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[stefcep2]

I got in to Linux in 2007, mainly thinking I could get the Amiga feel and responsiveness TBH.

I then watched my spare time disappear in to the abyss trying to  get a working and booting computer.  

Tried Ubuntu, dial up never worked with it (hey dial up was all I had at the time).  

Went PCLOS, a ****ty 150 k file update for the cd driver that got installed in the rolling update meant I spent TWO weeks trying to get it to boot.  Then some other update killed the boot process, and I felt I was playing Russian Roulette. Told Tex the maintainer that rolling updates are fine IF YOU CAN TEST THEM.  If you can't then do a release every 6-12 months. He told me to f-- myself.

Mandriva was next.  Brilliant.  Loved it.  Until they went to KDE 4.

Back to Ubuntu 9.10.  Great.  But only 18 mths support, so can't even update my browser.  Heard too many horror stories about Ubuntu 10, so just stayed on 9.10.  

Unity? Too many people hating on it.  Sounds too much effort to get it going well.

So now back to Win 7.

I no longer give a rats about Linux and just use my time to DO things I need to do, rather than maintaining Linux's failings and annoyances.

[stefcep2]

@Spiranto and commodorejohn.

Both of you have articulated my thoughts and experiences with Linux.  Its a frustrating system to use and maintain.

 I wanted to like it, I really did, and I gave it a go for 5 FRICKEN YEARS, far too much of which I simply WASTED, on doing what SHOULD  be simple things, things that should work out of the box-like mounting a cd image for example.

[stefcep2]

Since what version does windows support mounting an ISO ? Without downloading an external app like demontools

Windows doesn't claim that it supports mounting of images, Linux does.  

But it didn't, for me.

With Windows I download whatever CD mounting software I want, click install, it works.  Under 2 minutes.

In Ubuntu, it was download this library because synaptic didn't have it, go to some obscure author's site, COMPILE it, but wait, my OS is too new, so the old library the mount software needs conflicts with something else in my OS.

The fact that there is STILL this level of "robust" discussion about Linux's short comings says it all really.

I get that it works for people out there, and good luck to them.

Me? I'll pay the MS tax, because my time is worth something.

[stefcep2]

Windows 8 finally has it.

Also, how hard is:

mkdir /media/myISO

(sudo) mount -t iso9660 myISO.iso -o loop

In theory its probably a mid level user task.  BUT it DID NOT work on Ubuntu 9.10, for me.  Why I don't know.

[stefcep2]

Um, yeah, IF you're using a current version.
AND btw, even WinXP SP2 isn't current enough for Windows update to work with correctly.
As I've mentioned before, in order to use a 2005 copy of Win XP Media Center I had to manually install SP3, then let the system install 119 software patches, then install Java, Flash, a PDF reader and a bunch of audio and video codecs (so that I could play DVDs and work with video and audio files).
 
So no gentleman, it doesn't "just work".
 
I can install Ubuntu just about as easily as Win7 and get similar functionality.
 
But like ANY OS, if I want to do something that isn't mainstream I'm going to have to work on it.
BFD.

try ubuntu 5.04 and see how far you get...

[stefcep2]

Linux sucks because you failed to do something that you can't do in windows either?

Sure, pay your tax. You're the kind of person who needs to pay it.

LOL.  Typical Linux zealot attitude.

Yep, its ALWAYS someone else's fault that Linux sucks, never the system itself..

And what sort exactly do you think I am?

r didn't I give it enough time ?  Was FIVE YEARS not long enough?

The rest of us spent 2 minutes installing acetone from synaptic and mounting ISO's using a simple GUI.

Oh I tried acetone.  DID NO WORK, get it?

And no this wasn't the only reason..

This is like me bitching that windows is ****, because it doesn't toast bread, and thus, I am buying a Mac.

No, not at all, but hey I've seen enough Linux zealots to see one here..

[stefcep2]

@BilgeRat.
1.  I didn't f**k up the install.  I know that *I* didn't because the only software installed was from the official repo's.  But the one constant with every distro I used was that a with each update, however small, the OS itself *could* f**k itself up. eg PCLOS would not boot after a 150 k cd/dvd driver update.

2.  In 5 years I tried Ubuntu, PCLOS, Kubuntu, Mint and Mandriva.  Problems ranged from bad monitor support, bad sound support, no dial up support, roll your own mobile broadband, cd/dvd burning that was hit and miss, just off the top of my head. Sure, I learned how to use a terminal, editing menu1st blah, blah, blah.  After 5 years of all this s**t, I simply had enough.

3.  People talk about the "Linux Community" as a strength.  But its the same "community" that in the end pisses off the users, because there are too many arrogant pr*cks, who refuse to admit that their OS is, in fact broken.

4.  We have one guy here expecting an XP Mediacentre 2005 to work out of the box.  FFS 18 months after I installed Ubuntu 9.10 I couldn't even update my web browser! OS no longer supported!

5.  Update my OS you say?  Its free.  Why the f8ck should I have to do this in 18 months just to run an updated web browser? I run XP that I installed in 2007, latest web browser, no malware, ever.

6.  The absolutely worst thing anyone can do is run a "rolling-update" distro.  Despite what the maintainers say, they *CANNOT* guarantee that one of their updates won't bork your entire system.

Unlike you, I accept that Linux is an amateur OS on the desktop.

Frankly I am over it.

[stefcep2]

@kedawa: yes disabling unnecessary services is the way to get vista performing well.  Its proven to be stable, fast and better looking than Win7 for me.

Specifically  MS didn't tell anyone about the indexing service's hard drive usage on a new system as it built up the index of all the crapware thats usually installed and made it run like a dog.

BTW in Aus its Win 8 is $69.95 for the DVD, but with the "trick" I ordered it for $40.