Re: [Staffslug] Linux Take-Up

I started out with DOS followed by Windows 3.11 right up to and including Vista and Server 2008. I went to night school for 3 years to get my computer studies ticket back in 1992-94 and then did another 2 years in 2000/2001 on networking with CCNA etc. During all that time not even the tutors/lecturers were using Linux, although the college network was served by Unix based systems. It was really during the networking course that I started studying Linux and got to appreciate all the networking tools that were available. Linux then was still pretty ropy with difficult to setup GUIs,  drivers were a nightmare to find and install whereas windows was pretty simple. So if I needed to get a database setup or work on spreadsheets I always ended up using windows. Its only in the last 3 years that Linux started to become user friendlier especially since Ubuntu became available.  Then Suse9 & 10 came out and that is one of the best in my opinion. Anyway, Dave's assessment of the reasons for the lack of enthusiasm by the general public/users for Linux is on the button. But in addition there is the support problem!  Most Linux users are techies of some sort and although you can find solutions on the web for your problem, most of the time the user simply does not understand the instructions or the solution won't work on their particular system. Most users just don't want the hassle.  They buy a system and they want it to work.  They don't want to know how it works which is where Windows and Apple score big time. I could go on but that is the gist of it. :-) Walter____________________________________________________________ -----Original Message----- From: staffslug-bounces(a)staffslug.org.uk [mailto:staffslug-bounces@staffslug.org.uk] On Behalf Of Dave Sent: 26 August 2009 10:07 To: staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk Subject: [Staffslug] Linux Take-Up I was thinking the other day (and this morning as I sat in the dentist office), what do you think is stopping people moving to Linux (or any other distro that is not M$ based)? There were a few ideas that jumped around in mind head, and I was wondering what everyone else thought? My ideas were:  - Fear of the unknown  - Lived with M$ for all of their computer lives (leading back to above)  - Learning curve? (I know that with newer/certain distros, it's getting very graphical, but there isn't any c:\ !)  - Hardware issues What do you think? Dave