[SOLVED] Example of why people are afraid of converting to linux

I'm a fan of linux and will never go back. However, I am not afraid to get into the terminal and type some 'code'. Most people are.

So here's an example of why people are afraid of linux. See thread below. In windows, Gmail Drive is a double click installation. In Linux it's CL work plus guessing at what packages need to be installed plus manual edits of certain files...and still problems.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=660493

No response needed as having a gmail drive isn't that important to me, example only

What is the point?

Do you think the advice should be simpler or Linux should be simpler?

LaRoza said: What is the point?

Do you think the advice should be simpler or Linux should be simpler?

I don't think the point is that the advice or Linux should be simpler; it just illustrates a significant difference between Linux and Windows.

I am learning Linux (started with Ubuntu 7.04 and moved along with 7.10) and have often been daunted by the extensive command line work neccesary to get things done. More (and better) GUI tools are clearly needed.

Fortunately the forums here are awesome and I have always been able to get the solution to my Linux problem simply by browsing for a while. Without the forums I would never have stuck with Linux.

http://www.news.com/Five-reasons-not-to-fear-a-200-Linux-PC/2100-1044_3-6227419.html?tag=ne.gall.related

LaRoza said: What is the point?

Do you think the advice should be simpler or Linux should be simpler?

I have no problem with the advice as it far exceeds anything available in the Windows world.

The point is that the average user will try to install something and if doesn't work after double clicking "Setup.exe" they will give up. If a windows user had to edit the registry in order to get an application to work nobody would use that application.

Ubuntu is much more user friendly than older linux versions but getting some things to work is more art than science.

This is probably a stupid question, but why doesnt linux have more GUI like windoe'z

kool_kat_os said: This is probably a stupid question, but why doesnt linux have more GUI like windoe'z

What? Linux has many more DE's and WM available.

if you want to test around a bit bit with window managers or GUI's like you call them look @ http://xwinman.org/

you have screenshots, docs, tutorials, etc... most of them can be installed via synaptic

LaRoza said: What is the point?

Do you think the advice should be simpler or Linux should be simpler?

Well using Linux should be simpler for us noobs who get frustrated having to use command prompts to do almost anything with it.

What's GMail Drive?

aysiu said: What's GMail Drive?

It's a file system hack which lets you use your Gmail account as a document repository, or external drive.

I suppose I probably could have Googled the answer myself, but thanks for indulging me this bit of laziness.

I don't think I know anyone who uses GMail Drive, so I'm almost certain it has no bearing on why people are afraid of converting to Linux.

You are looking at this too narrowly/literally. Its a conceptual(contextual?) example. I am not suggesting that Gmail drive is the reason. Rather, I am suggesting that the process a user has to go through to try to get certain apps working (ie: gmailfs, others) is much more challenging than in the windows environment.

In windows - double click an installation file and you're done. If you look at the post that had peoples suggestions about how to get gmailfs working, its a combination of guess work and cli.

The user forums are filled with examples of this - one program works fine for a certain person, but not for others. Guesswork and trial/error are the solutions

brett611 said: You are looking at this too narrowly/literally. Its a conceptual(contextual?) example. I am not suggesting that Gmail drive is the reason. Rather, I am suggesting that the process a user has to go through to try to get certain apps working (ie: gmailfs, others) is much more challenging than in the windows environment.

In windows - double click an installation file and you're done. If you look at the post that had peoples suggestions about how to get gmailfs working, its a combination of guess work and cli.

The user forums are filled with examples of this - one program works fine for a certain person, but not for others. Guesswork and trial/error are the solutions But the example you pick is important to the conclusion you draw. If it's something I've never heard of (and thus something relatively obscure), I don't take that as being valid evidence of "why people are afraid of converting to Linux" unless *people* in this context refers to people who need relatively obscure programs.

Installing email clients, web browsers, word processors, and music management programs are all several-click operations (probably fewer clicks than in Windows).

Not all applications are as difficult as GMail Drive, look at Open Office, Deluge and so many other applications like them. The problem with GMail Drive and such programs like that are either because there is not a sufficient enough userbase or developers to give it a GUI and proper documentation or because the applications may still be under heavy development which may result in low documentation or a GUI(Until the inner workings of the application is completed). The previous factors also could mean that the application may have rough methods of doing things and may work inconsistently.

The thing with Linux(Free and open-source) applications are that most of them are being done for free so the developers are doing it in their own time with their own goals, this is not like many proprietary Windows applications which are made by developers who are paid to make them and the goals are mostly based on the requirements of the userbase, so this means that such programs would contain relatively good GUI's and documentation. But free and opensource applications are catching up quickly.

Also, on the issue of unreliability and stability, the biggest reasons these things happen are because the developers have no idea about this and so if you face any problems with Linux applications then you should report the problems instead of just waiting around for the fix, also it would accelerate things a lot more if you actually took part in creating the fix for the application since no one knows the problem as much as you do(If no one has gotten the same problem).

aysiu & PmDematagoda - this is simply my opinion as a long time windows user. no need to get defensive or question the validity of this post. Take a look at the response from Son of William - he agrees with the concept of my post, as a former windows user. All of the negative responses tend to be from linux 'experts' who view this as some sort of attack or threat. I'm marking this as solved since it apparently is now devolving into a combative response vs open exchange of ideas and serves no good purpose

brett611 said: You are looking at this too narrowly/literally. Its a conceptual(contextual?) example. I am not suggesting that Gmail drive is the reason. Rather, I am suggesting that the process a user has to go through to try to get certain apps working (ie: gmailfs, others) is much more challenging than in the windows environment.

In windows - double click an installation file and you're done. If you look at the post that had peoples suggestions about how to get gmailfs working, its a combination of guess work and cli.

The user forums are filled with examples of this - one program works fine for a certain person, but not for others. Guesswork and trial/error are the solutions

I am a windows user for many years. I started with DOS, than into Win 3.1 till XP.Not Vista yet.

Lately I have decided to explore Linux. The first encounter is that there are many versions.. ubuntu, redhat etc. to install one require one to read thru many articles. I eventually settle down with ubuntu.

There are many good applications and it comes with Ubuntu.

Recently I downloaded Tux Paint and I have difficulty in getting it installed. I am asking around to get it done. I think it is the new learning curve that I have to go thru. I am prepared to learn and I am prepared to go thru all that need to be done. It is interesting and I really enjoy doing them...Just to share

Cheer!

Son of William said: More (and better) GUI tools are clearly needed.

I believe that the attraction of many people is the ease of use using a CLI.

Once one learns that Linux allows one to CP (copy and paste) with the mouse only, entering long lines of code in a CLI (command line interface) is easy.

Let me teach some of the new ones.

Highlight a word or phrase with the mouse. Now navigate to the window, terminal or application that you would like to paste this highlighted phrase or word in.

Press the middle mouse button or scroll wheel - or press both mouse buttons at the same time if you don't have a middle scroll wheel - or use two fingers on the Synaptic mouse pad of a laptop.

This will paste the highlighted phrase or word for you without having to right click and select copy then paste or use any keyboard shortcuts.

Easy. Highlight then middle click the scroll wheel.

Now when you see a long phrase to enter into a terminal, just highlight and hit the middle scroll wheel to paste.

Don't let CLI intimidate you. It's only a computer. And no, it doesn't have to be easy or have a GUI to work well.

And remember, this isn't Windows. This is Linux. This is the way we do things, so start learning the Linux was and stop trying to do things the Windows way when you use Linux.

If you had a Mac, would you wish for a Windows way to do everything?

Yappy said:

Recently I downloaded Tux Paint and I have difficulty in getting it installed. I am asking around to get it done. I think it is the new learning curve that I have to go thru. I am prepared to learn and I am prepared to go thru all that need to be done. It is interesting and I really enjoy doing them...Just to share It is indeed the learning curve. In Ubuntu, you don't download applications, you just install them. The software package manager is a searchable database of easily installable applications, and when you mark something for installation, it'll fetch the appropriate files and install them for you.

The package you're looking for is *tuxpaint*. More details here on how to use the package manager: http://www.monkeyblog.org/ubuntu/installing