I run Linux on my Netbook, and find that it works perfectly well in that application. On my netbook I primarily need a web browser and email, along with the ability to view media and PDFs, and run Skype and ICQ. I don’t think there’s any reason to pay anything for Windows on a Netbook.
But I don’t run it on my main computer. My main complaint about Linux is the difficulty I find installing new programs. There are lots of free programs for Linux; almost anything you can do in Windows, there is a roughly equivalent program for Linux. But installing those programs is such a chore that I usually just don’t want to bother.
Linux enthusiasts are going to tell me it’s easy. If your particular brand of Linux supports RPM, just find an RPM packaged version of the program (if it exists), open a shell window and type,
rpm –ivh packagename
If you’re lucky, your version of Linux may even have a GUI-based RPM interface, but you still have to figure out how to use it.
Or, if it’s not RPM and you get it in a “tar”, just open a shell window and type:
tar –xvzf Apackage.tar.gz
cd Apackage
./configure
make
make install
Oh, yeah — before you start this you should log in as root, otherwise you will probably get errors about insufficient rights.
See this long page for more insight into the complications involved with installing programs on a Linux computer.
Compare this with Windows, where you simply double click the setup program’s icon and in a minuter or two it’s done. There’s rarely a question about which version of Windows the program is designed for, or if you have the proper installation package.
Why can’t Linux be this simple? I’m running old versions of Firefox and Thunderbird on my netbook, because I don’t want to jump through the necessary hoops to upgrade them.
Linux has come a long way, and in many ways is as good as or better than Windows. But for me this is a real show-stopper. Linux can’t be a mainstream OS until it is simple to install and upgrade programs.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Don // Jun 5, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I completely agree. Linux is still Not Ready For Prime Time. It has come a long way and for stuff that is internet related it’s really great. It’s a lot easier to get your web server working under Linux because on most distros you just have to start the service if it’s not already started. Same with an ftp server.
But most people don’t have the technical savvy to use it because of the thing you point out. It isn’t near as easy to install software. It is a lot easier than it used to be but until it gets as easy as Windows it will remain the second choice.
Although if you look at Max OS X you will quickly find that it is a Unix OS. This means it’s quite possible to make it really easy on a ‘nix variant but the Linux guys just haven’t done it yet.
2 Donna // Jun 6, 2009 at 9:17 pm
No OS has an easier software installation procedure than Macs. You just download the file, open it, and drag it to the Applications folder. Wish they all worked that way.