[PCWorld] Why Linux on the Desktop Is Dead - Page 52  

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What, "old fact", are you referring to?

You're telling me. I'm trying to figure out what commands I need to input before install or how to patch it to make it work on AMD with a bus at 250 (gonna have to do some reading up on it first). I would give up since I'm installing it just to play around with it but there's that part of me that doesn't want to give up till I crack the problem and see how to do it.

Just going by this "@GermanyChris: Fedora would likely be worse for him.". Anyways, even some "noobs" while having not a clue about linux might still have some capabilities when it comes to installing an OS. Take my wife for example. If I were to hand her a windows install disk and say put it in the DVD drive, on my computer upstairs (with a blank hard drive for example) and turn it on, the chances she would run into any kind of difficulty installing windows on it would be very very small and most she might encounter would be fairly straightforward to fix with a call to MS tech support and a few simple steps to follow.. Now take the same setup and instead give her a linux distro disk (any distro) and can the same be honestly said for that install? Are the chances of encountering a problem really very small? And if problems ARE encountered what are the chances she'll be able to fix them with a few simple steps or easily be able to even find those steps? Let's all be really honest. That doesn't mean it makes Linux "worse" or windows any "better", it just means it has made it "easier" (for better or worse) to get up and running. Like I've said repeatedly, Linux has some really awesome and powerful features but there are some drawbacks, maybe not what you or I would consider drawbacks but something that many people would find a level of frustration in and are not willing to deal with just to get on the internet etc when there are other simpler options out there. Me, I will continue to use windows for the most part and from time to time install and play around with linux. If not for my experience (limited) with linux I would not have been able to unlock my android tablet and customize it to how I want it.

Just because you had no difficulty installing it on your system doesn't mean there won't be difficulty, or that it's "rarely" encountered.

I laughed at the MS tech support thing....cause to be honest...I didn't even know they had any.

But seriously, we've gone over this installing thing. It's not about whether it will work that's even the important part because most people would never attempt the Linux install because they don't know what it is. Fear of the unknown will hold them back. I've already said it before that even if you made things one to one and told them they were installing windows they'd probably go through with it and be fine. Sure there's bound to be a glitch or two every now and then but that happens even with Windows. The difference is what has everyone been ingrained to "trust" or expect on a computer? Best prank I ever pulled on someone was telling them that I had replaced their windows install with Linux and then watch them suddenly have problems with doing things even though I didn't do a thing to their computer. Yes, there are problems with Linux but I'm pretty sure a bigger problem is with the mindset of people about it. I thought Arch was going to be a terribly hard thing to get installed and working but the truth is it wasn't nearly as bad as I made it out. I'm sure Gentoo is probably less difficult than I think but my fear/laziness gets in the way. The point is simple. Your wife may or may not succeed with windows installing depending on her knowledge and mindset. For the most part she'd succeed because Windows gives you probably the least amount of choices it can during that install. But to get to that point would be a step that many people can't/won't take.

Just throwing this out there...

Installed Ubuntu 10.10 on my Dell Inspiron (with a mobility radeon 9000)... radeon drivers were broken... Put 11.04 on it.. problem solved... though I still have suspend and resume issues.

Installed Mint 12 on my other Gateway laptop, no issues at all. Thinking of trying Mint on my Dell...

So it's going to be hit and miss, but most integrated peripherals will install without any issues. I noticed on systems with Integrated Graphics I had notably less issues than with ones with proprietary graphics. The one I've always had issues with were ATI cards.

Agreed.
I have NEVER had any issues with nVidia graphics cards.
Oh wait i have never had one!
Although seriously here is a list of hardest to easiest driver-wise. The thing is with windows you actually have to install the drivers with a CD(yes actually!)! Linux has all of your drivers by default but there are some issues with certain thing's e.g audio cards. And OSX doesn't count
Win7




Linux

























OSX

There is. http://linux.die.net/man/1/man

@MediaRocker, use the new Mint 13 either the Mate edition or the Cinnamon edition.

As far as the thread title, no Linux desktop is not dead.
More people are getting exposed to it now as they are seeing things that companies such as Microsoft are doing by closing them into a little box that choices are made for them (for their own good they are saying). That sounds like what Apple does..........

In the same respects there are some Linux distributions that have either taken free choice away in some areas, or made it an obfuscated task to change some things.

This is why a great percentage of Linux users can't stand things like Unity.
I prefer the "Mate" version of Linux Mint 13 because it continues to give me the free and easy ways to change things to the way I like them to look and act.

That is one of the wonderful things with Linux, you are not 'Locked in a box'
If you don't like it, you can change it to either a different distribution, or change your DE.

Windows is trying to copy the Unity interface with their new Metro interface, disregarding the fact that most Linux users can't stand Unity and won't use it.

Humans do like to have choices, Linux does give you choices for your Desktop Environment and your operating system, Microsoft and Apple do not.

The Linux Desktop is not dead and never will be.

Software is dead when nobody uses it. There are approximately 1.5 billion PCs in use around the world, and if Linux has a market share of 1% (using the most conservative estimates from the poorest sources) then 15 million people are using it on their desktop. Let's be honest, there is far more dead software than that.

Well, I've been a 1% er for many many years.