Why do people say that Linux is not user-friendly?

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I don't get all this bitchiness about user-friendliness. It just different, its more about what your used to. When Linux does break, its so easy to fix because everything is open unlike MS Windows or some parts of OS X.

I've found problems are often easier to fix in Linux just because of how customizable it is. For instance, I had this problem with Knoppix when it was booted into the GNOME desktop environment on my HP laptop (it didn't happen in KDE). Whenever I closed the lid, when I tried to open it again the monitor wouldn't come on. I fixed the problem by telling it to display a blank screen when the lid is closed rather than putting the computer into sleep mode. Now I don't have that problem.

Curious, in my experience the fonts are a bit coarser in Windows than they are in a typical (Gnome/KDE) Linux environment. If you really want beautiful fonts without any extra work, get a Mac.

I think you must have heard that opinion based on a copy of Linux used a few years ago. I used Linux for a long time before someone recently gave me this computer, which was pre-installed with Windows XP. I've used Ubuntu since the distro was created in 2005. The other day, someone let me try Fedora Linux, which is more geared toward sysadmins than Linux newbies. I had to look up how to use the command line all over again, because I had forgotten how to use it -- it's been years! I didn't realize how lazy Ubuntu made me. It's all Point-N-Click*, Point-N-Click. Need to open a .doc file? Use OpenOffice, which is also on Windows: Point-N-Click. Need an mp3 plug-in, which is not open source, but commonly used? Point-N-Click. Need to upgrade to the next version? Point-N-Click. It's too easy, actually. I actually rather installing Ubuntu over Windows XP. It's faster and easier to update in simpler steps.

I do have an older spare computer which has Linux installed on it, and I'm thinking of switching distros. I haven't determined what my needs are yet, so I may just simply upgrade to the newest Ubuntu since it's so mindlessly easy.

* I do realize it should be spelled "point and click", but saying "Point-N-Click" is more fun in my opinion.

it's probably because it's 'different', but more probably that most people think of linux as a command-line OS.
Even the text editors take some getting used to.

Fear the different...

Heh, the irony of a bunch of people who hate being feared for being different who are afraid of using something different. I'm not trying to be critical as just calling it as I see it. EDIT: It's also kind of odd IMO because a lot of programmers have aspie traits.

BTW, the newer text editors that come as a part of the Ubuntu installation are as simple to use as Notepad, but they are more feature-rich. It's not just vim vs. emacs anymore.

As though nobody has used DOS before? Although Linux comes with a GUI nowadays, the heart of it is still the command line. However, so is Windows. The heart of Windows, even Windows 7, is really DOS and still uses the DOS kernel.

The problem comes when you need to ndiswrapper a driver. Most people would have extreme difficulty doing that. (I had quite a bit of trouble the 1st time I tried)

And Jono, windows 2000 and newer run on the Windows NT Kernel, and are only partially compatible with DOS. They do not actually run on DOS; If they did they would not be able to exist as 32/64 bit OSes.

The point remains that a few years ago, everyone used command-line/text-based interfaces. I don't know why they're so scared of them now.

That's because, back then, only nerds owned computers. They weren't common household items.

No, computers were expensive and not everyone could afford them. However, I had a few friends who had computers when I was a kid and we knew how to use the command line, usually to start games. Using the command line is not difficult. Plus, I can assure you that by the 90's computers were becoming more popular and to an extent, people were still using DOS then.

Who do you think we are?!?!?!?

Seriously, not so long ago, only major corporations owned computers.



Because they were as big as several rooms!

There is a world market for maybe five computers.

Most people don't want to have to know how a computer works. They just want it to work. You know, like a TV.

A TV with no sound would be very popular

True. The Linux TV might have a button round the back, which you need to press in, for the sound to work.

....

You should stick to buying your Microsoft TV.

You may need to upgrade it, should you wish to watch anything but the two channels it comes preprogrammed with.

It will come with a built-in DVD player - but you will need to make an additional payment, before you can use that.

You will also need to save up for the time when they decide not to "support" it any more, and you need to buy a replacement "version" of the same TV set - but now featuring "exciting!! ! green!! !" and also "now works with electricity from another supplier".

Well, I don't know. I've just replaced my old Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" with a new "Lucid Lynx" and I have to say it was a really smooth experience.

In between "Hardy" and "Karmic" I went back to Vista, and spent weeks responding to upgrade messages before the thing finally spat its dummy and I gave up. Karmic forced my latest reinstall by getting itself in a knot too - for a week or so I debated trying to untangle it before starting again.

It's true, you have to understand a little bit to get by, but I think the same is true of Windows. It's just that the little bits you have to understand are different. Hardy's knot, I'm fairly sure, resulted from me following instructions gleaned from the web without caring whether they applied to 32-bit or 64-bit installations. I'm fairly sure, too, that a little more familiarity with the command line and the internal dynamics of the thing could have untangled it.

But Lucid is better; safer; easier to add to. It recognised the trackpad on my laptop and set it up better to start with - with Karmic I had to do right-click things more often than I wanted to, but with Lucid it just works. Even TVs have their moments when knowing a little about them makes things more bearable.