[ale] Kind words for Windows? - was The latest from Gigabyte

[Ron Frazier]

Hi all,

The line I'm quoting from Chris Fowler (below) inspired this note. If 
you're offended, blame me, not him. But, I hope no one will be offended, 
just spurred to thought. But, lots of it is just some random things I've 
been thinking about, and maybe ranting for frustration about some 
problems I've been trying to solve. I'm not trying to start a flame war, 
but, I've been using Windows ever since it was invented. Modern versions 
of Windows are very slick, refined, functional, and, most of the time, 
reliable. In some ways, particularly in terms of user interface, it's 
more advanced than the Ubuntu I'm typing this on. In some cases, I can 
do maintenance procedures on Windows MUCH easier than I can in Linux, as 
I've detailed to some extent in other posts.

I'm here, basically trying to use Linux 98% of the time, for 4 reasons. 
They are, in no particular order:

1) Intellectual challenge. I love to learn new things, most of the time, 
and maybe, there might be some usable job skills I'll gain.

2) Windows cost, for a new PC, this is only about $ 30 - $ 50. If you 
want to buy a copy for a build your own pc or do an upgrade, it's more 
expensive.

3) Maintenance issues. Tomorrow is the 2nd Tuesday, Microsoft patch day. 
So, I need to update the Windows side of my dual boot computers as well 
as family members' computers. Ubuntu is similar in the number of 
patches. I'm getting flagged by the updater every few days, and 
sometimes there are quite a few patches. Linux is able to update without 
a reboot more often than Windows but it certainly is not always the 
case. Probably 1 out of 3 or 4 patch cycles asks me for a reboot.

The package manager in Ubuntu is what I think is a great advantage over 
Windows. In Windows, I have to update (separately) the system, non MS AV 
system, Java, Firefox, Firefox addons, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, 
Itunes, and basically anything else that connects to the Internet. It's 
great to know that everything I've installed using the package manager 
in Ubuntu will be updated. However, this doesn't apply to things I've 
installed separately. So, after I'm done updating Windows, I'll do a few 
housekeeping things on Ubuntu (on 3 computers) including: force a system 
update via the Updater tool, update the Firefox addons, check the 
Firefox options configuration in case something got changed, check Flash 
rev level and configuration, and check the Java rev level. The versions 
of these in the Ubuntu repositories sometimes lag behind the 
manufacturers' versions, but I don't want to override the install 
manually since Synaptic may no longer handle the updates. Usually, 
they're not too far behind though. There are a few apps which I couldn't 
install from the repositories, and I may have to update them manually.

Whether Windows or Linux, I try to do periodic disk integrity checks and 
backups. With 3 dual boot PC's of my own, plus my Son's and Dad's 
Windows machines, this all adds up to a lot of work.

4) Security! This is the big one. This is one of the main reasons I'm 
now mostly a Linux user. There are just too many security risks with 
Windows. Now, in fairness, if Linux had a billion users, and if the 
hackers had a financial incentive to hack it, you'd see a lot more Linux 
viruses. Yes, I know we can debate endlessly about which system is more 
secure, and Linux certainly has it's merits. A well patched and 
protected Windows system is one of the most secure platforms, akin (I 
have read), to a condo in the city with bars on the windows (no pun 
intended). Mac is like a normal house in a suburb, and Linux is like the 
farmhouse 20 miles in the woods. Linux is safer, to some extent, because 
it's not as big a target. However, no OS is immune to attack, 
particularly if the user clicks on a malicious binary file as a result 
of a phishing attack. A poorly patched or poorly configured Linux system 
can certainly be vulnerable.

But, nevertheless, the lack of security problems is one big reason I'm 
running Linux. At the moment, I'm not running anti virus on Linux, but I 
am running the firewall using Firestarter. At some time in the future, I 
may find it necessary to run anti virus.

Whether on Linux or Windows, I run the NoScript addon for Firefox, which 
disallows all scripting except for sites I explicitly trust. I think 
that's only prudent. Combine that with Xmarks, and you can save the 
NoScript configuration in a bookmark and make it common across all your 
computers, Windows and Linux. That works really well.

-1) Here's NOT a reason I'm using Linux - ease of use. (This echos the 
sentiment in a recent letter to the editor in Linux Journal.) Frankly, 
most of the time it's similar to Windows, sometimes it's worse. I 
wouldn't recommend it to my Dad, unless I was still around to do setup, 
maintenance, and troubleshooting. Ubuntu 10.04, which I'm running, is 
the first Linux I've tried which just worked on the hardware I have. 
(Tried previous Ubuntu. Haven't tried other distros.) Even then, I had 
to load some proprietary drivers, but I'm OK with that. On a day to day 
basis, Gnome is fine, and it does what I need. However, there have been 
a number of times, witnessed by my calls for help on this forum, when 
Ubuntu has driven me up the wall and crazy trying to do some maintenance 
procedure or configuration. At those times, I have to go scrounging 
through Google, forums, man pages, config files, and command lines. Now, 
I can edit config files and scrounge for info with the best if I have 
to, and I've done plenty of that in Windows over the last 26 years. But, 
I believe that should be a rare occurrence, not a frequent one.

Here are some examples of comparative experiences with Windows and 
Linux. In general, I want to keep my Windows installs and Linux installs 
functionally equivalent. In every case, the experience was harder with 
Linux, and in some cases, I have no solution. Now, my intent is not to 
rag on Linux, but a lot of people like to rag on Windows. Both are 
tools, they have pros and cons. These are just examples, and I'm sure 
I'll ask for help in other posts, so that's not my purpose here.

* Plugging external monitor into laptop screws up screen resolution and 
scrambles my icons.
Windows - does just fine
Linux - problem exists, no solution yet - reads monitor capabilities wrong

* Desire to have fine grained control over shutdown sequence on battery 
power when battery is low.
Windows - built into OS, set up parameters in minutes via GUI
Linux - have to install UPS control daemon - options thus far seem very 
non obvious - few GUI's to set them up

* Desired to run all my email on the same system. Now using Eudora OSE.
Windows - setup was easy and quick - double click the EXE - found my old 
email database (from Eudora Classic) and imported - (That WASN'T quick - 
12 hours.)
Linux - setup more difficult - required running a script to install - 
not available in repository - didn't find old database and gave no 
choice for manual selection - program must be run from a terminal window 
(no Double click) - I had to figure out how to put a launcher icon on 
the desktop (should be automatic) - terminal remains open all the time 
for whatever reason

* Desire to be able to clone my hard drive as a backup, then just 
install it if the main HDD dies.
Windows - I have a nice, sophisticated, GUI based backup tool (not free) 
- Acronis TrueImage - I have no problem paying for good quality software 
if I have to. People deserve to be compensated for their work. Of 
course, if people choose to put forth a good quality free tool, like 
this email program, I'll use it.
Linux - haven't found a comparable Linux tool yet - used TrueImage to 
clone the drive and install it for testing - Windows boots fine - Linux 
fails to find it's swap partition - I resort to a swap file - GRUB 
freaks out the next time it updates and demands that I tell it where to 
put itself (I'll tell it - @#*&%*! Bang! Zoom!)

* Desire to have my HotSpotVPN account active, so my public browsing at 
hotspots is encrypted.
Windows - Relatively painless. Required running two install programs. 
Boom. Up and running.
Linux - haven't succeeded or really even tried yet - read the procedure 
once - gave me a headache - not automatic - many steps - have to run 
from terminal

* Possibly want to TrueCrypt the drive to make it look like gibberish to 
thieves and nosy govt agencies.
Windows - I hear it's pretty easy.
Linux - don't even want to think about it, but I don't know what's involved.

Oh, here are a few more. Some of these I may be able to run under Wine, 
some not.

* Audible books - Linux cannot do it
* Sansa Fuze+ MP3 Player - updater and media converter - Linux cannot do it
* TomTom GPS - updater - Linux cannot do it
* Evernote - online notes system - Linux cannot do it - OLD one works in 
Wine
* MetaTrader 4 - currency trading software - Linux cannot do it - works 
in Wine

You get the idea. Now, I intend to stick with Linux, and I intend to get 
these problems solved. Since I'm a geeky kind of guy, and I'm tenacious, 
AND since I have lots of GREAT friends on this forum to run to for help, 
I can probably get it done. However, the average Joe on the street won't 
be so able or willing to work through these problems. He'll just use 
what he knows works, and what he knows he can call several people for 
help, and what's easy and available - Windows or Mac.

So, I hope this hasn't offended anyone. I also hope that Windows and Mac 
will draw on the strengths that Linux has AND I hope that Linux will 
draw on the strengths that Windows and Mac have, and that all the 
systems will improve. Of course, I'd like to see more people using open 
source software.

Ron


On 02/07/2011 10:21 PM, Chris Fowler wrote:
> You will not see much praise come out of my mouth for Windoze but I
> truly like that boot CD.  I sold a few PC's I cleaned out and used that
>    

-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier

770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT c3energy.com