08-08-2022, 06:10 PM
I’ve never heard anyone ridicule Linux but perhaps I don’t move in those circles. Farnkly, most people don’t know it exists. I have recommended it to one or two folk who have ageing machines and only want to do basic things* like browsing the ’net, email and a bit of office type stuff (LibreOffice). If nothing else I am anxious that their perfectly good but old machines shouldn’t end up in the Borough tip and they don’t shell out for MS Office subscriptions when they don’t need to. They are usually quite shocked that there is a third system out there, and sometimes a little suspicious when they learn that is free. (Can’t be much good if it is free.) They think there is some catch or they won’t be able to do stuff or it will be radically different; though, let’s face it, you have to be a bit more techy to run Linux (but once it’s set up it just works and needs little maintenance (in my experience)). I usually recommend Mint as it has a familiar look.
This platform snobbery is a curious thing. For years I worked in an environment where Apple products were pretty much industry standard as particular software wasn’t available on the PCs of the day – and when it did arrive later on the PC there were file compatability issues that made cross-platform working difficult. When I went on courses to learn new things at the computing centre at the local tech I learned to keep this under my hat as it was not unusual to be attacked as ‘Apple users consider themselves superior’. However, I often got found out because I had only a poor grasp of the Windows file system and sometime had to have help with basic things that were second nature to PC/Windows users. Admittedly, Apple kit was very expensive in comparison and was seen as a bit elite or alternative along with a reputation for being slicker and a bit easier in operation. (I discovered that the support guys in various places didn’t like them but perhaps this was that the Macs needed far less attention than the PCs – though part of that may have been that the Mac operators tended to be a bit more computer savvy.)
The poo pooing extended to friends when I wasn’t able to look at something in Corel Draw or my MS Office package wasn’t compatible with theirs and the layout in Word fell to pieces. Then, all of a sudden, iPhones and iPads appeared and became the thing to have and all the poo pooers were suddenly Apple devotees! Soon this extended to Apple laptops and I was spotting huge iMacs in the home. The irony for me is that after almost exclusively using Apple stuff for twenty years plus, my newest iMac is now ancient and on the verge of useless – unless, of course, I install Linux... ! (And my phone is a cheapish Android device!)
It’s a funny old world...
*Not that complex things are not possible on Linux but considering this would be an easy switch if say they weren’t using Adobe products, etc.
This platform snobbery is a curious thing. For years I worked in an environment where Apple products were pretty much industry standard as particular software wasn’t available on the PCs of the day – and when it did arrive later on the PC there were file compatability issues that made cross-platform working difficult. When I went on courses to learn new things at the computing centre at the local tech I learned to keep this under my hat as it was not unusual to be attacked as ‘Apple users consider themselves superior’. However, I often got found out because I had only a poor grasp of the Windows file system and sometime had to have help with basic things that were second nature to PC/Windows users. Admittedly, Apple kit was very expensive in comparison and was seen as a bit elite or alternative along with a reputation for being slicker and a bit easier in operation. (I discovered that the support guys in various places didn’t like them but perhaps this was that the Macs needed far less attention than the PCs – though part of that may have been that the Mac operators tended to be a bit more computer savvy.)
The poo pooing extended to friends when I wasn’t able to look at something in Corel Draw or my MS Office package wasn’t compatible with theirs and the layout in Word fell to pieces. Then, all of a sudden, iPhones and iPads appeared and became the thing to have and all the poo pooers were suddenly Apple devotees! Soon this extended to Apple laptops and I was spotting huge iMacs in the home. The irony for me is that after almost exclusively using Apple stuff for twenty years plus, my newest iMac is now ancient and on the verge of useless – unless, of course, I install Linux... ! (And my phone is a cheapish Android device!)
It’s a funny old world...
*Not that complex things are not possible on Linux but considering this would be an easy switch if say they weren’t using Adobe products, etc.
Nick
