New Linux User » windows

Perceptions Against F/OSS and the Advent of

Clair Ching — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:53:53 +0000

Some people I know are closed-minded when it comes to using free and open source software. All of its flaws are magnified. None of the good things seem to stick in their minds. Well, maybe an application or two will be an exception. But I do encounter those who keep blaming the software for crashing or complain about the behavior of these applications. We’re all human, and it could be the lack of familiarity with these applications that make us feel very uncomfortable.

Having to learn about new software happens to us, whether it’s proprietary or free and/or open source. It’s just that I am bothered by how close-minded people could get. “If it’s not Windows, it sucks” and “I don’t trust how this software works because it’s just a free download so I get what I don’t pay for” are two things I dislike a lot. Why? Because it’s not fair to lump all free and open source software this way. It doesn’t help that manufacturers seem to give this image that only Microsoft is good. Asus with it’s campaign of “It’s better with Windows” and now with HP dropping the the Ubuntu-based Mi system from their HP Mini offering, I could only think of terrible conspiracy theories.

It feels like manufacturers are also powerless when it comes to resisting Microsoft’s software on their machines. They’re bound to support it. Acer, even if it will have Android on the newer Aspire One model, has Windows 7 too. Dagnabit, they all want to put Windows 7 on the spotlight. Maybe because it’s new and much better than Vista ever could be? Some people have weighed out the pros and cons of Windows 7 and I guess that if it works for you go get it. But see here, my issue is that why did these manufacturers take out the option for you to have your netbook run Linux? Is it just all marketing hype that’s why Windows 7 is becoming a new favorite of these manufacturers? Well, what?

Honestly, I am suspicious. Then again, if you’re one who’d be likely to think that it’s better to risk the ire of a seemingly small group of users of Linux than to risk your business then it’s your decision. But please back it up with better reasoning than “Windows® helps you quickly and easily get online and connect to your devices and services – without dealing with an unfamiliar environment or major compatibility issues.” If you’ve got someone who was using Windows XP switching over to Vista or Windows 7, things will be different. It looks somewhat familiar but not quite. Not everything’s the same as before.

So yeah, with the advent of Windows 7 I am expecting more FUD against Linux and free and open source software in general. But I know that the community is improving on the kernel as well as the distros and the other applications that come with it.

Post from: New Linux User

In the Beginning was the Command Line

Clair Ching — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:18:54 +0000

Every Linux geek I’ve met recommended an essay called “In the Beginning was the Command Line” by Neal Stephenson. I suppose that it’s a bit dated because some of the things that were true back during the time it was written don’t necessarily hold true anymore. In any case it really is an interesting read because it gives new Linux users insight and humor at the same time.

From that essay, you could learn something about Linux and other operating systems as well. I didn’t really know about BeOS until I read that essay. And there were other analogies that Neal Stephenson gave that made it easier for me to learn about Linux as well as free and open source software. You also learn about, well, the command line. I think that what he wrote here made me appreciate it a bit more.

For example,

The command line interface makes it easy for programs to dribble out little comments, warnings, and messages here and there. Even if the application is imploding like a damaged submarine, it can still usually eke out a little S.O.S. message.

And I have noticed my friends who would try to figure out errors by running applications with a graphical user interface on the command line. As the program runs, one could see on the command line what’s going on. Unlike in the GUI, it simply quits or exits. In that sense, the command line does win.

Also, in Neal Stephenson’s essay you will find comparisons between Linux, Windows and the Mac OS. I think that this was pre-OSX so it might look a bit weird to you. But he also mentions differences in how these operating systems are perceived by users. He also mentions how these operating systems are being marketed. Perspectives and paradigms associated with computers and these operating systems are noted. In some ways, I think that these perspectives still reflect society today. Windows and their marketing strategies, as well as their not so polished products that sell quite well; Apple and how different their business is from Microsoft; and how much Linux gives freedom to hackers.

For me, this essay gave me some kind of historical background as well as social and cultural aspects of operating systems. I hope you would enjoy reading it too. Check out these links if you want to read them:
In the Beginning was the Command Line 2004 (with annotations)
In the Beginning was the Command Line .zip file download.

Post from: New Linux User

On How Someone Migrated to Linux

Clair Ching — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:21:05 +0000

People are always looking for ways to make migration to Linux less worrisome and painful. There’s a two-part article on Linux Insider by Jack Germain. The first part talks about Linux sharing a room with Windows, and the second part talks about migrating to Linux without separation anxiety.

Ah yes. The experience of moving from Windows to Linux. It’s always something interesting to read because each one has a different story to tell. Some people do migrate to Linux immediately because they want to just get familiar right away and others take their time. Both are perfectly fine in my eyes because each of those methods seem to work best with particular types of people.

Linux from Within Windows

The first article talked about this and if not for the article, I wouldn’t have known that there’s such a thing as Portable Ubuntu. It lets you load Ubuntu while you are using Windows. You could run apps from within Ubuntu even if you are on Windows. One good thing about using Portable Ubuntu is that you don’t need to set up a virtual machine. And you don’t need to worry about rebooting, which is what you do with a live CD.

I wonder if other Linux distros are already available as a portable type of OS. I think that if users get to use it often enough, they would probably think of Linux distros as nothing too alien. Well, there’s always virtualization of the distro of their choice is not available as a portable version.

Migrating painlessly

The second part of the article talks about migrating painlessly from Windows to Linux. I saw that he talked about trying out free and open source software while he was in Windows. A lot of times people complain about not having anything to use in Linux but really, if they get exposed to other software, they’d most likely feel more comfortable about switching.

Getting familiar with new applications to regain the efficiency you had is not always easy. There would be times that you’d still look for that keyboard shortcut that you’ve been used to but it’s not always possible that things will work in the same way. In any case, if one does take enough time to learn new applications, then that’s something very good, especially when he/she switches to Linux.

I hope that more and more people will appreciate Linux more. Experiences like the ones mentioned above is simply awesome. I hope you get to share it with your friends.

Post from: New Linux User

Why People Give Up on Using Linux

Clair Ching — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:46:37 +0000

Keir Thomas’ article on the Top 7 Reasons People Quit Linux does reflect the reasons of most of my friends and colleagues who have tried it at least once in their lives.

The top reason in the article is “Linux doesn’t run a program I use.” And as much as there are many free and open source software out there, people have special needs and for that, special software is needed. Our graphics team in the office need the Adobe Creative Suite. They did try GIMP but it just didn’t cut it for them. This causes so much frustration and agony for users who want to be productive. So for them, Windows + Adobe Creative Suite is still the practical choice.

Linux & Windows

I personally have an idea of the pain people encounter for reason number 2: “I installed Linux, but some element of my hardware didn’t work!” My old laptop has a Broadcom driver and I had to go ask someone to really walk me through the entire deal of fixing it so that I could go online using wifi. If I didn’t have to help me with it, there’s the possibility of me quitting Linux as well. Unfortunately, this is sometimes related with the other reasons such as “I posted a message on a forum, but Linux people were mean to me” and more often than not, it is related to “I installed Linux and things went honey-nut-loops crazy.”

But here’s a question I’d like to ask, if those things made you give up, what would have convinced you otherwise?

Post from: New Linux User

Of Percentages

Clair Ching — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:19:40 +0000

The battle between Linux and Windows over the netbook market share has been the hot topic this week. So does Windows really have 96% share? Or is it less than that?

Linux & Windows

Who’s got the actual figures? I don’t. But does it bother me? No, because I believe that it’s way too complicated to base figures on any particular report considering that there might be more factors involved but are not mentioned.

Ah yes. The wonderful world of online news. We get bombarded by all these information but at the end of the day what is the relevance of all these things to new users? That 96% thing of Microsoft might persuade new Linux users to go back to Windows, it might tell them “Hey, you! Go back and join the bandwagon.” But it’s probably not all true. For one thing, I too might look like one of the people who became part of the 96% who have bought Windows-powered netbooks.

In any case, as Linux users those figures will be there whether we make a switch back to Windows or something. And I have to agree that there are some things that users have to overcome to be protective. So whatever that operating system is, it might happen anyway. But developers and advocates of Linux have a long list to overcome. So do we. That’s why we need to keep trying anyway.

Post from: New Linux User

Windows Vista vs. Linux

Clair Ching — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:30:54 +0000

There’s this long conversation going on in Vista and Ubuntu. Actually there are also some comments about the Mac. He also wrote about something that is actually quite debatable on both sides.

I have to admit, I haven’t had any more issues with drivers since November. I guess once you get up and running things even out. I still say drivers are soooo much easier in Linux. But hey…

This is actually debatable because there are devices that do work on various Linux distributions but may not necessarily work in Windows due to the lack of drivers. Most of the distributions try to ship with the latest available drivers and those who are using hardware which would require these would have to scour the various mailing lists and forums to get hardware working on their Linux machines.

People might argue that the blog entry spouts Linux fanboy protests against Vista but, you see, they reality is that people are getting accustomed to certain things about the operating system and desktop environment that they are using.

At the end of the day we have to learn new things about the two operating systems and the Mac as well, if we have people around us who have it. Let’s try to learn from the comments in the blog entry instead of arguing. There are helpful comments that gave links to various Windows tools and so on.

Post from: New Linux User

My restored system set-up

Clair Ching — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:42:43 +0000

I own a Lenovo C3000 N100. It’s not that new and I’ve been dual-booting Windows XP Home (it came with that) and Ubuntu Linux since I got it. Over time, I’ve installed Windows apps which I couldn’t uninstall and for some reason or another, my directory containing the shared files of all users became inaccessible. On Linux, I’ve messed up the device settings for the sounds. I think it must be when I tried to fix the problem about the sound channels. To cut the long story short, it’s been one huge mess which was usable but I’ve been experiencing pain points. One of them was about not having enough space when working on Windows (because I gave my Linux home the bigger partition) and the fact that I had no more sounds on Linux.

The Lenovo laptops issued at work had no installer discs. We all had Windows on the hard drive itself. Bleh~ I know. That is one reason why I didn’t wipe it out. Anyway, I backed up all my files to an external hard drive which had a capacity waaay bigger than my hard drive. Then I booted up my laptop and had to select the system restore option. System restore took quite a while (I opted to make it go back to factory settings).

Problem encountered: Windows XP Home didn’t load after system restore. Ack!

But it wasn’t so much of a problem. I had to fix the Master Boot Record by booting up via a Windows XP installer and selected that option. I had to reboot and then Windows XP Home booted up nicely and it seemed to continue the rest of the system restore stuff.

After an additional hour or so, Windows XP Home on the Lenovo was restored to its factory settings. It was then that I booted up with the Ubuntu installer disk. I had to resize the NTFS partition of Windows and allocated space that will be shared by Linux and Windows as well as my home partition, the root partition and swap.

Note: Lenovo users must be careful about that. You might end up wiping out the installer!

Anyhow, the Ubuntu install took roughly one hour. And there it was. A fresh dual boot system! Maybe some of you who have Lenovos have such dilemmas too. Please feel free to comment and email to me and we could share tips with each other.

Post from: New Linux User