Comments for Does Linux really want Windows users?

Reason 2: More users == more apps and drivers

You know you program too much when you start doing that..

Lol i do it too therefore i == a nerd :D

Linux will become easier to use and install if people like home users and the ones that aren't geeks ask for something. For example if many people seek a guide how to install some driver...in time ... say months....a package or script will be available...and so on...the more users the easier and more stable the sistem will be...becouse linux developers will do the sistem as users want it...not as they think they want them..like windows...and about security ... i think in linux the security holes are fixed faster and more responsable that in windows...and not by deny-ing acces to an aplication or feature...but by fixing it...and there are many other examples.. just search the web

And then there are people like me, a gamer (Yes I know about WINE and Cedega) but I have no want for linux, I know not to install anything that looks iffy, I know when something is wrong, I know my computer inside out as I built it, but I still run Windows XP. I dont have the time to install Linux, It doesnt support my RAID controller (ATi SB600) Every distro I have tried to install outside of a VM just doesnt seem to work and the dualboot screen becomes annoying after a while ad I just see it as dead HDD space.

I run Kubuntu on my development webserver and for that purpose it is great, does everything I ask of it the lowly 500MHZ p3 and the 330MB ram are more that adequate for its purpose, its WOL aswell so it saves energy, Plus I dont have much time nowadays to develop my PHP skills anymore, but its nice to know its there.

So my argument is this, run what you know, where its going to work,and for its purpose, if its a server, Linux, If its a gaming rig with odd hardware, Windows.

If its your non techy parents first machine and all they want is web and email, then a locked down XP user account is more than adequate,
but I understand this isnt about that, this is first time users thrown into an admin account thats subjected to flashy gifs.

I only chose to reply because articles like this show how little you, and people like you, really know about technology.

I only chose to reply because articles like this show how little you, and people like you, really know about technology.

I left the quotes out on purpose. I thought your remark says more about you than it does the original poster. You got a few things right but that nonsense about security through obscurity (minority) tagged you as a regurgitator not an originator. Hey, I've got a good idea. Let's level the security playing field between Windows and Linux. The Linux guys will give all their code to the bad guys ;-). And we'll do the same for Apache and ALL the Open Source code. Still no total breakdown? Maybe you should wait a little longer.

I'll give you some good advice you'll never take. Don't ever pull that "Linux will have just as many security problems as Windows" crap. Here's a good analogy to help you. Malware on Linux is like someone dropping marbles into a bowl of honey. To remove them you just take them out with a spoon. Malware on Windows is like pouring old engine oil into the same bowl of honey. The whole thing is shot. Dump it all out, clean the bowl and start anew. As long as the user isn't running as root, and that is drilled into every new user, the malware problem will be contained to their home directory. In Linux, everything is compartmentalized, like the marbles.

I've worked on human factor engineering devision before

Anyone who works as your straw man should have his/her hands beaten with sledge hammers so they can never use a keyboard again. There are idiots in this world (I think I'm talking at one right now). A simple thing like a hammer is dangerous in the hands of an idiot. So why not an operating system? So put your freakin' idiots in charge of a Windows server and what do you get? Toast. Both sides.

"I've worked on human factor engineering devision [Try Firefox, it has a built-in spelling checker] before..." Snort.

Not to stray off topic, however:

This thread is so dumbed down that I feel a civic duty to reply. Inasmuch as all of the posts here are valid, a few observations are in place.

1. When citing people as stupid, or somesuch, use correct grammar to not look like an arse yourself. Few pointers:
with and which are NOT interchangable.
To and too are NOT interchangable.
rutinly? finnish? guarbage?
Whenever somebody makes worthless arguments, the trend is never know when to use whom rather than who.
If you want to raise points worthy of respect, at least make it seem as if you didn't flunk high-school exams. Truly.

2. The author earns my respect for making a valid point. In my honest opinion, even if the worst cam to the worst, and idiots downloaded .deb packages (one click install like window$) - it may be risky but a step in the right direction, as *nix is inherently, regardless of users, more secure.
And, as it has already been eluded to: with repos YOU KNOW WHOM TO TRUST. Simple, and sweet. In window$ you only get acme.corporation and I suppose, you'd have to do a google to determine if indeed, acme, it is trustworthy. Even if you supposed drivers signed by M$ were legit and safe, remember sony? Or creative with its deliberate "not vista" throttle policy, ad infinitum?

Bottom line, with Windows, vista or otherwise, you can still get seriously screwed even when using good measures and rational trust. Toolbars may be a good example to exemplify idiots, but what about the times when M$ ITSELF fucks you over with, say, a forced desktop search you didn't ask for that cripples your desktop when applying a "service pack"? Or sony installing a rootkit when you simply want to play A FUCKING MUSIC CD? How about the vista EULA? M$ pretty much owns your kidneys once you get busy with "the wow starts now"'. Pardon my French, but to say windows is a victim of its own success requires a very acute lack of cognitive acumen, or even worse, a lobotomy.

I suppose my point is, that it goes without saying that idiots can get screwed using linux. Difference being, in window$ you can have an IQ of 240 and 4 Phd's in computer science and still get fucked from 4 different angles, at once, using M$ operating systems.

All the best,
Dreamtorrent

Hi,

I am a gr8 fan of Linux and I totally agree as to what Oli advocates. But, I still fell that the solution to stop all the fuss Windows creates is not to migrate totally over to Linux. Instead of sitting around and saying that only Linux can dissolve the problems windows has created, would'nt it be cool if the not so stupid guys come up with ideas to make working on Windows safer??

Cheers,
Vinay

Well, I don't think there is a chance that we will wake up and find every PC loaded with Linux.

In the meantime, given that Linux is not as heavily targeted by bad seeds, Linux does provide a very robust platform for novices who need a basic machine with fundamental applications. I have put my 78 year old mother on Linux about a year ago -- and I have less support issues than I did under XP. My two oldest sons at college also run Linux. Its reliable, free, and breathes new life into older machines.

Of course, this is just one of many niches Linux excels in.

But Linux is in the position of fighting a guerilla war against a well established Microsoft base. The game changing events will probably have less to do with toe-to-toe battles with Windows -- and more with the way we interface with the web. Embedded Linux in appliances such as phones, TiVos, and hardware that hasn't been invented yet will more likely be dominated by Linux. The appliance manufactures don't want to pay the Microsoft tax to be compeititive.

Another game changer is already happening in notebooks. MicroSoft must have made some pact with the devil or Intel to keep making more bloated software to justify bigger and bigger hardware purchases -- in a chain of planned obsolence. But Ma' and Pa' have figured out they don't need a gaming tower to check e-mail. The bulk of what most folks do daily -- even in business -- can be handily done on slower, cheaper, less energy hungry hardware. And who wants a microwaved sized device when a toaster sized device (or smaller) will work just fine? I doubt we are going to see a stripped down version of XP -- even though it would make sense. I just put Puppy Linux on a prehistoric laptop (Lincoln typed the Gettyburg address on this model) and it just flies.

Linux is not a silver bullet that can and will solve every computer issue relating to hackers, exploits, and botnets; to name a few.

It is certainly not, but it is inherently leaps and bounds more secure than Windows, not to mention its development model that results in patches to exploits appearing in distros' repositories within hours, at most.

Mainly because SPAM is a very very profitable business. That profit motive will keep them exploiting people's computers.
Also, remember the majority of malware that runs these botnets on people's computers got there because people INSTALLED them. Not through some random network exploit, but piggybacking on some seemingly legitimate application.

Which distributions are you implying inject malware into their packages? Or are you implying that the average user will be advanced enough to seek specific packages outside the repositories, and at the same time foolish enough to seek a specific package that happens to be malware?

The majority of users are NOT geeks like us. They won't care about learning how to master a firewall and determining and application's legitimacy. If they want their smiley faces then they want them!

Way to back up a point of view that you're attacking...