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Linux on the desktop?
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=839		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  forquare1 [ Wed May 27, 2009 2:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Linux on the desktop?
The Register wrote:
Few topics in the IT industry are more contentious than the prospect of putting Linux on the corporate desktop. Opinions range from the religious view at one end, promoting a fundamentalist belief in open source as the saviour of mankind, to the reaction of corporate conservatives at the other, dismissing Linux as irrelevant to serious end user computing.

Rehister Clicky

I think I largely agree with the article. Average office workers really wouldn't give a damn about the switch, whereas power users may dislike the transition as might users of 'specialist' applications.

It would be interesting to get fellow forumites to use only Linux for a day (or maybe a week, no, let's not push it :P) to see if they could see if Linux would be a viable alternative for day-to-day stuff...
Author:  Linux_User [ Wed May 27, 2009 2:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
I already use Linux every day. I'm using it right now... ;)
Author:  AlunD [ Wed May 27, 2009 2:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
I've tried it already and really struggled to get my head around it, just for day to day stuff to be honest.

I keep a copy on disc for emergencies etc and I suppose if I had to use it I would get used to it after a while, like everything else.

Its more a case of why should I move outside my comfort zone?

I only change versions of windows or major applications when I have to e.g. a major customer is going to so I need to, that sort of thing.

If I had always used OSX or Linux the same would probably be said about moving to windows. :?
Author:  Tsar [ Wed May 27, 2009 2:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
Got two linux's on my pc with xp
Author:  John_Vella [ Wed May 27, 2009 2:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
I've used Linux on and off since 1997 but these days I tend to use it on Virtual machines, as the wife complains about the dual boot menus, and cannot get on with it as the only O/S.
Author:  big_D [ Wed May 27, 2009 3:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
forquare1 wrote:
I think I largely agree with the article. Average office workers really wouldn't give a damn about the switch, whereas power users may dislike the transition as might users of 'specialist' applications.

It would be interesting to get fellow forumites to use only Linux for a day (or maybe a week, no, let's not push it :P) to see if they could see if Linux would be a viable alternative for day-to-day stuff...

That is what I have been saying for years... :?

I've experienced the problems when switching from DOS to Windows. It was amazing the number of people who wouldn't even consider Windows! Or swapping from DisplayWrite to WordPerfect. Switching from Windows XP to Vista, OS X or Linux is the same thing.

Normal users don't care, as long as they can find their icons afterwards!

Power users are often scared of losing their cachét as a power user and having to learn all their "tips and tricks" all over again and being just a normal user, until they can find some tricks which make them appear to be a step above the average user.

That fear manifests itself into a "violent" opposition to change - whether it be from one version of Windows or Office to another or from one operating system to another!
Author:  forquare1 [ Wed May 27, 2009 3:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
I know what you mean Alun.

I remember my first real encounter with Linux was when my Mac went in for repairs, I used Linux for a week an got used to it. Firefox was the same, GAIM gave the same experience as Adium did...I didn't need to use anything else at the time.

I use GNOME (Windowing system, similar to what Aqua/Aero is) everyday at work and it's very usable, I use Firefox and Thunderbird, both of which are almost identical to the same versions on Windows/OS X.

One thing I think doesn't help is the folder structure. It makes a lot of sense to me now, but when I started out it all seemed really odd.
Author:  AlunD [ Wed May 27, 2009 3:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
Guys I'm not doubting it would be a "viable alternative" but why change if you are happy with the tools / OS you've already got? :?
Author:  JJW009 [ Wed May 27, 2009 3:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
AlunD wrote:
Guys I'm not doubting it would be a "viable alternative" but why change if you are happy with the tools / OS you've already got? :?


I'm running XP most of the time. I do have Windows 7 as a Beta trial, but that expires next year.

How long before MS stop supporting XP? There are possibly people on this forum who've been using it since their very first computer, Once it goes out of support, it becomes a security risk and an increasing number of new products will not be compatible with it.

The choice? Upgrade to the latest MS OS every few years at great expense, Upgrade to MS "free torrent issue with special bonus malware", or get Linux and stay up to date forever for free.

XP has actually been fantastic value for money. Never before has such a decent OS been sold below £50 and lasted for approaching a decade. It will be interesting to see how 7 fairs.
Author:  AlunD [ Wed May 27, 2009 3:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
JJW009 wrote:
AlunD wrote:
Guys I'm not doubting it would be a "viable alternative" but why change if you are happy with the tools / OS you've already got? :?


Beta expires this August its RC that is next year.

I'm running XP most of the time. I do have Windows 7 as a Beta trial, but that expires next year.

Same as me

I like 7 and will switch to that personally.

My point would be that if somebody has been using windows for years they probably have loads of applications / tools / widgets what ever you want to call them plus the applications that they know and love / hate but are used to. I remember the shock of going from dos to windows :shock:

Dumping the whole lot or at least a very large proportion would be a right royal pain. I just don't think most people will take the leap. All power to them if they do but you also have to bear in mind that people on these forums are not normal users.

Joe public who can use a PC but when something goes wrong he gets his mate "who knows windows" to sort it out. Will his mate be able to sort kubuntu ( sp ) out ? who would be able to ? How much would it cost?
Author:  forquare1 [ Wed May 27, 2009 4:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
What apps do 'normal' users use?
To take my Mum as an example, her computing activities include:
Internet
Email
Music listening
Occasional letter

Linux would do everything for her, and the only things to change would be:
Name of app (though probably similar and as/more descriptive)
Icon
Layout of application (though would be similar)

For the internet Mum will happily use the icon that looks like an 'e' whether it is labeled "IE", "Internet Explorer" or "Internet", she also knows what the Firefox icon looks like and will use that if she finds it first.
Outlook is used for email, icon/name wise, she'd be lost( though a bird hugging an envelope and a name such as "Thunderbird Mail and News" might give her a clue), but I'm confided she'd find her way around Thunderbird.
Music might be a problem, and I don't know what applications there are, though Solaris has an app called "Rhythmbox Music player" which makes me think it wouldn't be hard...
For letters, Mum would use the 'W' icon labeled "Microsoft Office Word" or MS Word". An icon labeled "OpenOffice" would probably prompt her to use that, she hasn't used Office 2007, so the interface would be very similar to Office 2003 for her.

So it would take her very little time to get used to it, and a friend who 'knows Windows' is probably a little bit of a geek and might know what to Google for (roughly), personally, it would make my life easier if my family switched to Linux or OS X, as they usually call on me for Windows support, and I don't have a blinking clue!

I do agree with you when you say why move away with what you are happy with, but when you don't give a damn (most normal users I come across), would you rather spend a few hundred quid on a new OS plus new applications to run on it, or would you rather it be free (with perhaps the occasional charged support call)
Author:  AlunD [ Wed May 27, 2009 4:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
forquare1 wrote:
So it would take her very little time to get used to it, and a friend who 'knows Windows' is probably a little bit of a geek and might know what to Google for (roughly), personally, it would make my life easier if my family switched to Linux or OS X, as they usually call on me for Windows support, and I don't have a blinking clue!

Yes but you are not "normal" in that sense a very high proportion of the home computer user base is windows. :D And so is its support.

forquare1 wrote:
I do agree with you when you say why move away with what you are happy with, but when you don't give a damn (most normal users I come across), would you rather spend a few hundred quid on a new OS plus new applications to run on it, or would you rather it be free (with perhaps the occasional charged support call)


But most won't spend a few hundred upgrading an OS. That's my point. Next time they buy a new PC they will get OEM Win7 on it as part of the package ( so it has no visible cost ). And all their well used and understood applications will work.

In all my years in IT I've never known a Joe Public home user want to upgrade an OS, It just happens when they get a new PC. :?
Author:  Linux_User [ Wed May 27, 2009 4:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
Joe Public, frankly, don't have a frakkin' clue. Hence why there are so many viruses and botnets doing the rounds...
Author:  AlunD [ Wed May 27, 2009 4:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
Linux_User wrote:
Joe Public, frankly, don't have a frakkin' clue. Hence why there are so many viruses and botnets doing the rounds...


Totally agree :D
Author:  tombolt [ Wed May 27, 2009 4:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Linux on the desktop?
forquare1 wrote:
It would be interesting to get fellow forumites to use only Linux for a day (or maybe a week, no, let's not push it :P) to see if they could see if Linux would be a viable alternative for day-to-day stuff...


I could quite easily use Linux for day-to-day stuff if I were a normal office user. Trouble is, I need Indesign, Illustrator, Quark and Photoshop to do any work. I haven't yet managed to get my OpenSuse machine to be seen or see anything else on the network yet either, so have to email files to myself to get it on another machine.
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