Holy War: Windows vs. Linux, open source vs. propritary soft, command line vs. GUI

[elch]

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

It reminds me the problems I see with Linux. Many programs are free, so developers stop working on them after a while, because they need to earn on their living.

And another problem is that for most users it is really hard to learn new things, especially if they require logical thinking and programmers' ideology while it can be so simple for a developer. It is even hard for users to switch from MS Office to Open Office, although their are pretty identical.

The users how are preferring Windows and don't want to fiddle with the system when something isn't working, can stay with what they are currently using. But as far as I am concerned, there is no better system than Linux speaking from a developer-view. Linux was made by programmers for programmers. The "complexity" newcomers observe is just a matter of how much time you invest. I felt the same when I was first using Linux but then I started to play with the command line and discovered a whole new world and began to see things differently. Not only fundamental questions like: "What's the genuine value of a program?" Previously, I didn't think of programs as a "creation". I had the common mentality, to think of it as a "good" and "material" but in fact code belongs to our culture and is art. I also wondered about licensing. When using Windows, I didn't care about using a software that's freeware which I didn't had the source of. It's like you're getting used to the fact that you can simply browse the code, fix bugs, add features and it's a feeling like the application "belongs" to you. Of course, you're not the legal owner but compiling the source and applying optimizations just feels great.

To sum up, nobody should be forced to use Linux. I did this with some friends and it failed miserably. They don't have the same view on computers as we have. They want it just to work, we want to understand things how they work and possibly make it better or make things easy (writing shell scripts etc.). There's no point in discussing Linux with them. They simply don't care on how much servers it's being used and how great it is. They even don't care that Microsoft spies them and that their computers are full of viruses. They don't care until something happens to them, until they get scammed.

Linux is so great because there's the freedom of viewing the source. Generally, developers don't want to make money with it. That's why there are so few GUIs. If we were so desperate in needing a GUI, we'd write it ourselves. That separates us from the "ordinary user". Commercial software does not necessarily mean that the software is bug-free or good but what I've observed so far is that these software are meant to be very easy-to-use having the side effect of losing advanced options. Yes, you're right, there is a customer-client relationship but remember, you bought a software. It's seen as a "good". The users expect to have it. Personally, I've never needed more than a tutorial or man page how to use an application under Linux. That's because the Internet is full of information. Nearly every question I've had so far has already been answered and they are all googlable. Yep, but I am talking again from a developer-perspective.

Linux was never meant to be made money with. Companies like IBM or Novell tried their luck but digging deeper, you'll always notice that it's the passion with code that brings us developers to write applications and put them on the net for free. I've talked to non-geeks about it and they just can't understand it. I tried to explain it to them, but they just see the computer industry as something to make much money with. They are not interested in technical solutions. They have no understanding why we do those things. They give advices to rather sell your code for a lot of money etc. But these are also the people who actually buy the commercial software.

It is not difficult to use for an IT specialist. But I'm trying to help to newbies as well. Although I understand that this web-site is too technical.

It is but if they're not willing to learn, there's no point in doing all the effort. Remember, you need a license before you're allowed to drive your car. You've got to learn it first, experience some situations before you're ready for the "real world". That's the same with computers.

That's really good. The problem is that newbies can't repeat your steps. It would be nice if everyone was able to do the same with a program using simple interface. Search, schedule, download.... and GUI (sorry, I don't really know how to make it more user friendly)

Yep, like I said, it's just a hackish solution. I don't think it's particularly great or something but it just works and I also didn't want to invest much time into its code because that tool is only meant to serve the purpose of downloading movies, i.e. leisure activities. Like I said, it just works fine for me and that's what's important.