Why are Windows Users so Difficult to Convert to Linux?

Discussion
41

Only in read-only mode. One of the first things the kernel does is load ntfs.dll or .sys, which contains the actual filesystem code.

NTFS is one the worst filesystems out there. Its design is horrible.

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42

I remember my first Linux install. MS also makes it hard, blocked my Ubuntu download due to potential malware, enabled Secure Boot, locked the BOOT (!) USB with Bitlocker, denied Windows partition formatting, blocked my MS 365 access due to “invalid platforms” and denied access to support for my Surface because I wasn’t running Linux. The biggest problem is exe’s. But yeah, once I made it, it works normally.

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43

You are talking about dual booting linux with Windows.
I think Paul mostly offers just Linux on its own.

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44

I’m not, I mean hardware side.

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45

OK. I think one can avoid some that with carefully planned custom builds.
It helps if Win has never been installed.

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46

Sadly, the big laptop manufactures can’t see this and ship with a propertiary nonsense OS, guess what I mean.

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47

They were in Windows 8 going for something completely different, but that did not last long. ReFS Resilient Filesystem, which apparently was for Windows 8 Servers only. Still rubbish, give me ext4, BTRFS over NTFS, what exactly is new about New Tech Filing system?

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48

It’s called “MS’ bad marketing”

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49

Quite correct, i ask silly high prices for windows installs and explain that they will be back regular for update issues, virus problems and that is just the start.

Yesterday just said to the client not to bother coming if he wanted a windows reinstall and to go to a local computer shop to buy and install. 120 euros for windows, 120 for my time to install plus more for copy data files across. Or linux at 35 euros all in with free lesson on how to use it.

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50

Pretty sure the head designer / engineer for NT had gone to Microsoft from DEC where he was one of the head VMS engineers and the NT kernel inherited some VMS like features


If you run it once using adb / serial connection - i.e. over USB connection “./scrcpy --tcpip” - it logs down the IP address of your android phone (I have a “static” lease for my phone on my router - so always get the same IP address). But not the default one that Pop!_OS installs, it doesn’t work - had to get the binary from that GitHub e.g.

╭─x@titan ~/bin  â€čmain*â€ș 
╰─➀  cd ~/sbin
╭─x@titan ~/sbin  
╰─➀  tar xvf ~/Downloads/scrcpy-linux-x86_64-v3.3.1.tar.gz
╭─x@titan ~/sbin  
╰─➀  cd scrcpy-linux-x86_64-v3.3.1

Hook up handset over USB (and ensure developer mode is enabled - in most cases you have to tap 7 times to enabe it) - accept the prompt “Allow” then :

╭─x@titan ~/sbin/scrcpy-linux-x86_64-v3.3.1  
╰─➀  ls
adb  icon.png  scrcpy  scrcpy.1  scrcpy-server
╭─x@titan ~/sbin/scrcpy-linux-x86_64-v3.3.1  
╰─➀  ./scrcpy --tcp-ip
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51

Ocassionally it stops to work. Debian never stops.

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52

I will second that

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53

Short on time, but as a recent convert, I can say it’s been very difficult to get others to make the jump. I met someone who seemed very willing to spend $500-700 on a new laptop for Windows 11 instead of trying Linux for free (and I can guarantee that user didn’t need anything that fancy).

That said, I never even considered Linux for decades due to the fact I didn’t want to have to take the time to learn how computers work. It was realizing how evil big tech companies are that made me decide it was worth learning a bit for the sake of freedom and privacy. Sadly, most people don’t truly care about those things, and thus will continue exchanging them for convenience.

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54

Independence.
Elderly people fear losing their independence in daily affairs.
It is something we take for granted in normal life, but when it comes to computers or any hi-tech thing, we happily discard it.

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55

Objectively speaking, I use both Linux and “Windoz” (dual boot).
The only reason I still use Windows is because I need two pieces of software that are not available for Linux, Quickbooks and AutoCAD(ProgeCAD) or MicroStation.

I need Quickbooks because my CPA requires it and there is no way I would change accountants. I also need a “real” full featured CAD app and there are none available in Linux that come close to meeting my needs.

On a happy note, for solid modeling, FreeCAD is available on Linux. It is a great app and will only get better with time.

Addressing the “laziness” comments, I believe that what might appear as laziness might be intimidation. Lets be honest, Linux is pretty dang cryptic. It kinda reminds me of the early days of programming in assembly language vs programming today in C or Python.

Although distros user interfaces are progressing, they still need refinement in order to attract more from the “DARK SIDE”

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56

I would be interested in your opinion on LibreCAD

I do not have CAD experience , so I can not tell if it is up to scratch?

I have never thought of it like that.
I once used an OS called JCL that was so much like assembler that it used the same instruction format on each command line.
Linux is not like that
 remember, when you type a command line, you are talking to the kernel
 there are rules, like, first word you type is treated as a program name, so it goes and loads it and runs it.
That is exactly the same as DOS or CP/M.

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57

Interesting you still think this, with the GUI I very rare go into the command line, so except the colours and a few icons in different position there is not a lot to choose between windows mac and linux (mint) bit like buying a new phone or tablet they are all much of a muchness !

Does autocad and quickbooks run under WINE ?

This is always a difficult one as it depends on what you use it for and how experiance you are plus then sharing drawings with others such as autocad format files.

Bit like can I use gimp instead of photoshop, libreoffice instead of ms office.

Those were the days my friend

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58

I only use cross-platform programs on my systems. I’ve run some of them on everything from AIX to FreeDOS.

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59

I’ve had several computers over the years that I’ve had trouble converting completely to just using Linux because of inability to get the proper drivers for some of my hardware. It’s slowly getting better, but there are still some cards and peripherals I can’t get drivers for on Free operating systems. Some people need specific software for work and are unable to get it to work on Linux systems even with options like WINE. A lot of the popular applications available on Linux are also available on Windows. Recently noticed Darktable had finally been ported to Windows. There’s also the option to run busybox-w32, midipix, msys or Cygwin to get similar console commands on Windows. With the addition of WSL, you can run pretty much anything that works in Linux using WSL on Windows. Windows users also had the option to run Android apps, but Microsoft is phasing that out which is disappointing.

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60

No, most of the time it’s not laziness. However, I would not call Linux “cryptic” these days. Distributions such as Linux Mint, MX Linux, and Ubuntu do a damn good job of providing a simple desktop experience akin to the ease of use of Windows.

There’s a stubborn perception out there that Linux is “this difficult thing nerds use.” This is far from the truth. Yes, it lacks applications for a lot of niches (the situation is improving, though). On top of that the hardware situation is far from perfect (it’s improving, though).

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