why are some linux users so bigheaded about using linux?

why are some linux users so bigheaded about using linux? can someone explain this to me.. i hate windows.. linux is better.. i'm using linux so na na na

it's like theory of evolution vs. the bible .. no one is right.

 

Surely you can see the mindset that causes that sort of attitude? As you say, they are wrong to be so smug, but that won't stop them from being smug. There are definitely several OS "religions", such as Linux believers and Mac worshippers, not forgetting Windows zealots, so your analogy with the bible was ironic

I actually feel that Linux/Unix is a far superior OS to Windows, and remember that MaxOS is Unix deep down too, yet I use Windows because the majority of people I support also use Windows, so it makes commercial sense. That said, Betamax was much better than VCR, but that fact didn't save it from extinction...

 

I'm not "bigheaded" am I?

I think more than anything, it's the freedom we feel that's so intoxicating. Sure we run several security utilities too, checks and such, but there isn't such an emphasis on it (security : realtime - although I don't run much in Windows either) ... once you have file permissions mastered, there isn't much to it. The other big high off linux is, almost everything is opensource ... the free ride is sooooo nice; as is the community spirit/envolvement with development ... it's just so different from windows. I'm hooked ... and while I'd still consider myself of n00b, I've come such along way from where I started and I'm more and more comfortable technically every day.

 

Because they are a minority and have something to prove (rightly or wrongly) ?

Every OS Linux, Mac, Windows has its fanboys... infact guy in my office is a Solaris Fanboy !

 

i think alot of them are motivated by politics and that's just way things are with politics online.

i love Ubuntu

http://static.flickr.com/24/49371796_b1bf706d89_m.jpg

i like it so much because it's so 31337 OK i like it because it seems to work much better then windows, if i click a menu or program in windows sometimes the egg-timer comes up, or the menu will take a second to populate - that never happens with Ubuntu, everything happens instantly.

also, nothing ever hangs, even when the CPU is maxed-out i can click a new program and it launches straight away. i'm sure that's down to Linux it self (Linux is only the kernel, i'm not sure but i think Linux is only about %0.5 of the code in an average distro)

 

Evolution versus the bible no one is right You are kidding right? So you think evolution = linux ?? evolution is in the minority??

 

Re: Ubuntu

iceni60:

I'm considering adding a Linux distro (using a WinXP/Linux dual-boot setup) on my home PC. Specifically regarding Ubuntu, would you comment on the availability/limitations of device drivers and also, for the following:

Internet browser
Email client
'Office-like' apps
Photo-editor
Firewall
Anti-Virus
'Housekeeping' utilities

Thanks, pv

 

Hello,
Linux is nice, because it's a Communist software, and inside of each great Capitalist sleeps a little Che.
Seriously, Linux has its advantages, especially stability and optimization. But when it comes to GUI and friendliness, Windows wins big time.
Mrk

 

Re: Ubuntu

firstly, i think you should wait until April when the next release comes out. it's called Dapper

hardware compatiblity is best found out by using the distro's livecd. you could try the Ubuntu livecd to see how it goes, if it works it should work with the new release too. if not you could ask on the forums about Dapper support because it will have better support. if you don't want to download a livecd they will send it to you for free it called a shipit cd, but, it can take a few weeks. or have a look for something on the cover of a Linux magazine.

there's a big issue regarding drivers/patents/compatiblity it's a big topic and not something i really follow. i know there's alot happening atm to do with graphics cards with things like XGL and AIGLX, there's a couple of other companies doing similar things too. Nvidia is the best card because they are happy to give feedback to driver hackers about their work. ATI are second best. i've seen some videos showing how it looks when you have it all setup and it's much, much better then anything windows has.

i just found these links which show some demos
http://www.freedesktop.org/~davidr/xgl-demo1.xvid.avi
http://cache.novell.com/cached/xglrelease/transparency.mpg
http://cache.novell.com/cached/xglrelease/zoom-windows.mpg
http://cache.novell.com/cached/xglrelease/desktoporg.mpg
http://cache.novell.com/cached/xglrelease/desktopspin.mpg


and here's a link about linux-friendly hardware
http://www.linux.org/vendor/hardware/index.html

as for the other stuff you can use Firefox which comes with Ubuntu or Opera and Thunderbird or Evolution, which comes with Ubuntu, for email.

Open Office comes installed, it's very similar to MS's version or you can use Abiword which is very good.

GIMP comes installed which is similar to Photoshop, gthumb which i've never heard of but just found it on my system (i've taken a screenshot of it) can be used for photo editing EDIT i just remembered picasa is coming out soon too

a firewall comes installed and you can add various front-ends if you like, but nothing listens on the wire by default.

you can have KAV, nod, avg, bitdefender, clam etc for an av but the way Ubuntu works things like email attachments aren't executable by default, and if you did make it executable a virus wouldn't have access to system processes.

no one really uses 'Housekeeping' utilities because the system is very efficient, e.g. the filesystem doesn't need to be defraged, and i hope the system takes care of the other stuff, that's what i've been told. but, you can install something called gkorphan which will get rid of orphaned files. and something called FSlint which will let you remove duplicates, bad names , temp files, useless links etc.

anyway, Linux is better then windows and it's a fact

 

i just watched the video i linked to, so there's nothing wrong with the UI in Linux. although all those wobbly windows made me feel abit sick but that was just a demo and can be turned off.

can someone tell me which Star Wars that was in the video? thanks

it was the first link, this one
http://www.freedesktop.org/~davidr/xgl-demo1.xvid.avi

 

At risk of being contraversial, I find it to be a fairly interesting comment especially as far as Linux is concerned.

I find many self-described "open minded" people will give credence and respect to any idea they come across that has nothing to do with mainstream religion; that effectively makes them closedminded and therefore hypocritical. I have known people (who I called friend for a short while) who had no problem associating with a very wide variety of people of many life choices, but upon learning of my beliefs dropped me like a bad habit.

It's similar, not the same, to the *nixnuts that will try every distro, every variant, and will even reluctantly dabble some with OSX just to say they have but who decry Windows past, present, and future as if it were a form of leprosy. The sysadmin of my website has already slathered Vista through the mud, even though he hasn't had the chance to try it yet. Gentoo is the future, all hail Linus!

I wouldn't say that linux = evolution, linux = religion, etc... I would say that linux is just another way of making that big box o' hardware sitting in front you work. And that's what's important.

 

iceni60~

I appreciate the reply (and education). I've been thinking about giving Linux a go for over a year, so waiting until Dapper is released won't be a problem!

Actually, until you mentioned it in this thread, I had not even heard of Ubuntu (but then again, I guess there are lots of distros out there that I never heard of).

Obviously, it is vital that my existing hardware devices are supported by the Linux distro I select, so that will be the very first thing I need to determine.

~pv

 

Linux zealots are like this because they have to be computer weenies (to a certain extent) to get Linux running and fully operational. Many of them have some experience with Unix programming so they feel comfortable working with a command line, compiling kernals, etc. Just try to get all the drivers you need for all of your hardware and peripherals. Good luck. Linux is made by geeks, for geeks.

Windows is made for the rest of us schlubs who just want to use a computer .

 

Ubuntu is run by a company setup by Mark Shuttleworth. he made around $500 million during the .com boom using Open Source software, so wanted to give something back to Open Source and started up Ubuntu (he was one of the space tourists).

one thing people have problems with when they move from Windows to Linux is installing software - there's more then one way - some are very much easier and others very much more difficult. the easy way is something called the Synaptic Package Manager. actually, here's a video (they're installing from a cd, but you can do the same thing over the internet too)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5253052326994067125

and here's a video showing how to install Ubuntu so it dual boots with windows
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6104490811311898236

 

iceni60, I'll be sure to save those links until Dapper is released (hopefully in April).

Thanks again, pv

 

i watch and listen to lots of media so if you want more links i'll give you some. i found this one yesterday it's for beginner Linux users, not beginner computer users lol so he's saying as i listen. start on the first podcast if you listen to them.
http://www.odeo.com/channel/2932/view

 

?

My problem with the statement I quoted was that unlike say windows and linux which when it comes down to it is a personal perference, there is an actual fact of the matter, on whether evolution occured or not!

Of course, some people neutralise the bible by making it compatiable in all ways to the scientific accounts, but that merely means that one side is right, the other side has surrendered in disguise.