[OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] Linux alternative
On Sat, 18 Jul 2015, Thomas wrote: Although I know, this does not belong here, just a word. I have been trying (STRUGGLING) to move away from MS and get friendly with Linux for 7-8 years now! So far with little success. Yet, I still keep trying. this makes me wonder what the top two or three things are that people find hard in adopting Linux. I don't want to count the yrs I've used Linux. I was never a full-time user of Windows, I used OS/2 before Linux and Desqview on some version of DOS before that. for the most part I'm barely aware of the operating system: launch a program and work or play is my mode. never gave up command-line habits either, the pictures confuse me like holding a conversation via charades. f. -- Felmon Davis In most instances, all an argument proves is that two people are present. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] Linux alternative
Hi :) I'm sure people on this mailing list might be happy to help with 1 or 2 questions about how to do a certain thing or 2 in linux. Such questions often turn out to be quite popular threads even though they are a little off-topic. I think a lot of people take a similar route to me. Even now i still use Windows occasionally (admittedly usually only because i'm forced to or because someone doesn't know how to use it and/or has broken it). I suspect that most linux users have a dual-boot somewhere with an option to boot into Windows. I think it's something that almost everyone does somewhere near the start of their journey into linux land. I guess what i'm saying is that i suspect that linux usage is always growing so fast that most linux users are fairly new - that certainly seemed true in the Vista era and maybe early in Win8's era too. Err wrt In most instances, all an argument proves is that two people are present. i don't think that is true at all. I have often seen people disagreeing with a position they were recently adamant about. For example my boss orders me to do something. I do it. Then he tells me off for doing it and claims he'd never had said that. I've also found myself arguing with myself too. I'm not sure if an argument is possible even if no-one is present but it wouldn't surprise me. ;) Regards from Tom :) On 18 July 2015 at 18:44, Felmon Davis dav...@union.edu wrote: On Sat, 18 Jul 2015, Thomas wrote: Although I know, this does not belong here, just a word. I have been trying (STRUGGLING) to move away from MS and get friendly with Linux for 7-8 years now! So far with little success. Yet, I still keep trying. this makes me wonder what the top two or three things are that people find hard in adopting Linux. I don't want to count the yrs I've used Linux. I was never a full-time user of Windows, I used OS/2 before Linux and Desqview on some version of DOS before that. for the most part I'm barely aware of the operating system: launch a program and work or play is my mode. never gave up command-line habits either, the pictures confuse me like holding a conversation via charades. f. -- Felmon Davis In most instances, all an argument proves is that two people are present. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] Linux alternative
On 07/18/2015 05:56 PM, Tom Williams wrote: Comments about how Linux is good for basic things and not good for productivity. Tell that to all the scientists who use supercomputers. The vast majority of them, including my cousin, run Linux. Also, a while ago, all the computers on the International Space Station were switched from Windows to Linux. http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/open-source-insider/2013/05/international-space-station-adopts-debian-linux-drop-windows-red-hat-into-airlock.html http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/155392-international-space-station-switches-from-windows-to-linux-for-improved-reliability Apparently viruses can even survive in space! http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/12/international-space-station-virus-epidemics-malware -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] Linux alternative
On 18/07/15 06:10 PM, Malgosia Askanas wrote: On 2015-07-18 04:02 PM, Gary Dale wrote: The top reason people find hard is almost certainly that you have to install it. That's not entirely accurate. There are a few (not many) companies that specialize in selling Linux-preinstalled machines. The two that immediately come to mind are System76.com and ThinkPenguin.com . -malgosia True but largely irrelevant. You can't go to the local Best Buy or Staples and pick up one. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] Linux alternative
Heh heh. But then the _real_ top reason would be that you can't acquire a Linux machine in a hurry. True enough. On 2015-07-18 06:16 PM, Gary Dale wrote: On 18/07/15 06:10 PM, Malgosia Askanas wrote: On 2015-07-18 04:02 PM, Gary Dale wrote: The top reason people find hard is almost certainly that you have to install it. That's not entirely accurate. There are a few (not many) companies that specialize in selling Linux-preinstalled machines. The two that immediately come to mind are System76.com and ThinkPenguin.com . -malgosia True but largely irrelevant. You can't go to the local Best Buy or Staples and pick up one. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] Linux alternative
On 07/18/2015 10:44 AM, Felmon Davis wrote:
On Sat, 18 Jul 2015, Thomas wrote:
Although I know, this does not belong here, just a word.
I have been trying (STRUGGLING) to move away from MS and get friendly
with Linux for 7-8 years now!
So far with little success. Yet, I still keep trying.
this makes me wonder what the top two or three things are that people
find hard in adopting Linux.
I've found a number of people simply expect _any_ computer to look, act,
and feel like Windows. I installed LibreOffice on the computer of a
client of mine because MS Office Starter Edition kept acting funny when
he would try to open MS Office documents attached to email messages.
One day, we were talking about his using Excel vs Calc to update a
spreadsheet. He insisted he couldn't use Calc because it didn't do what
Excel did. I asked him to show me the things he could do in Excel but
couldn't do in Calc and we both discovered he actually _could_ do all of
the things he needed to do in Calc but the way he needed to do those
things were a little different. In another case, I showed an IT guy I
used to work with an Ubuntu system. He wanted to run an application and
went straight to the lower left corner of the screen, looking for the
Start menu.
The more people learn Windows, especially as their first computing
interface, the more they tend to think all computers behave that way.
Of course, this isn't an absolute statement. :)
Something else I've found is non-Linux users tend to expect a higher
standard of performance from Linux for it to even be considered a
viable option. For example, if Linux can't support {fill in the
blank} perfectly, Linux isn't ready for prime time. Let's forget the
fact that Windows might have issues supporting {fill in the blank} as
well. lol
This thread could not have come at a better time since I recently read
the TechRepublic article and another article about Linux being an
alternative to Windows. In the other article, I was floored by various
comments made by others who had read that article. Comments about how
Linux is good for basic things and not good for productivity. So,
if you want to just read email and surf mainstream websites, Linux is
great. If you want to do real work, you need Windows for that. I
had to laugh since I find myself doing real and productive work on
Linux on a daily basis, and without using the command line unless I want
to use ImageMagick to process some images in batch.
I've switched my mom to Linux and while she's not doing anything
sophisticated, I've noticed her computer question volume has decreased
significantly. Her computer usage hasn't changed much from when she
used Windows XP except I think she's actually listening to more music on
her computer now, while reading email and surfing the web.
Sorry for being so long winded. :)
Peace...
The other Tom
--
/When we dance, you have a way with me,
Stay with me... Sway with me.../
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Re: [OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] Linux alternative
On 18/07/15 06:30 PM, Malgosia Askanas wrote: Heh heh. But then the _real_ top reason would be that you can't acquire a Linux machine in a hurry. True enough. No, the real reason is that people don't have the option in front of them to even realize that it is possible. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] Linux alternative
On 2015-07-18 04:02 PM, Gary Dale wrote: The top reason people find hard is almost certainly that you have to install it. That's not entirely accurate. There are a few (not many) companies that specialize in selling Linux-preinstalled machines. The two that immediately come to mind are System76.com and ThinkPenguin.com . -malgosia -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
