Re: I've thought better of Linux

Greg Menke <gregm-xyzpdq@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> Just yesterday I set up a Toshiba laptop w/ XP preinstall, had to
> intersperse 3 or so reboots between various mysterious downloads
> before the antivirus/anitspyware software would quit nagging.

Is your claim that, if Linux ever attracts lots of users,
that installing that same software will be less mysterious?

My experience on Windows is that when more updates (for either
the OS, or for the well-integrated Norton security) are needed,
icons appear in the tray, I click on them, and then sometimes
afterwards it tells me to reboot. Totally painless.

My experience on Debian is that the security icon appears,
I click on it, and then it brings up Synaptic, and then
it doesn't work. I have no idea what "critical security
updates" are needed, why I am not getting them, and there
doesn't seem to be any straightforward way to figure it out.
Then I delve into the mysteries of command-line apt and
configuration files, and _maybe_ I can figure it out.

If I were Joe Luser, or his mother, on Linux, there
is absolutely no chance that I would figure it out.
Windows is infinitely superior to Linux in that way.
And do please bear in mind that I rather hate Windows.

> And then sometimes XP wants to reboot when the IP config changes and
> sometimes it doesn't. And then while uninstalling the shovelware,
> I had to reboot a few more times.

When you are installing OS patches, is rebooting a big deal?
I have to do this about every third week or so.

My Windows machine does not require using key switches to input
the octal bootloader program I've memorized, nor do I have to read
in a paper tape after that, nor type commands on the TTY to finally
load the OS from disk and start it. On mine, I just press "OK",
and then it comes back up. What kind of machine do you have?
.

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