Linux and Open Source software

[Sir Lancelot]

Personally I feel that a computer is a tool FOR humans, so it should be easy to use. Yeah we could all learn how to use Linux, but why the heck would I waste time when there's something easy and intuitive to use?

Simple answer: power and flexibility.

The power comes from the fact that most flavors of linux are distributed with an endless array of powerful tools, all of which can be manipulated from a BASH shell in very cool ways. You can chain a whole row of apps together to perform a complex task on one command line.

The flexibility comes from the fact that everything in the OS is exposed, there's not much to hide and nearly all of the configuration files can be edited to your liking. Windows keeps its user friendliness by hiding the guts of the OS from you, keeping all of the complicated stuff at bay. Some people like it this way, some people like to know what the OS is doing and like to tweak it accordingly. Linux gives you a lot of choice on how it should function and look, just take a look at all of the different windowing systems you can use with it (KDE, Gnome, etc)

But nowadays, it seems both the OSes are becoming more and more alike. Ubuntu Linux is easy to use and becoming more and more Windows-like, and Microsoft is developing PowerShell to give Windows users power and flexibility similar to what you find with all the flavors of Unix/Linux.

Regarding the analogy of learning Linux to learning to drive... well it's not quite the same. A better analogy would be learning Windows is like learning to drive a new Toyota with automatic transmission. Learning Linux is like learning to drive some piece of crap beater car, with a manual transmission that doesn't work, and which you have to spend a few days fixing first.
Sure, you could learn to do either, but which would you rather do, if all you wanted was something to get you form A to B?

Seems like a very poor analogy to me. How exactly is learning Linux like learning to drive some "piece of crap beater car"? By your analogy it seems you conclude that Windows is reliable, and resource conscious, whilst Linux is prone to break down at anytime and requires too much maintenance. It almost seems.... backwards

Either way, I use both for different purposes. For the casual user who checks email/discussion boards, writes up documents and plays games, Windows is the way to go. But for someone who wants a bit more control and flexibility (and doesn't mind learning a bit about computers) then Linux is definitely worth checking out.

 

[Desdinova]

Learning Linux is like learning to drive some piece of crap beater car, with a manual transmission that doesn't work, and which you have to spend a few days fixing first.

Not sure why you'd compare linux to something that comes broken. It worked for me after the install. BTW, it's pretty cool that you can surf the net while your OS is installing

But to each their own. I'm not going to tell you to quit running Windows since you obviously like it a lot. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing Windows as being the OS of the future. Seems a lot of people are warming up to Macs lately or sticking with WinXP.

 

[SmoothTalker]

I suppose you guys have a point, but I just don't care too much about having that much control. Windows does what I need it to, so I'm satisfied.

If there's one OS I hate more than Linux though it's OSX. In my opinion Macs are like a cult. The mac users are so annoying and won't shut up about how great their mac is, when really, it's not. They rave about how all the hardware works out of the box with no compatibility issues.. well I would hope so, you only get one choice of each piece of hardware, it would be pretty sad if Apple couldn't configure macs to work with one specific device.