Successful transitions to linux?

[timidpimpin]

Any OS is only as capable as the person using it. If the user has limited ability, then so will the OS. Fact.

Linux is for people that want total control. And people without competent command line skills are going to be limited. This is not the fault of Linux.

 

[sracer]

Any OS is only as capable as the person using it. If the user has limited ability, then so will the OS. Fact.

Linux is for people that want total control. And people without competent command line skills are going to be limited. This is not the fault of Linux.

I agree with the general sentiment you expressed, but I think you are selling Linux short by placing an oversized emphasis on the command line. That was true 10-15 years ago... not any more.

There are quite a few terrific distros that are fully functional out-of-the-box without ever needing to open a terminal session. Some cater to those comfortable with MacOS.... others comfortable with chromebooks... and still others who use Windows.

The current state of Linux is at a level of maturity to serve the purposes for the entire spectrum, from non-techies looking for a computing appliance to the gearheads who live in terminal.

 

[timidpimpin]

I agree with the general sentiment you expressed, but I think you are selling Linux short by placing an oversized emphasis on the command line. That was true 10-15 years ago... not any more.

There are quite a few terrific distros that are fully functional out-of-the-box without ever needing to open a terminal session. Some cater to those comfortable with MacOS.... others comfortable with chromebooks... and still others who use Windows.

The current state of Linux is at a level of maturity to serve the purposes for the entire spectrum, from non-techies looking for a computing appliance to the gearheads who live in terminal.

You're talking to me as if I asked what the benefits of modern Linux are. I'm well aware, but the command line is, and will always be, its most powerful tool. An applications GUI only gives you the options to use what's there to click on. Anything else requires the command line.

The point of my post was to tell people that think Linux sucks that it's really their own limited computer skills that suck. Hence my point about an OS only being as capable as the user.

I've been a BSD developer since 1988, and have developed software for two different NATO military's, as well as writing cluster software in the civilian world. I know what I speak of.

Anything else you'd like to try and talk down to me about?

 

[370zulu]

You're talking to me as if I asked what the benefits of modern Linux are. I'm well aware, but the command line is, and will always be, its most powerful tool. An applications GUI only gives you the options to use what's there to click on. Anything else requires the command line.

The point of my post was to tell people that think Linux sucks that it's really their own limited computer skills that suck. Hence my point about an OS only being as capable as the user.

I've been a BSD developer since 1988, and have developed software for two different NATO military's, as well as writing cluster software in the civilian world. I know what I speak of.

Anything else you'd like to try and talk down to me about?

I happen to believe that you both raise good points. FWIW, I read sracer's reply three times and got no sense that sracer was talking down to you.

 

[timidpimpin]

I happen to believe that you both raise good points. FWIW, I read sracer's reply three times and got no sense that sracer was talking down to you.

He talked down to me by answering a question that I didn't ask.

 

[c0ppo]

He talked down to me by answering a question that I didn't ask.

He was simply replying to your post, and expressing his own opinion. He didn't talk down to you, or anyone else.

 

[timidpimpin]

He was simply replying to your post, and expressing his own opinion. He didn't talk down to you, or anyone else.

I think he can speak for himself.

 

[BeefCake 15]

The point of my post was to tell people that think Linux sucks that it's really their own limited computer skills that suck. Hence my point about an OS only being as capable as the user.

Agree the over the top sentiment of Linux sucking is not true but it still needs more development for mainstream use. CLI is great to use but should not be necessary all the time.

 

[c0ppo]

I think he can speak for himself.

Ohh... I see you're in great mood. Don't worry, won't be replying to any of your posts at all.
Enjoy your day/evening

 

[grmlin]

The second a distro releases a working hidpi mode with working ui scaling I'll give Linux another go. And that has to include more than integer based scaling, which is useless for me right now :/

Until then it's unusable for me. But I miss it every day. At least I still have the console in WSL, that's something, right?

 

[timidpimpin]

Agree the over the top sentiment of Linux sucking is not true but it still needs more development for mainstream use. CLI is great to use but should not be necessary all the time.

I agree, but to be able to do things so directly is a powerful tool. It's efficiency on top of efficiency.

 

[timidpimpin]

Ohh... I see you're in great mood. Don't worry, won't be replying to any of your posts at all.
Enjoy your day/evening

Don't mistake me being forthright as having any rude intent. All I know is to be very direct, and many mistake it as some sort of anger. It's not at all.

 

[grmlin]

The second a distro releases a working hidpi mode with working ui scaling I'll give Linux another go. And that has to include more than integer based scaling, which is useless for me right now :/

Until then it's unusable for me. But I miss it every day. At least I still have the console in WSL, that's something, right?

30min after this post I read this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pop_os/comments/j65hyf
well then lol

 

[timidpimpin]

I think the people who struggle most when moving from Mac or Windows to Linux or BSD are creative professionals. And while this aspect is constantly improving in open source OS, it still falls quite short for many. IMO this is one of the biggest limitation of Linux/UNIX. GIMP is great, but it's no Photoshop.

 

[topcat001]

I was considering an Intel distribution. But they must have gone towards the server, not the desktop?

They have a server focus. However, quite a few people are using it as a desktop system. If a package is missing, the team is quite reasonable about adding it.

 

[C.D.Burner]

Agree the over the top sentiment of Linux sucking is not true but it still needs more development for mainstream use. CLI is great to use but should not be necessary all the time.

I guess that would depend what you mean by mainstream use. I've gone through old people's Windows computers that were a total mess. Don't expect them to know what a firewall is, or that there are files in other places besides the desktop. Even the concept of passwords can be generally elusive.

One of the main things I did was delete their cookies, they had something in there which screwed up their browsing.

 

[ChrisA]

There are plenty of users in this sub forum that made the migration to windows. How about those that primarily use linux now? I am a comp sci student, and predominately use my macs for programming + command line. This makes the move to windows more difficult than running software. Unfortunately the allure of better hardware is always strong. Who made the switch to linux? What distros are you actively using? What is the use case, and how well did it go?

I was using Linux from the days before Steve Jobs returned to Apple and released Mac OS X. Before Linux was I was using BSD UNIX on Sun hardware from the mid 80's and on a Vax780 before that.

If you are a CS student this is a simple move. In fact I am surprized you are not spending most of your time running Linux in a virtual machine on the Mac. This might be the best way for you to do the transition. Install Fusion on the Mac then Ubuntu on top of that and over time transition to Linux and try out different distributes in virtual machines. Keep you data in $HOME on the Mac andexport it to the various Linux VMs.

My use case is AI, Robotics, and 3D CAD. The first two really needs to run on Linux and the CAD software is looking like it needs to be Windows based. There are not many good CAD options for macos or Linux.

I bought an HP workstation class computer with 64GB ECC RAM an a 16-core Xeon used for $500 when it came off-lease. Then I added an SSD for the system drive and an Nvidia GPU that allows me some abilty to train AI models locally. Then I got a 27" 4K monitor and I'm "set" for about $1,300 total. The Xeon is dramatically faster than any Mac except one of the high-end Mac Pros. Even when runing 3D CAD (Solidworks) in Windows 10 in a virtual machine the Linux system is still faster than any iMac.

Doing any kind of serious work in AI is impossible on Macs because they lack Nvidia GPUs. While it is possible, it is hard to set up services like a SQL DBMS and a Jupiter notebook server on Mac.

But on the other hand, one of my hobbies is photos and video and I can't run the Adobe suite or Final Cut Pro on Linux. The Mac desktop is nicer to use, somehow easy on the eyes. But in time I'll have made adjustments to the Ubuntu desktop.

I am very familiar with Linux but I bought the Mac for how well it works for creative work using Adobe products and for Final Cut and Apple's "Logic". But for everything else the faster Linux system is much better.

One option is to buy a PC, load Linux and use it "headless" with no monitor or keyboard then log into it from your Mac. This works really well. I'm experimenting with this and I'm runing VMWare "Vshpere" hypervisor on the headless PC. Vsphere is a bare metal hypervisor and then you run some VMs on top and load the OS on the VM. It acttualy performs VERY well if you have enough RAM and CPU core and Vsphere is free for personal use. You can then export these VMs to you Mac. This is a COMPLEX setup that I only suggest to a CS student,not to the usual mac users.

Runing a 27" iMac on the desktop with a second 27" monitor and then a headless PC runing Vsphere with Windows 10 and Linux on the PC seem to be the best of all possible words. The virtual machines are "way-fast". I am not there yet my setup is evolving. This is far to complex for most users. I have a graduate level CS education and decades profesional experiance. For most peole I recommend a Chromebook. Yes Chromebook.

 

[C.D.Burner]

You also generally don't have to use the text interface on most modern Linux distros.

Sometimes on forums people post text stuff when the same thing could be attained by clicking on an icon. Part of the reason for this is that if some dependencies are missing, it might give some indication what is missing. Another reason is the person posting is used to doing it that way. You usually don't need it if everything is installed, except if what you installed doesn't have a menu entry (rare).

 

[C.D.Burner]

I am very famial with Linux but I bought the Mac for how well it works for creative work using Adobe products and for Final Cut and Apple's "Logic".

I was able to install an old version of Photoshop and a couple of other programs from an Adobe CD for XP, running under Wine.

 

[filu_]

You also generally don't have to use the text interface on most modern Linux distros.

Sometimes on forums people post text stuff when the same thing could be attained by clicking on an icon. Part of the reason for this is that if some dependencies are missing, it might give some indication what is missing. Another reason is the person posting is used to doing it that way. You usually don't need it if everything is installed, except if what you installed doesn't have a menu entry (rare).

Using the terminal is not always necessary, but it is sometimes more convenient. Sometimes I find it more convenient to upgrade my system with the "zypper ref" and "zypper up" commands than with Yast2.

On the other hand, there are system components that I cannot click on. But they are not for "normal" use.

@ChrisA
I just want to upgrade my 8-year-old computer to something newer, Intel i5 but mATX (using some of the components from the old computer - housing, power supply, CD-ROM) - for Linux and Windows VM. Linux for everyday use, Windows emergency and for iTunes (my wife will remain rather faithful to Apple).

 

[topcat001]

I love (and in fact prefer) using the terminal. With proper command history and shell setup, it remembers everything and one hardly has to type anything. On Linux, I really enjoy the minimal UIs. I'm mostly using FVWM and Xmonad. FVWM has a powerful scripting language, and in Xmonad you basically write your own DE using the Haskell programming language. It probably helps that I grew up using Solaris and IRIX (on my beloved SiliconGraphics O2 workstation in Uni) .