Linux’s biggest enemy.
Linux has certainly a lot to overcome to gain more acceptances into people’s hearts. The community of users is now pretty large and has grown steadily through the years; much effort has been put into making Linux more accessible to non technical people, compatibility is better than ever, new applications keep popping up regularly while more mature ones improve over time. But one thing hasn’t changed, and it is, in my eyes, Linux’s biggest enemy: its users! Arrogance combined with a love of obfuscation make the self-appointed gurus the real enemies of the cause; as they have filled the void left by a lack of social life by learning all the commands and common programs, they have built that ‘superior’ attitude that pushes away some new users and certainly scares away the curious ones.
Is it really that hard?
If you look at Unix in general, the commands, interfaces, etc are notoriously inconsistent and many choices are plain arbitrary; The main difficulty in learning Linux is really being able to memorize things and be able to read the documentation. Alas, this is one of the big issues: the documentation is cryptic at times because it is usually written with many assumption; the first one is that the user is familiar with everything else but what they are reading about, and also it is usually very short on examples; Linux Gurus love when you have to work hard to find an answer. It is somewhat similar to reading a patent document, where everything fits together, but you have yet to figure out what the object really is about. There is no doubt that with time and patience to experiment, it is actually easy to learn; but this implies two things: you have time and you want to learn. I read this somewhere, and I really like this quote: ‘Free software is only free if your time is’.
Outgrowing the current situation.
In order to stop becoming a ‘geeks’ operating system, Linux has to become more accessible; Ubuntu is a pretty good distribution in that respect and they realized one thing: many users do not need a computer for more than email and the web. This is what many Linux advocates haven’t understood yet: Joe is probably as able as you to learn how to use the shell, but maybe Joe has a life with other interest and truly doesn’t care because he just wants to read his email. Unless it is easy, he will buy a Mac. This is why Macs are popular among the non-technical people, they are easy to use. Linux could be easier and retain all the flexibility behind the scenes, but this will happen only when the community changes attitude. Sure, most people are not paid to help others and wish they had spent a bit of time to educate themselves before asking questions; but, again, non technical users will not even know where to start and I really doubt that if someone has a problem with their Mac that they’d be told to go read the user manual. There are more and more tutorials and how-to, but most requests in forums and, even worst, on IRC are met with a childish hostility: "hahah, the mere mortal used ‘-Xd -f 5’ instead of ‘-xd -f 5’, he obviously didn’t read the documentation"… and he’s probably going to go back to Windows after that… good call. Until Linux advocates and forum dwellers are ready to accept that there are people that do not care about technology, Windows and Mac will remain far superior choices for anyone that just needs to use a computer and does not care and does not want to learn how they work.
For reference
This server runs on Linux CentOS, this article is typed on a Windows Vista laptop and the second laptop here runs Ubuntu and my desktop is Windows XP.
f you look at Unix in general, the commands, interfaces, etc are notoriously inconsistent and many choices are plain arbitrary; i totally agree with this point
always been a fan of Unix
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Currently, Computer Aid International's refurbished PCs leave the UK without an operating system of any sort. What happens to them? Brandjes reckons many of them probably end up using Windows but pirated versions of Windows. This is a loss to Microsoft, obviously, but also undermines its rivals. The mostly young users of these systems spend their formative years using Microsoft's products not those of Linux, reinforcing its long-term dominance.
"In the poorest countries on the planet some donated computers end up using unlicensed proprietary software for want of funds. If the computer is in a health centre in Burundi dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, someone inevitably has to divide and allocate scarce financial resources between various potential expenditures including software licences or medical supplies," says Roberts of CAI.
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if linux isnt popular so what?
Current distributions offer numerous graphical tools to complete tasks. These are not difficult to use. I believe the main problem troubled-users encounter when learning Linux is preexisting familiarity with other operating systems. Wizards (software wizards) have turned many computer users into cows. Over time, their brains have been wired to point and click in a certain way and anything else seems alien. Why should the Linux community accommodate these people? Since the problem is with familiarity with other systems, the only way to really do this would be to make Linux more like other operating systems, and this would ruin Linux. Learning Linux shouldn't be a problem for people who are willing to practice a little lateral thinking.
haha. They made the Microsoft logo wrong.
In my experience, Linux can be used in the workplace and on the desktop just fine. However, it's a question of using the right tool for the job. Linux is good on the server-side and lacking on the desktop-side. Linux has crappy games, crappy driver support for some things and hardly any business apps like MS Project or Visio or apps that some business people can't live without. However, Linux is great for engineers or scientists who need a reliable unix-like environment to run jobs, multitask efficiently, do distributed computing, cron (god, does windows need a scripting language and cron), good logging, etc ... things that Windows is very poor at. Just saying that linux is hindered by the '1337' users' attitude is just like saying the Windows moving to the server market is being hindered by the windows zealots. It doesn't make much sense. There are tons of linux users groups out there with very helpful communities that will be more than willing to help you. In my community, there's even a monthly installfest where you can bring an old computer and a linux guru will help you install it on your machine and get it all tuned and running smoothly for you - for free. In the past, I've hired someone with no linux ability, but we were an all-linux shop, so they learned and adapted and in a few years were just as capable as any other linux 'guru' in the company. The new employee was in an environment where using linux was the best option because everyone else was using it, there were lots of engineers & scientists who all used linux, so jumping into linux use was a natural decision. Upper management (even in linux-heavy businesses) almost exclusively use windows and MS apps just because there really isn't a need for linux at that level and MS products are more usable to those in upper management. I'm biased. I'm a Lead Linux SysAdmin for a major dot-com, but I've been in both worlds and I've seen people adjust and I've seen people make the Linux/Windows decision a hundred times. It all depends on the job.
I own 7 computers (2 laptops, 2 desktops and 3 servers). My main laptop is dual-boot linux/xp, my work laptop is linux, my work desktop is linux, my home desktop is xp and my servers are all linux (one runs XP under vmware for my family to play with). I've been using linux since before the 1.0 kernel back in 1993. I try to convince my dad to use linux on occasion (in as nice a way as possible), but I know that he'll never move, he doesn't need it and he's happy with what he's got.
See comment titled 'RTFM', 'Read The Fucking Maual' for those who don't know what the acronym stands for, is a wonderful demonstration of the problem described by this article.
"Is it that everyone nowadays needs everything spoon feed to them?" - exactly the 'friendly' attitude many people expect to receive from the geeky, pedantic, Linux (self-proclaimed) elite.
Not everybody wants to become a sysadmin in order to browse the web, send emails and play a couple of games. Unfortunately this concept is lost on many of the über-geeks. Fortunately, people like Mark Shuttleworth do get it which is why Ubuntu is becoming the defining Linux OS.
I never proclaimed myself elite. But I am a sysadmin, and the fact that it gets you hostile that I said RTFM shows my point. It is unforunate that you feel reading up on something your going to use on a daily bases wether it be email, web, or kernel programming is to much work. I am not sure why it is considered unfriendly to say RTFM, but if it offends you then oh well. I say to you grow some skin/balls and take it. Some people really do need to get off thier butt and read. Sorry but it is true. It really comes down to this there are those that can do and there are those that bitch and whine. You my friend are the ladder. Have a wonderful day.
For someone who can't understand why it's unfriendly to say RTFM, it's remarkable how you can't take the time to learn punctuation and spelling. "The ladder"?!? Good God!
The Linux community has really changed for the worse, and it's popularity has created a lot of posers out there who would like to think of themselves as one of the "elite", but really they're confused.
In the early days, computer geeks actually WELCOMED other geeks and were very eager to coach newcomers. Yes, Microsoft people were shunned big time, but they were welcomed "into the fold" of *nix if they chose to go that way.
Fellow Linux/BSD people treated each other with respect and appreciation no matter what their experience level was.
Now what we see are a lot of self-proclaimed Linux advocates firing shots at their own newcomers! These so called "elitists" are a sad substitute for the original geeks who were eager to help newcomers out in any way that could. They were so desperate for friends, maybe! :)
That is the major problem...people who are into Linux/BSD should be supporting each other! Not dividing.
What has happened with the world? Is it that everyone nowadays needs everything spoon feed to them? Let me pose this question. If you wanted to become a doctor what do you need to do? You need to go to school and learn how to be a doctor. Then you apply your knowledge in residency and on the job. There is no differance in the process for learning anything. You first study, whether it be with books or forums or just tinkering. The fundamental process is the same. Do you think people just wake up one day and know how to program, or even how to play a instrument? No, they work thier butt off learning and practicing. You know nothing in life that is worth doing is easy. So if your happy with your OS and do not want to learn more about what happens underneath, then don't. No one is forcing you. I personally Love linux and the community that uses it. Just my 2 cents
Yes, there are a lot of pedantic, elitist, l33t geeks in Linux who love nothing more than proving their ability by typing lines of hieroglyphics in to the command line.
However, that's changing - as can be witnessed by spending some time at the Ubuntu forums. Most of the time, people are friendly, helpful and inclusive to newcomers. It's upstream that's often the problem ... within Gnome, Nautilus, etc.
As for the "biggest threat" to mainstream adoption of Linux, it's moved from the operating system, which is ready now in my experience, to the available applications. The quality and features often don't compare to the best offered by Windows. That's changing, but it's still a problem for many.
Anonymous Coward: "Yes, there are a lot of pedantic, elitist, l33t geeks in Linux who love nothing more than proving their ability by typing lines of hieroglyphics in to the command line. However, that's changing - as can be witnessed by spending some time at the Ubuntu forums. Most of the time, people are friendly, helpful and inclusive to newcomers. It's upstream that's often the problem ... within Gnome, Nautilus, etc."
That is SO true.
The sheer arrogance of Gnome devs has to be seen to be believed.
Hi Thomas, I'm getting so tired of these endless and unfounded complaints about these oh so evil linux users, I can't even begin to describe it.
There are a host of reasons for this, but the main one is that posts like yours are simply unfounded and incredibly unfair.
Are there jerks out there who act like you describe it? Sure there are. What a surprise, idiots on the internet.
However, there are so many linux users who spent a lot of their free time trying to help people and all they get in return is people like you pissing on them.
In fact, if you look at any of the bigger distro communities out there, you will find thousands of people who spent their free time on forums trying to help people and to do so in an easy to follow and polite way.
There are people out there who spent their freetime trying to provide easy to use and to follow documentation so that people new to linux can easily follow this documentation.
And yet, every so often some jerk comes along, simply ignores all their efforts and thinks it is a good thing to slam the mythical linux community (as if such a thing as a monolithic community existed in the first place).
This is unfounded, impolite and simply insulting and above all, it's not the way someone who thinks he should give other people advice on how to behave should behave himself.
Thomas, you are right when you say that many user's (if not most) want to simply surf the web and use email. In other words, they want their computers to be as simple as using a hammer or a screwdriver. There in lies the problem. First, a computer is not a tool, it is a collection of tools. It is more like the mechanics toolchest. Anyone can pull out the hammer or screwdriver from it, but how many know how to use the torque wrench? You see, the who point of the computer is to allow it to do many different things - beyond email or Internet. This is why every computer follows Von Neumann architecture, this is why computers have volitile RAM, this is why computers have Operating Systems. Now, the interface to an operating system has a lot to do with how "easy" or how "difficult" a computer can be to use. The preoccupation of Linux with command line arguments comes from a very well tested philosophy. If every command is expressable as a command line with arguments, you effectively expand the power of the shell itself that much more, and the command itself can be automated in a shell script. Yes, these are all things that are suited to the administrator, but it is how Linux is built. What Linux has done is not only created a free and open operating system, but provided an operating system that comes with it a philosophy - a philosophy that says it's good to learn, to tinker, to experiment. You know what, us tinkerers have lives, girlfriends, jobs, and goals in life. What Linux does is what computer science was ment to do, allow experimentation, and exploration in the field of computing science. Linux was built by people who care about the freedom of experimentation, the freedom to tinker, the freedom to explore. To have the community that built this system to change its focus to cater to the newbies to reduce things to utter simplicity is to make Linux a Windows or Mac clone. We don't need more of the same. We don't need GUI interfaces that oversimplify the true functionality of what is there. We should not be afraid to demand a little from the user. This culture of convenience and constant preoccupation with every millisecond of time does not do anyone good. We don't need users that think too simply about their computers, we need users that approach computing with a willingness to learn. I would agree that those who possess knowledge should pass it on, but there are so many good articles out there in regards to Linux that the knowledge has been passed on and refined. Part of Linux is the philosophy of do it yourself. It's high time that people start "Reading The Fine Manual". The state has spent billioins in trying to give every person the ability to read. What's so wrong in having people cash in on that investment once in awhile? Here's another observation: It is always better to have more knowledge, and in the case of Linux, that knowledge is readily available. If someone does not know how to use Linux, then they are ignorant of it's methods. If however someone refuses to learn for the sake of learning, the knowledge is fully democratized and readily accessable and this same person would rather pay EXTRA money to continue in their comfort of ignorance, then what do you call that? In my book, it is no longer plain ignorance, but willful self-imposed ignorace. What is the difference between willful self-imposed ignorance and idiocy? Yes, time is a resource, once wasted, it can never be regained. Our time is finite and practical considerations limit how much we can spend time learning and studying, but what I find rude is when newbies come to Linux expecting Windows. It's like coming to a potluck, expecting gourmet, and a waiter. In a potluck, everybody gets to eat, recepies are passed around, eveyone contributes and you serve yourself. Think of that next time somebody RTFM's a newbie who obviously has not even discovered Google yet.
At the fundamental level, I totally agree with you, and I do believe that both can co-exist. The Mac is a good example: the UI is very user friendly, and yet you can open a console to do what you want.In theory the same is true for Linux: for example this server was set through a shell with, while my wife does work with Gimp and Inkscape so it is versatile enough to do 'geek' work and art work.Yes, the roots of Linux are very technical, but as Ubuntu has shown, many non technical users can benefit from it. I am not talking about 'dumbing' things down either, but rather provide support for those that want to be 'simple' users.Now we have an OS that can be understood and fixed, and it would be great to gain an ever broader acceptance rather than keeping it as a cool toy in the technical community.Everything is there, but the attitude, in my opinion, is not.
When you say that commands are inconsistent and documentation is
cryptic, you are missing the point.
The basic UNIX commands and documentation were made by computer
scientists for computer scientists. They may look weird for average joe
poweruser, but if you sufficient knowlegde in the field, (like a college degree in computer science) everything makes sense. The hole point is not making things cryptic. Regular expressions are a bitch to learn, but they are terribly powerful. So are differential equations.
Now, the real user documentation is the one that now comes with
modern applications, like Mozilla (Firefox), OpenOffice,
Gnome and KDE applications. This documentation may be incomplete
or insufficient in many places, because most of the time it is done
by volunteers. The major Linux backers (IBM, Red Hat, Novell and Canonical)
should make a priority to provide funding for this kind of documentation.
By the way, and old hard-core Macintosh user friend of mine used
to say that, if you must read documentation, the software is no good.
Well, I disagree, but that's just me...
P.S. forgive the bad english, I am francophone
"The basic UNIX commands and documentation were made by computer
scientists for computer scientists."
If you took the trouble to read the UNIX user manual, you would have found that the commands were meant to able to be used by everyone.
The clerks at AT&T and where I worked in the early 80s got their 8 weeks commands training from the learn program and went off and did their word processing using vi and the nroff macros, their database analysis using awk and the shell, their automatic data collection using dd, and their numerical work using bc and dc, and their library work with refer. All this work was encapsulated with simple shell containers, and because UNIX was a networked system way back then, ordinary users shared their neat shell scripts with each other. All this was done on a text terminal.
When we came up with a script that could be used repetitively without user interaction, we put an entry into our cron table and let the computer do the work for us.
On the other hand the scientists used more esoteric applications like S for statistical analysis, SQL databases, and CAD engineering on graphics screens.
I reckon if ordinary clerks could learn to use the UNIX tool kit back in the 80s with only 8 weeks training, Microsoft must have done a good job of indoctrination if "better educated" clerks can't do the same thing today with the same tool kit on Linux.
Stomfi
Australia
The trouble is that somehow most average Joe's & Jane's have bought into the concept that MS Windows is the 'computer'. That sure has been a non-stop winner for MS till now.
So like all average Joe's & Jane's the reaction to something new is to fight it. For they fear the unknown! They are comfortable with what they know and cry about every day.
They are comfortable with the sudden unexplained crashes, freezes, the viruses, trojans, malware, adware and all other goodies the MS world generates. Of course they also pay for these pleasures increasingly so as 'newer' versions of the MS OS makes its appearance. For the software itself as well as the newer hardware it requires. By the way none of the these average Joe's & Jane's realise that MS has actually got a choke hold on their computing world. What the people want, need and are free to choose is of no matter to MS. It is about fooling and enslaving all the average Joe's & Jane's for as long as they can to milk them of their cash and aiding and abetting this mill are all the hanger on crowd of PC manufacturers and so called ISV's!
If there is one single thing going for GNU/Linux it is the 'freedom' that it ensures. That nobody can take it and use it to abuse the people with. That is why Apple chose FreeBSD as their choice to build an OS out of. So that they could take for free and then proprietorise it. We all loose by choosing these made for profit bit and bytes. All they are interested in is enslaving as many people as they can to their OS so that they can flail as much as they can out of these people. Everything they do, including the marketing blitz's have the sole aim of parting people for their money first.
GNU/Linux actually contributes to making the world a better place to live in. By sharing freedom!
Khan Md Ashraf
If you're getting responses to questions where the person asking is being made fun of you're seriously dealing with the wrong group of Linux users. You'll sometimes find some snotty behavior but it's almost always from wannabes and not from people who really know Linux. Usually, in my experience, these are the people who get kicked off mailing lists and other places Linux users gather to share information.
About the worst behavior I see on a regular basis from those who know Linux well is the crime of being to busy. We tend to have jobs and families and don't always have time to field every question. Usually the best solution is to just ask again, in the same thread, and see if anybody notices your request. Start an interesting discussion on the topic among less experienced Linux users and sometimes those of us with more experience will take note and throw in our two cents. Often we'll see people stuck on some issue and throw out a tip on how to make it work.
Try MLUG if you want a more helpful audience to your questions. Just be sure to be polite yourself.
My goodness. How easy does it need to be? My 6 year old has no problem with Debian. If you can walk and chew gum at the same time you can run Linux. Perhaps you've just been hanging out at all the wrong places. There are distributions that are clearly not aimed at Joe-regular-computer-user like Arch and Slackware. Conversely there are PCLinuxOS, Debian, Ubuntu, Mandriva, etc., etc., etc that are incredibly simple and easy. Even an honest Windows fan would have to admit after using these distributions: they are sound, reliable, and incredibly simple to operate.
Your argument holds no water because the typical computer user still thinks the box is magic and is spooked by any OS. If the typical user must think much beyond clicking through a wizard they are lost.
This is not the fault of Linux. This is the fault of the typical computer user.
Sure, there are plenty of Linux elitists out there, more power to them. They didn't stop at pointing and clicking and they use their computer as a productivity tool. Maybe they do spend too much time in the basement and lack social graces -- knowing this, they should be left alone. Making the excuse that they are notorious and mean because regular users just want to surf the web and read/write email is incredibly lame. Users such as this don't even need a computer -- they can stick to their cellphones and be happy. I'll bet they don't even know how to work those! Lol.
Naaah. If Linux users are their own worst enemy, it is the new users. The people jumping on the Linux bandwagon are expecting handouts, a brainless path (Thanks Microsoft for the dumbing down of people everywhere) and other experienced users to teach them whatever they need to know in quick 2 minute soundbytes. No. I heartily disagree. Let these fools take the 2 hours necessary to learn to use their computer.
I have a tutorial site. No geekness. I'm neither a LInux "guru" nor am I an elitist, however, I do expect those seeking help from me or at my forum to do a little legwork on their own.
Let's stop making excuses for the sick, lame, and lazy and start expecting some effort on their part. We had to learn and they should too. I don't care if they are only surfing the web. A computer needs maintainence like any other machine. Crying foul because they are demanding from others is just an excuse at apathy. Look what the internet has turned into for this apathy -- rampant malware, bots, trojans, security holes a mile wide in Windows -- and just look at all those poor helpless regular users denying any responsibility in cavalier and hateful ways. Trying to make it sound like any computer user with experience is evil for not protecting these miscreants from themselves.
Pffft. It's time for a little personal responsibility, long overdue, in fact.