For example, I recently needed to perform an unfamiliar task on my Linux
system, finding and deleting duplicate image files in several directories
containing a few thousand images. The files were under different names and the
sizes sometimes matched as well, so what I really needed was a tool that would
compute hashes of all the files and delete duplicates. I could have written a
shell script, but after a minute or two of searching the Debian repository I
found there was already a tool designed for the job. It took another half a
minute to install it, another minute to browse the manual page to see what the
options were, and another minute waiting while it traversed the file system
cleaning up duplicate files. (Actually, I could just as easily have performed
other tasks while waiting for the command to complete, so this last minute
could have been spent more productively if I had other simple tasks to do at
the time). This is still much quicker than finding and deleting those files
manually, even though it involved becoming acquainted with a new tool.

Suppose I need to do this again in a year or two. I’ll probably have forgotten
the name of the program and the command line options, so it will be a minute
or two spent with man -k and reading the manual page, then about five seconds
typing the command. If I needed to do this a lot more regularly I wouldn’t
forget the command or its options, so the effort would come down to about five
seconds of typing.

I won’t draw comparisons with Windows, since I’m not a Windows user.

Speaking as an expert in both Windows and Linux, in my experience it’s usually easier to get Linux installed than Windows, once you know how to do it effectively. Getting it done in Linux is a very different process than Windows though, and if you don’t know the process it will seem unsurtmountable.
This is doubly true if your hardware is not well supported or you are used to “installing” Windows via an OEM recovery disk, where all the hard work is already done for you.

That is one of the troubles with getting going with Linux. The first task you are often asked to do is pretty high up there on the difficulty scale. If you have a Linux-savvy friend who is willing to help, that’s a good way to get over this particular hump. If not, getting a machine pre-loaded from System76, ZaReason, or Dell can be a good option. Also see if you have a Linux user’s group in your town, more often than not someone in that group will be willing to lend a hand to an interested “switcher”.

Before you make the leap though make sure Linux will meet your needs well. There’s no better way to guarantee dissatisfaction with the change if you end up not being able to do things you want to do.

The practical objection to this is that most real users will not, do not want to, or sometimes can not progress along the complexity scale and realize any benefit from the flattened difficulty curve.

The answer when catering to such bare-minimal or bare-minimal-plus users so far has been the GNOME way: Dead simple and featureless. It has also been the Ubuntu and SuSE way: Set it up to work at the start, don’t let things change much and pray nothing breaks.

The correct approach is designing a system that is fundamentally robust and predictable, not one that papers over difficulty with automated gloss. If it’s difficult to do on Linux and easy on Windows then this is a bug! Don’t make a ‘simpler’ tool that allows some percentage of people do it without knowing how difficult it is, make it less difficult.

I am a Free software advocate, a die hard Zealot, but honestly Linux as a platform leaves a lot to be desired. It is not well designed, it has a number of components (which are mostly not designed) glued together in a way which is not designed. That things work as well as they do is nothing short of a miracle. If large components were not firmly in place (libc, X, POSIX) then even less would get done.

Each of us focuses on his own little piece of the puzzle and can’t see how to integrate it all together. Those who focus on the whole pie only know how to write glue for the pieces. And nobody wants to listen when someone who has a vision for the platform tries to tell them what to do to get it all together.

Probably Haiku will do better as a Free desktop. If not then I’m waiting on HURD, which is as bad as Linux in some ways, worse in other ways, but at least has better fundamentals. Or maybe I’ll wait on the next big OS… I hear AtheOS is going places.

As far as Office goes that’s one reason that I am really less dependent on Windows now I have Office 2003 working with WINE. I don’t think 2007 works well yet, but after the upgrade to Hardy everything I have checked out worked well except access. So if you haven’t tried MS Office with Wine in the last few months you might want to give it a try before you purchase CrossOver.

But I’m also one of those guys who prefers to drive a car with a manual vs. automatic transmission. So for my own computing needs, Linux and the huge wealth of open source applications is terrific.

The reason I go back to Windows every so often is that the office applications on Linux (Open Office, Symphony, etc.) just don’t compare to MSFT Office. In particular, I’m a heavy user of powerpoint for my work, and the subtle incompatibilities between OO Impress vs. MSFT powerpoint are frustrating. Plus the UI is bad as well. The ideal situation would be MSFT Office running on Linux, but that won’t happen anytime soon.

If I could find a really good presentation application that was 100% compatible with powerpoint, then that would do it for me, and I think a lot of other “knowledge” workers as well. Other minor issues are calendar sharing (our email server is hosted exchange), and Evolution is still buggy. I really like Claws (more than Thunderbird), but the shared calendaring is still problematic for me (i.e. for scheduling meetings with others using Outlook/Exchange). However I have work-arounds, so can live with it. It’s really the ppt compatibility that it comes down to.

Any suggestions are appreciated. I have not tried the latest version of CrossOver (refined Wine), so plan to give that a shot this weekend.

Steve

I remember when almost all drivers were community supported projects. We prayed for the day someone like Dell would come on board. Well 2 years ago, Dell started to slowly sell linux in the consumer market. Now, more and more models. More demand by OEMs for linux drivers.

There are tools that will packaged up all the debs on a system and create a repo on CD. For instance. I keep a copy of Feisty in a VM. When my friend wants some new program. I update my vm, install the software they want and crank out a new CD with all the dependancies on it.