Gradually stopping using Microsoft!!

I work for a large international website, I can't help having the email address which I use for it gobbled up by spam bots and listed on various mailing lists. My personal email address is pretty safe, it's on a private registered domain but I'd be fighting a losing battle if I could stop an 8 year old email address being on spam lists. I try wherever possible to have my teenhelp address done like helen[a]teenhelp.org, but it doesn't seem to stop some of the spam.

It's also down to previous admin of teenhelp not being vigilant about security of email addresses on the domain.

Well no, not really. Just because you've switched your main OS to Linux it doesn't mean you can't acknowledge the usefulness of Windows on occasion. For most intents and purposes, Linux will serve you fine. When I do have dual boot, I'll only boot into Windows if it's really desperate. There are also nice programs like WINE which let you see your windows installation while booted in Linux.

Ohh the hours I've wasted trying to get a lucent winmodem working under Linux.. It was a few years ago when I was using a lucent winmodem, but those things are damn annoying to configure under linux. I never said Linux has the range of software which is available for Windows, it just wouldn't be possible at least for another decade for enough developers to hop on the linux bandwagon. Linux is opensource, there isn't a great deal of money to be made with developing linux software unless you catch a niche in the market. You can at least feel a higher sense of ethical morality when using it though.

So I'm supposed to pay £400 for some software which would not be used for a great deal more than the GIMP? Most home users don't need to play around with digital photography. If you are somebody who needs photoshop then obviously you'd have a dual boot for those desperate moments when only Winblows will do.

It looked like this time had come a few years ago after the release of Windows 2000 and people starting to migrate to using Linux. Linux hit the press and Linus Torvalds was being interviewed on a regular basis in mainstream newspapers and magazines (not just Linux Format.. ). Mandrake was forced into being development only a while back due to the high uptake of people with cable modems and those able to download the cd images rather than buy them directly off Mandrake.

I used to run a bit of an internet business selling linux distros, it was really popular when ISDN had just been released and everybody else was on dialup. Business started to waver when cable became more readily available though and people were just able to download their own cd images and burn them themselves.

I look forward to the day when Linux has the following which Windows does, I'd rather not have to use a Windows computer as my main machine but at the moment I don't have time to sort out a proper linux installation.

Have you ever used Linux?

 

I should also point out that you probably spent quite a while getting used to your windows installation when you were first introduced to it. Linux usability doesn't happen overnight, you need to persevere and learn the new features which Linux has to offer.

If you use a windows manager like KDE, then it'll be pretty much the same as using windows. You'll need to get used to installing programs from rpm's rather than exe's and instead of typing "dir" into your command you'll be typing "ls".. but it really doesn't take that long to fully get used to a linux desktop.

Linux has got a LOT of customability options. If you don't like the default settings, change them! You can change everything in Linux to make it look exactly the way you want it to, how much more desktop capable does it need to be?

 

First of all, if you think GIMP has anything near the functionality of Photoshop, I suggest you go and ask for some opinions on just about any photography forum you fancy. Second of all, if price was an issue, the discussion would be taking an entirely different direction.

I don't 'play around' with digital photography. It's a serious interest for which I need a professional application. GIMP isn't that application. Now, most home users will not need photoshop, which is precisely why I said earlier in the thread that for home users who just want to do a bit of word processing and surfing, Linux will do just fine. For the rest of us - those who actually use our computers, and not just as toys - Linux simply does not offer the range of software or support the range of hardware that Windows does. Period.

Why do you think I don't use it now?

You're entirely missing the point and in doing so, being quite patronising. It's not that I don't like Linux or would have a problem getting used to Linux - it is of no use to me. It's really that simple. I could give you a list of software that I use on a regular basis that does not have viable alternatives available under Linux. I could give you a list of hardware that I'd be hard pressed to find Linux drivers for. Given that XP Pro has offered me an absolutely solid installation for the 18 months since I built the PC on which I type, without a single OS-level crash and no need to reinstall (unheard of in any earlier version of Windows!).... what, exactly, would be my reason for using Linux? What does it have to offer me that I need?

This is my problem with Linux fans. They have a tendency to try and push it down everyone else's throat just for the sake of it, regardless of whether it actually has anything to offer those people. It's not like I don't agree that it's a good OS, but you need to appreciate that for a very large percentage of Windows users, there's simply no reason to switch to Linux. Not only that, but switching to Linux would actually reduce the functionality of our computers.

 

I regularly use Photoshop and Fireworks. Occasionally I use Paint Shop Pro, animation shop and Imageready. If ever I want a vector drawing programme I use freehand or illustrator ... Although I usually cheat and draw vectors using Flash.

Unfortunately, Gimp doesn't come anywhere near any of those programmes ... in fact it's a bit of a gimp really

However if price is an issue, you'll find that there are plenty of cheap alternatives to these that still knock spots off of Gimp. Especially if you go 'shopping' in the right places

 

Why did you even bother posting the long rant about it if you have already decided it's no use to you? You probably haven't used the newer versions of the distros if you decided ages ago that you wouldn't be using it over windows.

To the rest of the Linux users in the World who don't have needs (like I said, most home users aren't going to be needing high powered graphics programs) for programs like Photoshop etc. it's by far the most stable and customisable operating system which you can install for free.

Microsoft have been pushing Windows at people for years, I think it's time Linux had a chance on the market and for people to give it a go.

As for the network stuff.. you could do those things under linux using a nice network program called Samba but you probably wouldn't be willing to give it a try.

 

Because I have an opinion on the subject. Am I not allowed to voice an opinion unless it's pro-Linux?

What the fuck does that have to do with anything? Later versions of Linux don't magically enable programs coded for Windows to run on a Linux platform.

And like I've already said twice in this thread (once in my very first post if memory serves), Linux is perfect for low-end users. Which bit of that did you miss?

See, this is where I part company with Linux advocates, because the discussion suddenly heads off into ignorant Windows bashing and big-upping of Linux. Let me say again - I think Linux is an excellent OS and I hope one day it will offer serious competition to Windows. But to say "it's the most stable OS" is simply a massive exaggeration. Compare it to any 9x flavour of Windows and I'll agree with you. But I have an 18 month old installation of XP Pro running smooth as a nut. No issue or problems. No crashes. No slowdowns. And that's running with a RAID 0 array and dual-channel RAM - not exactly noted for their stability-enhancing characteristics. How, pray tell, will Linux improve on that stability for me?

Don't think I disagreed with that, did I? But again, this is what pissed me off about Linux advocates. It becomes like an evangelical crusade where you're convinced Linux is better for everyone, Windows is evil, and people who don't think Linux is perfect for all needs are somehow opposed to it.

I wouldn't be willing to cut off my own legs and see if I can still walk, either. That's called common sense. Look, I work with networks for a living. I know what Linux can and can't do, and it can't do what I need it to. Why does this remind me of Christians trying to convince me that god's what I need in my life? Why do you need everyone to use Linux so badly? Why the fuck should I even 'give it a try' when I don't need it and when I'm quite happy with my current Windows installation? Fashion? Hipness? WHY exactly?

Can't you understand the very simple point that Linux isn't a magical solution and will not suit everyone's needs? Can't you accept the possibility that maybe... just maybe... Windows might actually be the better choice for some of us? Do you really think I'd be fucking around with product activation if Linux could replace Windows on my LAN? And before answering.... please try and remember that AT NO POINT have I said that I think Linux is a bad OS.... just that it's not yet able to compete on an level playing field with Windows.

 

Woah, geez. Keep your damn windows installation, it's not worth trawling through your posts anymore.

 

Thanks mum

 

Well, I've been using Firefox for a over a week now and have just run an adaware scan. Result, no spyware at all. That settles it for me.