Comment on: Demise of the solid-state Linux Netbook

[tm_anon]

@artistjoh

You mention 97% who avoid Linux. I've talked with many people online, in person, on the phone and when I mention that I'm using Linux, the vast majority have the same question "what's that?".

They're not avoiding Linux, they just don't know about it. The reason they don't know about it is very simple, nobody told them about it.

Now, being an artist, I'm going to assume you have a good imagination. I want you to imagine something. I want you to imagine growing up with Linux instead of Windows. You're used to finding all your software through repositories, installing it from them, using it immediately, no restart required. I want you to imagine being able to surf the web and ask questions if there's something you need to do, find out the shortcomings of a piece of software, get help determining the best tool for the job, all for free.

I want you to imagine that you've always been able to upgrade your entire OS just by clicking a few buttons, maybe downloading the newest distro, and that, if you wanted to try out a different version, you could compare and contrast and install the different version for free as well.

Now, imagine that one day you decided to try Windows. You install it, look for the package manager so you can download some apps but you don't find one. You go online, not realizing you need an Antivirus program, and immediately get a virus so, you do a search and try and find out what to do. You look up Antivirus and find AVG free. You have to download from the website, install it, update it, run it, realize how slow it makes your computer, quarantine the file it says to and now you think you're safe.

You've removed the virus from your machine and promptly get one that takes advantage of the new Active X vulnerability and AVG free doesn't catch it. You've also managed to contract spyware and other malware on your computer because you weren't running an antispyware app and AVG free didn't catch all the malware trying to infiltrate your system.

You've been running Linux all your life, used to being able to surf the web without catching viruses, without catching malware or spyware. However, you give it the benefit of the doubt that Windows is just used more and so the bad guys must just focus on them.

Now, you decide you want some games but you have no idea where to go. With Linux you could just open the package manager, find Games, install some and be playing them at the end of, at most, an hour.

You decide to talk to your friend on IM and see what advice they have so you look in your list of available programs and can't find the default IM program. Windows doesn't have one installed, you have to search for them.

You decide you want to write an email to MS to let them know you're disappointed that your version of Windows was missing such key features as a package manager and an IM client and, since your ISP gives you an email adress, you decide it's time to set it up so you look for your default email client and find out there isn't one (Outlook Express has to be installed and does not come as a default program).

Now you're really mad so you're going to write a letter. You go to look for your Office App, knowing that any good OS has an Office App installed. After all, everyone needs one of those and nobody would purchase an OS without one, right? Wrong again, Windows doesn't have one installed.

You look for the Windows forums and ask if anyone else has had these problems. Each person who responds doesn't know what a package manager is or ridicules you and says that Linux is so hard to use. They laugh when you say that your email client was missing and when you ask why Windows doesn't include an office app, they wonder what all you were expecting from your OS and tell you that you have to go out and buy one but that there's a student discount.

Now, imagine that 97% of people you were mentioning having that experience. Linux isn't a chore, Windows is. Linux has better than "professional" support, it has personal support. It even has the majority of apps necessary installed by default including the GIMP.

People don't avoid Linux, they just don't know about it.