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linux not for human beings...

I'm once again forced to beleive that linux is only for nerds. Human beings will find it very difficult to cope with the number of errors one would get with linux.
I didn't have a good experience with Ubuntu. Softwares which I had were mostly for windows. Here I'm not talking of the daily use softwares but the ones I require for my studies. Now this makes me to switch my OS frequently between XP and ubuntu.
In my first year of undergraduate studies(which I'm in 2nd year now), I had to work on Fedora in the computer lab. And so fedora has always attracted me. But I've never been able to install it on my PC. Everytime I get error. The first time I installed it, my system didn't start and I was forced to give it up. Now that I have used ubuntu for a while, I again tried fedora, but this time I'm getting an all new error... guess what... my mouse and keyboard stop working. I have spent some time over it to solve this error, but in vain. But I'm still going to try solving it after sometime when my frustation level lowers.
Now the biggest hitch. I'm tried to reload ubuntu but I'm not able to do so. Now here I'm forced to say "WTF!"
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kozmcrae said…
Mouse and keyboard problems are usually the result of some hardware not correctly listed in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. If need be, you can boot from the Ubuntu Live CD and edit the file directly, as root of course. But first you need to know what's wrong. I don't use Ubuntu, but if I did, I would head on over to the Ubuntu forums and search with something like "keyboard mouse" without the quotes. Their forums are very good. I would also Google the problem. There is really no reason to throw up your hands with Linux. There is so much information out there. You just have to look for it. If this was Microsoft what would you do? Call tech support? "May I have your credit card number please". No thank you. You end up doing the same thing, searching the Internet. Why bother though, really. Linux should "just work". If you consider the trade offs vendor lock in, National capital leaving the country, weakening not strengthening domestic software industries and a U.S. corporation calling the shots in the Indian National IT industry, I think Linux needs just a little more consideration. If you couple with that the fact the there is a perfect solution to your problem of getting Ubuntu running smoothly on your computer, it seems like a big mistake. I don't know how to get Ubuntu running in your computer. Even if I did, you didn't supply enough information. Were you trying to install a beta version of Ubuntu? There is another thing. There is more than one distribution of Linux. It's not like Microsoft where it is one size fits all, like it or not. You do have choices. What ever excuse you use to remove those choices are your own doing. I can almost guarantee that there is a distro that would work as in "just work" on your computer. Which one, I don't know because I'm not a magician. Linux is not Microsoft Windows. That means all the strategies and techniques you developed while using Windows will not serve you well with Linux. It's just a whole different philosophy. But people are changing over in an ever broadening stream. If you leave Linux, you will be back at some point in the future. The world is increasingly becoming intolerant of Microsoft's heavy handed ways. Good luck.
March 29, 2008 at 7:34 PM
Maverick said…
I would disagree. Linux was created by human beings (emphasis on Linux) for human beings. Problems are a part of life. In fact, in the open source community, I can safely say that they're roads to learning more, getting different experience and often even being able to improve the current scenario. If everything worked fine the first time, the world would be a very dull place to live in!

But on a less philosophical and more rational note, I would observe that Linux is something you cannot have fun with until you stick to it. The longer you use it, the better you get at it and the more you respect yourself, your system and the open source community. Its not just about being free or cheap or different. Think of the enormous amount of time others have put in to make knowledge accessible to all equally.

As kozmcrae says, Linux needs a little more consideration from all of us. We're not putting people out of business or causing layoffs by endorsing Linux. If you want things to work right out of the box, then its because of the time you've spent with Windows. As he aptly puts it, if you turn your back now, there's no way you're going to get rid of it for the rest of your life! It'll come back at you.

So, have fun, enjoy it and play with it till you get stuff to work. I'd rate my time spent in getting things to work in Linux as the most productive of all experiences on my computer. Don't forget...its your best shot at being intimate with your devices ;-)
March 30, 2008 at 2:18 AM
Varun said…
@vivek

u know i have been frustated with installing fedora. the installation has never been successful. and this time i thought i wud try it after exams, but somehow i cudn't stop myself and tried yesterday and ended up only to screw the ubuntu which was already installed. and now finally i have my system completely devoted to windows.
but let me tell you, this is not going to stop me. i will try to install fedora again this time try to play with xorg.conf file. hope it will work.


@ kozmcrae

I must tell you that I have not become anti-Linux :). Its just that my experiences with Linux when turn out to be bad I just abandon it for a while. Once my exams get over I will again sit over and will play with the installation again ;) . Actually ubuntu is not what troubles me. I had a wonderful time with ubuntu. But it looked pretty straight forward(although it was not :P). I wanted to switch over to fedora. And this was second time that the fedora installation was screwed up. So, thats the problem my side. I'll try installing it again after a month. Till then I have to work on the same old XP :(
March 30, 2008 at 6:14 AM
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