, etc.) and not a single problem. People who complain "Oh windows doesnt support my scanner or my webcam" really need to think about possibly getting new hardware rather than using what they dug out of their closet from 5 years ago. XP is a god-send IMO from Microsoft, and I see absolutely NO reason to use anything else. Sure, *nix is fun, but who would (as mojo said) want to spend so much time learning how to do things? Who wants to , EVERYTIME they install something, go into terminal and type sh ./install or whatever it is, chmod things, this or that, when you can simply double click and icon and have Windows do it for ya? Easiness is the key here, and when it comes down to it, Windows has it, *nix doesn't.
:I'd walk a million miles for your love, I'd walk a million more for that little thing you do with your tongue :
1) The vast majority. That may be the reason it has such wide support.
2) Uh, not all that many of us.
3) There are people out there (there being a small, neglected, tribal island in the South Pacific) who, having never seen a computer, do not realise that they come in more than one flavor. You will not meet these people online. Especially not here. Seriously.
4) I have been, but MS has never scarred me the way that my few Mac experiences have. I'll get back to you on Linux-I've been meaning to install it for months, but I've been procrastinating.
I'm sure this has been said already, but I don't feel like reading all the other replies. It's not that easy to just switch to another OS. Mac's are expensive, linux doesn't offer the same software that windows does. This is the state of things, and as much as it may suck there's not that much that can be done about it. To summarize, yes most people have realized how bad windows is, but most people are stuck with it for whatever reason.
i hate MS as much as the next guy and would prefer a non-MS os just out of sheer spite for billy. however my reasons for not switching have already been stated in triplicate or more by the other folks here.
I've been using XP since it came out. I didnt think much of it while running it on a PIII 933MHZ. Was way too slow. Now on some decent new hardware, XP is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I honestly can't remember the last time my pc has crashed. That, to me, is not a terrible operating system.
I bet you 9 out of 10 people who hate Widows don't keep up with their systems on a regular basis like you should with any operating system. Alot of people don't relize how important that is and how it affects the performance of your system. It's not actually Windows that sux it's your system. Even if you have the most Pimped out , P4 3.06 processor 1gb ddr, 3200 GeForceFX 5600 ,2 200gb hard drives.
That's an example of my bosses computer that crashes all the time. why? because he doesn't keep up with his regular system maintenance. The only good thing linux is for, is the challenge. Windows has always been a good operating system. That's why Bill Gates is the riches man on Earth, thats way most software is made for Windows. Seriously what can a Mac do that a pc can't? So what they look pretty.Anyway ....uummm yeah that's all I have to say.
when i used linux for a few months (mandrake, quite a while ago), i found myself limited by it. (because everyone else on earth was using windows.) most linux distros have amazing potential, but as long as microsoft still owns the world it will be a slow battle.
my file server runs linux... it sits there, and stores files, quietly
it does a fine job of it
but it's worthless to attempt to play a game on, or type, or really do much of anything else besides store my files with minimal OS overhead.
_________________________________ New York, New York I won't go back Indelible reminder of the steel I lack I gave you seven years What did you give me back? A jaw-grind, disposistion to a panic attack
WYSIWYG is not the only way to go. There are amazing alternatives to MS Word, such as as LaTeX. If you really need to save to MS Word format, many LaTeX apps include an option to save to that format. Much more beautiful documents can be produced.
There is something to be said for being able to compile software for your own computer, so that it runs natively on your particular hardware. And it's not really that hard to open a Terminal window and type a few simple commands.
The best part: Unix is free, as are most Unix applications.
woah dude... you're right! it's not that linux is weak for lacking viable gaming, word processing, and an easy-to-use interface... it's that i'm weak for using my computer that way! :D
all this time wasted on design, games, office work...!! i could have been optimizing linux to run great on my cutting edge hardware...!
oh wait, there's no linux software that takes advantage of my cutting edge hardware. :.(
99% of people who use linux are just doing it for fun or for their webserver. it's its own beast, it's not in competition with windows. in any respect. at all. deal with it.
in xp i have never ever seen a blue screen... linux never used it so no comment on that.. i like xp (where is the blue screen ? and love the ctrl+alt+del combo).
Sure it's not hard to jump into a terminal and type some commands, but after this many years becoming accustomed to double clicking and letting the OS take care of everything, what "typical" consumer would wanna waste his/her time learning all this new crap to have what? a "different" OS, that isnt much more capable of anything but being a decent server OS?
Im not bashing linux at all, in fact I have Slackware, RH8 and 9, and some versions of Mandrake and SuSe, running my Half Life server and my Quake3 server, like i said, SERVER OS, i havnt been able to yet, find anything that linux does better than any Windows OS (besides supreme stability prior to 2k/XP)
:I'd walk a million miles for your love, I'd walk a million more for that little thing you do with your tongue :
