Am I "Too Old" for Linux?

**PuddingKnife** · July 15th, 2009

You want to just plug in and get to work? In my own experience, both Windows and Ubuntu Linux usually need a little tweaking.

So my advice would be to invest in a Mac.

**JillSwift** · July 15th, 2009

Not too old, no. Perhaps too lazy.
Good luck finding a "just works" OS. Even Macs have their problems, and the hardware is comparatively predictable for those programmers.

**XubuRoxMySox** · July 15th, 2009

One of the reasons that so many new distros are based on Ubuntu is because of Ubuntu's extraordinary hardware support! Adding drivers and codecs and whatnot is a snap - much easier than in Windows (click here for how-to).

But as far as Linux goes, Ubuntu offers the most in terms of hardware support.

-Robin

**forrestcupp** · July 15th, 2009

First of all, at the risk of getting beat up by ATI fans, just get yourself an nvidia card and some of your headaches will go away. A while back, I had a good ATI card. I came back from Windows to Ubuntu once again, and I had a lot of headaches. I finally broke down and bought a comparable nvidia card, and I couldn't believe how much sweeter my Linux experience was. Things like the 3D desktop just worked with minimal tweaking.

Secondly, if you have the will to learn, you're not too old. I, also, used to be a C64 pro. I pretty much had the Commodore 64 Programmer's Reference Guide memorized. I even learned how to temporarily reprogram the ROM on those things. When I finally got into the contemporary PC world, I found modern programming big and daunting. Then when I actually overcame my fears and got into it, I found that it's not as bad as I thought; I just had to be willing to learn a different way.

You can do the same with Linux.

**lykwydchykyn** · July 15th, 2009

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

First of all, at the risk of getting beat up by ATI fans, just get yourself an nvidia card and some of your headaches will go away. A while back, I had a good ATI card. I came back from Windows to Ubuntu once again, and I had a lot of headaches. I finally broke down and bought a comparable nvidia card, and I couldn't believe how much sweeter my Linux experience was. Things like the 3D desktop just worked with minimal tweaking.

Heh... if you follow the link to the original post, that's what the OP did, and it worked out great!

**ticopelp** · July 15th, 2009

So you want the benefits of Linux without putting in the work -- perfectly understandable. My suggestion would be to find a LUG in your town, or just put an ad in Craigslist, and hire someone to set up your Linux install for you. Problem solved

It doesn't sound to me like you're too old, merely that you have limited energy and want to focus on other things besides Linux. Again, that's just being human, but I you probably will have to figure out what you're willing to sacrifice: your time and energy, your preferred OS, or (perhaps) some money. It seems like you're pretty exhausted and frustrated with your current course of action and are due for a change. Linux, unfortunately, is probably not going to get magically easy for you overnight. So I would say step back and either get help from someone, or find an OS that will give you the ease of use that you desire.

**forrestcupp** · July 15th, 2009

Originally Posted by lykwydchykyn

Heh... if you follow the link to the original post, that's what the OP did, and it worked out great!

I read the thread. It's kind of funny because in my last post, I almost warned him that switching video cards would screw up X if he didn't deal with it first. I really had hopes that "Bulletproof X" would prevent things like that from happening.

Oh well. He has it working now.

**MikeTheC** · July 15th, 2009

To be a part of the modern age, to say nothing of being a part of and involved in the technology world imply change and a willingness to change along with it.

If you're not willing to deal with that, then no matter your age, you have no business being into this stuff. Go find something else in your life that's worth doing, and be the best you can be at that instead.

**FuturePilot** · July 15th, 2009

Originally Posted by monsterstack

On the other hand, I managed to not get burned with devices by ensuring that I discovered how compatible they were before I bought them. It's good practice.

This point can't be stressed enough. Since I started using Linux any time I go and buy a new piece of hardware, I search around to make sure it will work with Linux. That strategy has yet to fail me. Every piece of hardware I have bought has worked out of the box. Mac users don't go buying random hardware. The same should go for Linux users.