For years I've touted (and recommended) Linux, the Free Open Source Software (FOSS) that is the heart of Internet servers, Internet routing nodes, and Android. I have a lot of experience with Linux, having run it since kernel version 0.99 back in 1994 or so. Slackware on 25 pounds of 3.5" floppy disks FTW.
One question that comes up regularly is what non-technical people can do. While Linux has become a lot easier to install and run, there are still the occasional weirdnesses that some up, link the Brave Browser's refusal to print to anything other than PDF. This means that if you live in a Linux world, you regularly have to come figure out workarounds.
And thus, the questions. It's pretty easy for someone like me with 30 years of Linux experience* (good Lord, can it really be that long???), but for everyday folks who don't dig kernel versions and package dependencies, it's a daunting prospect.
As it turns out, there is a ton of high quality FOSS software for Windows and Mac users, and as your current computer ages and falls out of support, these can be a great way to extend the life of your computer.
I highly recommend this article from The Register on where to find high quality, non-malware FOSS packages. It's very long and information-rich, so if you have an aging computer and you really don't want to load Linux on it, it's worth 10 minutes of your time.
Strongly recommended for normal computer users. Techie users will stay with sudo apt-get install foo but that just sort of proves my point.
About the only thing you won't get for your old Windows or Mac computer are security updates once the OS is end of life. That's a big issue these days, and while it is possible to lock down a (say) old Windows OS to minimize your risk, it probably takes more tech savvy that installing Linux. But if you are still getting security patches, FOSS can help you adapt to your apps demanding you upgrade the OS.
* Interestingly, each year for the last 20 years has been "This is the year of Linux", and it really hasn't because the workarounds haven't ever gone away. I'd argue that the only place where Linux is truly easy to use is Android, because Google invested a ton of money smoothing it out.
8 comments:
Excellent points! I'm looking at converting an out of OS Mac to Linux.
Way beyond my abilities to understand. I will stick with the Mac.
I've been running Fedora since Windows 7 went end-of-life. Been very pleased with it, and have had little to no "techie problems". Any occasional issue that I have come across can usually be remedied after a bit of searching on the web. For anyone that needs a basic computer, with internet/email/office capabilities, Fedora and the other mainstream Linux distributions is the way to go.
I do keep an old Win 7 machine around on my electronics bench just to handle a couple of old proprietary programs, but I rarely have to use it anymore now that I am retired.
Firefox? Really? I have tried that, what, 4 times now, because everyone touts it as better and superior to anything the MicroDorks put out. And every time I use it for about 3 months and then spend another three months trying desperately to scrub every last worm of that software off my system.
Want kludge-freer performance? MS Edge has been my go-to and doesn't lock up my machines like Firefox has done, repeatedly, over and over again (even when it's supposedly not on my system anymore.)
Even worse, people out there in the interwebs don't believe me about Firefox. Because for whatever reason they all think FF is soooo much better.
What's funny is when I took one of my FF afflicted computers to a computer repair shop, the first thing they noticed was that I had FF on it and then spent 2 days, off and on, removing every last tentacle and gene strain of FF off the system and said to quit using it, and that's the last time I've ever had an internet access program shut my computer down. So I'm not the only one that's been stabbed in the back by Firefox.
I started using Linux in 1996. I still have to keep a Windoze machine around for certain Ham Radio programs, but everything else is Linux. I installed Libre Office on my wife's Win11 machine, and she loves it.
Unless you need specific Windows applications, (my wife needs MS Office), a mainstream Linux distribution is easier to install, use, and maintain than Windows 11. Coupled with a little knowledge or a experienced buddy, it's 99.99% GUI experience, unless you really need or want to open a terminal.
This is a 180 degrees different from the Linux desktop experience 10-20 years ago. Much improvements and quality help is available.
I moved to a new distribution, MX Linux, on my main laptop after testing it on a older surplus computer. Install, configuration, update and restore of 300 GB of personal files from a backup took less than 20 minutes. No CLI/terminal required. Very user friendly.
A quality fast external SDD drive or two that uses the USB-C interface is recommended for backup of the most important files or for non-network transfers.
I'll go even further than most of the commenters here. Look at what you use your system for on a daily basis. Take a full inventory of your needs. Then ask yourself: would a Bluetooth keyboard attached to an 11" tablet serve your needs?
No, I'm not a luddite. Heck, I helped ship a version of Linux back in 1994 (Yggdrasil), and was running Esix and other System V or System 3 Unixes on my 486 (and previous) systems. BP and I even worked together at the same non-gov company once upon a time. My latest work involves using Yocto to develop Linux/u-boot BSPs for Cortex-based ARM processors.
I maintain that marketing, sales, magazines, TV advertisements, and "tech friends" tend to push people into the newest, latest, greatest technology - even if they're neither ready for it nor really need it.
When asked "Which computer should I buy?", I answer "How do you know you NEED one?". When I get the "deer in the headlights" look, I change the subject... I don't want to be the one they blame when they buy a system they can't handle.
It's too bad some software vendors like Turbo Tax and others won't offer a Linux version even for some price increase. I used to do lab stuff with instrumentation and few to none of the vendors offer a Linux version of their instrument software for things like GC, LC, ICPMS and such. I guess they don't want that equipment running close to decades without the software extortion fees.
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