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.
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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.