GNU/Linux sucks
April 4, 2007
I’ve been using various flavors of GNU/Linux for ~15 years and I’ve always found them extremely frustrating. I’m not at all interested in cluttering my mind with useless administrivia. There are too many esoteric commands, bizarre config files, and complex installation procedures. The suite of “easy to use” GUIs to get things done are beyond useless. Developers should never, ever design user interfaces. Despite their many flaws, Microsoft’s UI is 100X better than the psychological torture that is GNOME/KDE. If the GNU/Linux community ever wants to grow beyond the nerd subculture they must enlist design students to rethink the UI, particularly for the admin tools And they need to convince real writers with a firm grasp of non-technical English to write the documentation. The technical foundation of Linux is great, of course, because it rips-off 20 year old Unix techniques (is that innovation?). But the user experience is atrocious. I used Solaris w/ a full screen Emacs. I used Red Hat w/ Gnome for a long time after a brief fling with Slackware. Now I’m using Ubuntu. All dreadfully bad. Windows is still worth $200, especially for non-tech users.
April 10, 2007 at 5:10 am
Cool on you – I like your analysis and thoughts.
I’m going to pass it onto to some of my admin friends for their thoughts. (Not that I have any love for Windows – just think your opinion is interesting.)
April 10, 2007 at 12:30 pm
[...] GNU/Linux sucks « Daily Curmudgeonry I read this article and basically it comes to the same conclusion I had: Windows is just much easier to use. (tags: computeristics technology tech geek windows WindowsVista linux) [...]
April 10, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Hi,
I’m a web designer and have used windows since it came into existence. Recently I have also started using Ubuntu besides. I find Ubuntu rather user friendly. The only problems the operating system has, i.m.o., is that so few hardware and software is configured for it out of the box.
That’s an advantage Microsoft has for being the monopolist: every manufacturer will make sure their products work on Windows!
But from a fair world point of view: let’s use GNOME/Linux operating systems, because if software is free this will really stimulate technical progress in poorer countries, which surely beats giving a nominal donation to any charity.
April 12, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I agree. Like you I give them try every year or two. Give Novell Suse Linux Desktop a try, it is VERY polished. Still Linux doesn’t offer enuff incentives for me to jump. I like Uncle Bill. :]
April 12, 2007 at 9:51 pm
‘I’ve been using various flavors of GNU/Linux for 20 years’ – I’d like to point out that Linux wasn’t even conceived until 1991.
April 13, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Al is right. I’ve used variants of Unix for a long time. I’ve used Linux since 1993.