What drives people away from Linux?

[buzzingrobot]

I've been using Linux for almost as long as Linux has been around. Several years ago, frustration with the lack of working device drivers pushed me away for a while until that issue was sorted out. (For those who weren't around, drivers for newfangled things like wireless either did not exist or did not work as claimed. Very often distributions made no effort to include them, so users were left to troll the net looking for advice.)

I suspect failure to configure all hardware during the install is the biggest reason people walk away from Limux. For example, some HP printers require an HP driver. If you have one of them, the usual distribution printer setup routine will not work. HP distributes a simple little GUI that allows the downloading and installation of that driver, and then printer setup. Some distributions include that package, some do not. Few, if any, in my experience, actually run the package during the installation. Users with those HP printers, then, are left on their own to know that they need to find and execute that package. Of course, they won't. There's no reason why they would. They just see Linux that doesn't work. (The HP routine needs to run as root (but does not say so), and, amazingly, some distributions that do include it run it as a normal user, and, of course, it fails.

Distributions that are ideologically driven (e.g., Debian) assume, unwarrantedly, I think, that any and all of their users are similarly motivated. This leads to failure and frustration when users do the install and find some of their hardware does not work for what turns out to be entirely avoidable reasons. These distributions do not include proprietary code because the developers think that's a "sin". In reality, that's self-centered behavior that says to a user, "We don't want to get out hands dirty by including this, so you are on your own." Users don't see the underlying reason Debian or whatever doesn't work. They just see the *Linux* doesn't work, and they walk away.

Users who require 100 percent compatibility with things like Outlook and Office may be disappointed, because in actual practice and usage the Linux clones are not entirely 100 percent compatible.

Users who are not driven by ideology and are not driven by frustration with Windows try Linux, decide it is "as good as Windows" and go back to Windows. Why? Because if they think Linux is only "as good as" Windows, they have no motive to leave Windows. Linux provides nothing they don't already have with Windows. For them, Windows is a comfortable home in which they've invested time and money. They have no motivation to stay with a LibreOffice that's "as good as" Office or to learn GIMP so they can do what they already do in Photoshop, etc., etc.,

[zero2xiii]

The only thing that stops me using Linux 100% is the lack of a high-quality video NLE, and related software.

Auhm, just.... have you tried Lightworks? It has a weird learning curve, but try it. http://www.lwks.com/

In my opinion, Linux as a whole looses people with "just to many damn options"... I mean how many ubuntu flavours are there? I understand the reasons, but look at apple and windows.. "Oh so you have an older, slower computer? Ag shame, thats to bad.. Get a better one.." etc etc etc. This makes EVERYTHING just so much harder. Especially for developers, that might be a reason nothing proper really exist for linux (yet). As ease of the end user is lost. When was the last time you installed something on windows, vs installing it in linux. Somehow "it just works" on windows. Sure you might get a "directX is out of date" or you need .NET 1000 for this to work etc etc, but its way easier, familiar.

The BIGGEST issue in my opinion is the name scheme.


My Documents vs Home
My Computer vs Where the hell is my C drive???
i am not even going to bring unity into this.

The thing that scares people away is the fact that it is SO different. Remember, for us using comon sence, it is easy to find what we are looking for:
"Right so there is no my documents, but I see here is a "places" menu, oh wait a minute this folder says documents, this must be it"
"So I installed this **** now... where will it be, there is no start... But wait, here is a menu that says "applications" this must be it"

See what I am saying. Most people live with tunnel vision, shoot, most people here on the forums are still unfamiliar with GOOGLE!! So if there is no start, then they freak out, just look at the response to windows 8.

Coming over from Mac... Is somewhat easier as it is already unix based. So most file structures bare some resemblance. In my opinion, the BIGGEST over all scare away is "To many options"... The comunity mixed "Options" and "Customize ability" completely:
"I do not like this yellow, let me start a completely new fork of the near perfect program and make all the yellow stuff blue, its way cooler"

Look where we are at now. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu.. All the EXACT SAME THING, just a different GUI. (trying to make the point more clear thus the hardcore contras.) Why don't we have Ubuntu and then a light and a pretty desktop or something similar. Gosh not mac or windows gives a user even that choice. I think we are spoiled, rotten, with all the options we have. And this is just inside ubuntu.

Going wider, Going ubuntu vs Mint vs Fedora vs debian vs vs vs.... Pause and think about that... It is like shoes... I do not wear Nike, I wear Puma, I do crox, I am more a pitbul kinda guy..... They are all shoes? Doing the exact same thing...

I agree with the above of "people are afraid of change". That is very true, and we make the change SO HUGE it has become ridiculous. Linux, especially ubuntu, it trying SO HARD to be like windows, one of these days it will be, and then another OS will take over the market linux completely forgot about.

Just some food for thought. I am 100% linux, 90% ubuntu. But I understand the way some other people think.

[HermanAB]

I have never encountered anyone refusing a brand new computer running Linux.

[evilsoup]

Auhm, just.... have you tried Lightworks? It has a weird learning curve, but try it. http://www.lwks.com/

It's actually my preferred NLE, on Windows; I've just today learned that they've finaly released a public beta for Linux (this still doesn't solve the problem of an After-Effects replacement, so I'll still have to stick with Windows for a little while, but it goes a long way to making Linux viable for me).

[lykwydchykyn]

The truth is that the computing world is now dominated by a new super race of human beings who are simultaneously skilled graphic designers and expert programmers developing complex corporate web apps and services in Java. For this elite, who are apparently 99% of all PC users these days, Eclipse and Inkscape just don't cut it.

This was awesome. I LOLed.

Most people don't use Linux because most people don't think much about what's running on their computers, and it's rarely if ever presented to them as an option. When it is presented to them as a choice (e.g. Android, ChromeOS) in the form of a product they can buy, they seem to be choosing it as much as anything else.

[aysiu]

I've had a rather odd relationship with Linux. And when I was in my enthusiastic new convert stage, I did try to get some people to switch over from Windows, but the switch never stuck. I wouldn't say people were driven away from Linux. I think it was more that there was no real compelling reason for them to stick with it over Windows. The people I tried to get to switch would try it for a while, run into a few problems and then wonder why they would trade Windows problems for Linux problems. They didn't care about software freedom or licensing. There's a definite comfort, if you are having problems, to having the same problems "everyone else" is having, instead of using some niche product "no one else" or "only geeks" are using.

I used to use Ubuntu full time. When I switched to a MacBook Pro, I then started using Ubuntu part-time. Now I pretty much never use Ubuntu. I try to update my tutorials online. If I need a quick LAMP server, I'll use Ubuntu for that. Or I used it to set up some library kiosks at a school I used to work at. It's a handy tool to know Linux. Now most of my Linux (the kernel anyway) use is from Google products. I have an Android phone, an Android tablet, and a Chromebook. Having a real product and not just a downloadable operating system is huge for me. I'd love to see Shuttleworth's Ubuntu phone really take off with manufacturers and vendors. We'll see.

P.S. It used to be Ubuntu would automatically detect proprietary drivers were missing, and then prompt you to install them. Now in Raring, it seems I have to search for Additional Drivers, enable the Universe repository, install jockey, and then launch it separately. Why? These little regressions don't make me enthusiastic about trying to drive people to desktop Linux, and that's just one example.

[monkeybrain2012]

P.S. It used to be Ubuntu would automatically detect proprietary drivers were missing, and then prompt you to install them. Now in Raring, it seems I have to search for Additional Drivers, enable the Universe repository, install jockey, and then launch it separately. Why? These little regressions don't make me enthusiastic about trying to drive people to desktop Linux, and that's just one example.

Now you don't need to install jockey because the function is integrated into Software sources. It still automatically detects proprietary drivers, but no more prompting apparently.I agree that without the prompting it is a bit difficult for new users to dsicover. Hopefully the prompting will be added back in the future ( may be there is a bug report on launchpad?)

http://www.howopensource.com/2012/10...-ubuntu-12-10/

[mr john]

They were forced to learn microsoft at school... it's all they know, and they weren't even comfortable with that. How can you expect them to feel comfortable using something they dont even know. Not everyone likes to pull things apart to see how they work.

[JonPaul]

I had problems installing my pretty bog-standard wireless HP printer. If I hadn't been computer literate and prepared to search forums I would have given up. A lot of the advice I read setting it up was rubbish. Found the answer on a gentoo forum in the end. No driver for my work Ricoh all-in-one copier. I have stuck with Ubuntu and am pleased I have but for many people I think it is a bit too steep a learning curve. Mint Cinnamon was a good bridge between Vista and Unity. Didn't like Unity at all when I started, now am very happy with it. blah blah!!

[jockyburns]

I think you should re-phrase the original question. IMHO people are not driven away from Linux. Linux users generally stay with Linux. Linux users have generally been driven away from Windows, because of viruses/malware.
Perhaps the question should be, "What deters Win users from trying Linux." I reckon there's a lot of myths surrounding Linux OS's though. When I first installed Ubuntu, a friend at work said "Oh you have to learn programming to use any Linux OS." and "How do you get on the internet with that? " I explained that Ubuntu had worked "out of the box" and came complete with a web browser (Firefox) an email client, an office suite (Libre). It was ready to go once installed and I was blazing away on the internet within 15 seconds of switching my computer on.. He's since seen it and is quite impressed. He thought almost everything worked from the command line. I have to admit, Linux seems to assume the user knows what he/she is doing with the command line and for me, this is still a steep learning curve. But there's lots of help on the internet. I reckon my dad could handle Ubuntu (and he's 83 this year) ( it would make a bloody change for him, he's always phoning me up about his Windows computer. Must think I'm the Microsoft helpline or something)

PS, the only thing I miss about Windows is the ability to play what was my favourite online game (without a lot of messing about) Eve Online.