Author Topic: Why I hate Linux for desktops  (Read 590 times)

Sciatico

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #15 on: Sep 19, 2021, 05:50:51 PM »
This forum isn't "great software".

richmond62

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #16 on: Sep 19, 2021, 07:27:24 PM »
I don't know about "great software" as I don't belive great software exists, I do believe that
potentially great software exists however . . .

I am obviously one lucky camper insofar as I have installed various types of Linux on all sorts of machines
a good 500 times I have NEVER encountered a problem.

Now the dozen times I have had anything to do with Windows over the last 25 years I have always
got myself in one sort of trouble or another.

I have never had a problem with Macintosh, RISCOS, HaikuOS, DOS or MOS either.  8)

Sciatico

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #17 on: Sep 19, 2021, 07:57:06 PM »
Never even heard of RISCOS, HaikuOS or MOS.
Quite happy to be rid of M$ this whole millennium so far.Don't understand why this forum messes with the formatting though.
Like just now above, I typed a space after the fullstop and it deleted it. There was also a return which was ignored.

klondike

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #18 on: Sep 19, 2021, 09:26:48 PM »
This forum isn't "great software".
I'd say at a guess the forum errors are in the javascript which is why Linux Firefox is behaving differently from Windows browsers. I got no spurious BB code in the earlier post where I was moaning about missing space lines where on windows there would have been.

Well richmond you certainly have been a lucky chappy. Every time I've installed  Linux there have been a swathe of niggling errors and guess what every time i have searched and found plenty of hits offering fixes for those exact same errors. Sometimes they have worked and sometimes they haven't but they haven't been problems that I alone in the great big world encountered. Not to say that I think you are lying but perhaps your memory is playing tricks or something.
So long and thanks for all the fish

Sciatico

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #19 on: Sep 19, 2021, 10:40:10 PM »
You can always ask for a refund, as the saying goes...As it is M$ makes you pay through the nose for their spyware and then you have to pay extra ransom to keep it "secure" whilst remaining firmly chained to M$'s apron. On top of that you have to pay for the application software, Most of which is also free in Linux.Maybe if you started with a reasonably modern mobo and monitor, you would have better luck and a bigger wallet.

klondike

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #20 on: Sep 19, 2021, 11:09:40 PM »
Now what do the geeks and Linux disciples always say. That crappy old computer you run would be so much much better if you'd just install Linux. They don't mention the high probability that you'll then spend the next few weeks getting the thing to half work and may have to hunt out peripherals that have Linux drivers because the ones you have don't work and the kludges to get Windows drivers to work on Linux don't either (been there in the past).

I don't pay for any Windows software as the Web is awash with high quality freeware. Windows itself comes with the PC. Good luck with getting a discount for no opsys. Build your  own? I used to until it became cheaper to buy one ready built. Third party AV hasn't been needed with windows for quite a few years now.

Linux is a bit like nuclear fusion reactors - properly working versions are always 10 years away.
So long and thanks for all the fish

Sciatico

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #21 on: Sep 19, 2021, 11:28:29 PM »
I used to think like that. I was with windows from 3.11 onwards until the end of XP. Linux was as crap as them but free. From then on I was mainly Linux but still having to use windows occasionally. Now I have been virtually windows free for years. You would do yourself a big favour if you also changed but with reasonably modern components. I suspect that what you call "a bit old" may be utterly obsolete.

klondike

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #22 on: Sep 19, 2021, 11:55:59 PM »
The monitor is certainly old but as it supports a full HD resolution is not obsolete. The shops still sell less capable machines than the one I just made dual boot.

I am quite happy with Windows having used it for donkeys years and although I've had the odd glitch from time to time they have been rare and a fix easy enough to find. I'm only installing Linux because some support programs for a radio I've bought are Linux only.

I have just splashed some cash on a new desktop with its own monitor which should be coming tomorrow. Neither of the two I have is Windows 11 capable having rather early Intel core processors and no V2 TPM and I tend to be an early adopter. Despite that I get few problems. An update a couple of years back stopped Bluetooth working but the fix was easy enough thanks to Google.
So long and thanks for all the fish

klondike

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #23 on: Sep 20, 2021, 09:28:57 AM »
Well I think I have finally lost patience with my latest forray into the hobby of continually fixing operating system problems so you will find this post has the usual blank lines between paragraphs and possibly, until I edit them out, some spurious junk added by my Windows browser - now Edge as it seems to be faster than Chrome or Opera which I have also used.

I thought I might add those missing printer drivers as I might want to print stuff but first I thought I'll try a couple of experiments...

First how long to get into the Ubuntu desktop having set my userid to autologin.
An impressive 14 seconds although the desktop screen still did request a password - probably by design rather than an error.

Next does it work with a generic wifi dongle.
Yes I see my SSID enter the password and see it says connected. As I had forgotten to unplug the network cable I rebooted only to find that it isn't smart enough to realise that no cable means use the Wifi so I prat with the settings and turn off wired but it still doesn't connect to wifi now. Reboot and sthe same again. OK I'll check that out later maybe I don't need WiFi on it anyway.

Reboot and I get the following obscure message
error: invalid arch-independent ELF magic
Entering rescue mode
grub rescue>

None of the usual linux help options (--help -help ?) produce anything and as this is the bootloader anyway it likely has none. A quick google on my phone shows this is far from uncommon and requires the live boot to fix some buggered up config which was perfectly OK yesterday.

Rather than boot up my Ubunto live USB I booted up my Macrium Reflect to restore the Windows only image for a second time.

I'll leave this now tedious Linux hobby to those lucky folk who never encounter an error.
So long and thanks for all the fish

Sciatico

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #24 on: Sep 20, 2021, 09:35:12 AM »
Looks like you are doomed to remain imprisoned by windows, lol.

klondike

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #25 on: Sep 20, 2021, 09:36:39 AM »
Just rebooted the restored image. For fun I timed it. 9.7 seconds to desktop  ;D


Tried the WiFi dongle. No issues. It is very slow but being USB2 and 2.4GHz only I wouldn't expect much especially given 2.4Ghz is often unusable here (something I'll be using the radio to try and track down) I'm not overly surprised. At least it worked.





It's better wired. All I had to do to switch was plug in the cable and yank the dongle. Unlike Ubuntu Windows seemed smart enough to cope with that.


So long and thanks for all the fish

Sciatico

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #26 on: Sep 20, 2021, 10:27:18 AM »
Yes, but did you manage to cut all the umbilical chords to Redmond and escape the virus "protection" rackets?

klondike

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #27 on: Sep 20, 2021, 10:44:49 AM »
I haven't used an external AV for some years now. I note that some still do as Mike said he'd had, probably unrelated, keyboard problems after an Avast update. He was waiting on a USB keyboard which might but probably won't fix it as I doubt it is the keyboard at fault and if it is on a laptop it will still be connected anyway. He hasn't reported back so I'll find the thread and ask how things are. You can suggest he swaps to Linux then  :)

When I did use third party AV they were always free and I always bin McAffee or what other crap comes as a free trial with new machines.

I shut off at least some of the MS snooping using https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10 although to be honest I'm not overly fussed anyway.
So long and thanks for all the fish

Sciatico

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #28 on: Sep 20, 2021, 11:41:14 AM »
 I am sure 99% of your bandwidth is used to tell Redmond when you scratch your butt or pick your nose.

I still suggest you get yourself  a new budget computer and monitor  and a cheap, small SSD drive and put Lubuntu or Xubuntu on it. None of that "dual boot" crap. If you have to dual boot, just swap ssd drives.
https://lubuntu.me/downloads/ 

https://xubuntu.org/download/

klondike

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Re: Why I hate Linux for desktops
« Reply #29 on: Sep 20, 2021, 12:52:14 PM »
I have already taken the cheaper option. I had put a spare 160GB SSD into a USB3 caddy and have installed the beast on that. The installation still produced a dual boot setup but that is on the external drive not potentially screwing up the drive inside the machine as it somehow managed last time.
I may stick at this point as my new Windows machine should be arriving soon and I'll want to set that up to my taste and install the software I need on it.

Now considering Linux doesn't seem to be capable of imaging a running system like windows can I will at some point be imaging my "Linux on an external drive" sometime using Macrium Reflect on Windows I suppose. I wonder how many times that will be need to be restored. At least this has proved that restoring images still works as it has been a while since I tested it to make sure.
So long and thanks for all the fish