I've tried many times to run linux, it usually ends 3-4 hours later in frustration. I tend to run older hardware so a lot of times support isn't there. I will admit that it's getting noticeably better (or I'm getting luckier).
Linux is fast to install (when no problem occurs). Software installation (and deinstallation) is a breeze. Everything is available out of the box. I maintain a diary with a list of non default packages to install: apt-get install nfs-common wine gnome-media openssh-server squid curl filezilla curlftpfs ethtool docker.io xtightvncviewer x11vnc tmux whois git wakeonlan youtube-dl npm sshfs
Concerning support for old hardware, it was the main reason that made me switch to linux: vista64 had no support for my printer and my scanner.
The only hardware-related issues I've ever had have been trying to run a brand new graphics card or on the latest macbook.
I usually just went with Ubuntu because at the time it seemed like it was user friendly. I tried openSUSE at one point. If you can name a distro better aimed at supporting these types of devices I'm game.
Back in the 90s, sure, there were a hell of a lot if blocking issues. But now?
Frankly anyone posting on a tech site that can't get it up and running adequately should be embarassed.
And this is a big reason why so many people still don't want to use linux. The "Why aren't you as smart as I am" attitude isn't as strong as it used to be, but it's still there. It turns off users. Nobody wants to use software when the other users are going to treat them like idiots. There are still many complicated problems to get linux up and running, and being a jerk ignores those problems, rather than helps solve them.
If you can't install linux on some reasonably generic pc hardware in this day and age, and you consider yourself a hacker or coder, you probably ought to be a little embarrassed. Certainly not proud as some seem to be.
If I was interviewing someone for a role and asked them for their thougts on using linux and got "well I usually give up after a few hours trying to install it" I'd look elsewhere.
Look, it's fine if you breathe Linux in your free time and you don't watch movies or play games, or nail your girlfriend, or even watch the ceiling in half-meditative state with all lights out. That's not sarcasm. Everyone has the right to do what they want with their free time.
But many of us are hackers / coders AND have a happy personal life and don't want to bring their work to their free time. And want to make the best use of their work time, too.
Linux gets the job done and I very much like my XFCE 4.x on my virtual Debian, but it's still far away from a full-blown user OS on the desktop. Numerous articles agree with this fact.
It's a simple comment - if you're working in tech in any capacity and you can't install linux satisfactorily, that really is nothing to be proud of in the modern day and age.
Not directly, but you are being condescending to someone who has legitimate issues. Just because someone is on HN doesn't mean they are great with linux, or that they are even a technical person. Maybe he's got a different skillset, and doesn't like dicking around with shitty config files, obscure error messages, and jerks that tell them they should be "embarrassed" for not being omniscient.
Can you tell me the best way to pull HE levels from a GE MRI's MM? If not, are you going to spend a lot of time looking it up just because? Why aren't you embarrassed that you don't know that?
> If I was interviewing someone for a role and asked them for their thougts on using linux and got "well I usually give up after a few hours trying to install it" I'd look elsewhere.
Depends on the role. If it was a linux-admin job, absolutely. If it was for a job in HR, then I wouldn't care at all.
"Giving back" to the open source world in my case is done by committing code and documentation, not free support. So when you hear "go read the manual" or RTFM - we aren't insulting you or being jerks. We genuinely want you to better yourself and acquire education, and are pointing you in the right direction to do so.
Linux is an industry standard, I think this sort of brag about how much trouble you have with just getting it running reflects much worse on the complainant than the system.
20 years ago? Sure. Now not so much.
If anyone is bragging here, it's you, so no need to be a hero. If you're hearing this a lot, maybe it's not us and instead it's people like you. The whole point of a good UI is to make it easier for people that don't regularly use your system. So if you're hearing this a lot then maybe it really isn't good.
> Linux is an industry standard
On servers it is, on desktops Windows still rules and that's for a reason. Common users don't need to hit up a Reddit beginner forum or spend hours pouring over documentation to learn the command line and all the various utilities for their chosen distro.
On the server, yes it's rock solid and I've had a pretty good experience with it. On the desktop, no. Also, my experiences are not from 20 years back, try 2.
Installing it is not complicated, with a live CD it's arguably easier than windows these days. It reflects badly on you as a person working in tech if you can't do it.