Not sure about Moody or the rest of y'all but if you place me in front of a Linux machine of any kind, it will be unrecoverable in a heartbeat!
I honestly don't know what to say at this point. In 25+ years I've simply never had as many problems as you have. My temptation is to say it's user error, but I don't want to make it sound like I think you're a jerk! I just don't know what else to say. I believe I've mentioned my recently departed mother, and how she quickly and EASILY adapted to Linux after many years of using window$. She couldn't bring her Linux box down. She could screw up her desktop, but I instituted a fix for that. Other than that--and opening eight million iterations of backgammon or SeaMonkey or whatever--she just couldn't harm the system.
Linux is FINE, until you try doing something you are easily able to do in Windows, such as install some game, or an app. then you end up having to do hours of Googling to find out how to make it work in Linux
Really?
I never need to do that.
(chances are the app is Windows only
So you're trying to stick a Mini Cooper's engine in a Ferrari...and wondering why it doesn't work right? Okay.
and no good Linux alternative is available)
Again, this doesn't happen in my experience, but that doesn't make YOUR experience invalid. It's just that I only use Linux, and there's nothing I want or need that isn't available to me.
then spending days fixing Linux because you edited the file and screwed the system up.
Yet again, that doesn't happen to me. And you know what? That falls squarely into the category of user error.
If you're mucking with files that can bring down/screw up the system, you should have the smarts to MAKE BACKUPS first. Maybe this is why I never experience problems of this nature--I always...always...make backups of system files before editing them. In the event that something gets screwed up, booting to a prompt and restoring the original file is all it would take. Two seconds. That's how long it takes to save a copy of a file. Why aren't you routinely doing this?
Oh, really?! I suppose that explains the ZILLIONS of tech support people whose jobs rely on window$ and its software crashing, and also explains the products/sites that exist solely to 'fix' window$ systems that have slowed down to a crawl because of viruses/malware/adware/spyware/bloatware/BSODs/and user error. Right? :laugh:
and for most people it's far easier to install apps than there is in Linux.
I truly do not understand how anything can be easier than CLICKING a name [in Synaptic] and hitting 'apply.' Show me a window$ user who can do that! No, they have to physically buy the software, it's licensed only for one computer, and when there's a new version they have to pay for that, too.
there is no need for Wine under Windows
Um, yeah, because there's no need for a window$ emulator on window$.
and i can certainly see why people are resistant to Linux.
To a person, everyone I've converted [in real life] to Linux has thanked me profusely for freeing them from the endless, greedy grip of micro$oft.
time and time again Mom keeps begging me to reinstall Windows
My mom complained, too--because her computer was too FAST after switching it to Linux.
until i can get her machine to do what she wants it to do
Again, this sounds like user error, as in you, not a Linux problem. I can make any Linux box do anything I (or its owner) want it to do.
(she just HAD to have this underwater fish screensaver that ONLY ran in Windows!).
Then perhaps you should explain to her that there are wonderful, beautiful NATIVE screensavers she can run instead. I personally don't use screensavers, but I helped someone on another forum install one he really wanted, and guess what its theme was? Underwater with fish and stuff!
Really beautiful, as I recall.
i still use Linux as my go-to OS but i do feel that unless it is intending to cater to a small minority of computer techno geeks or those with few needs (no games, or few apps, maybe they just browse the web and check their email or edit some pics? write documents? play freecell?
Well, I'd hardly categorize myself as that kind of user. I'm as power user as they come, having learned 25+ years ago about the UNRIVALED power and versatility of *nix. BTW, my mom's favorite game was GNU Backgammon (gnubg), which is a fantastic 3-D game.
my grandmom would be a perfect example of a Linux user) then it needs to get a bit easier, or at least have the compatibility for games.
So you're blaming Ferrari for not being compatible with a Mini Cooper engine? Okay!
it seems that if anything is out there that Linux fails at, it's games. and games are one of those items that are specifically Windows only most of the time. if people can't play WoW or some variant of Call of Duty, and don't want to shell out $299 for a PS3 or Xbox 360, then they are not going to switch.
How about contacting game manufacturers and telling them you want native Linux versions of their software? That's what I'd do.
just my opinion on what I've seen in the last decade is all!