Unless I'm above the age of 60, using Ubuntu makes me a geek?

[murderslastcrow]

I've noticed this lately while talking to Mac users. It's very interesting to see peoples' reactions based on the information I give them.

When people see screenshots of my OS doing something cool or unusual, ask what it is, and I tell them it's Linux, most Windows users are all like, "WAAATTT!?" They basically immediately label me a hardcore nerd, even if what I'm doing looks nice, convenient, or cool. To do it would take a rocket scientist, they think, so they'd rather stay away from unfamiliar territory.

I think many times people call us geeks out of an irrational fear of the unknown so far as computers go, since Windows reinforces fearful behavior with crashes, malware, and a general "prettier means slower and more problems" attitude.

So, Mac users would be more understanding, right? They know what UNIX is, why OS X is more sec.... wait, no, they're just Windows users with a freaking Mac.

Seriously, my brother, one of my ex's, and a few of my other friends are Mac users, and only one of them was aware it was secure because of the user/admin privilege separation inherent in UNIX.

All but one of them had heard or read the term UNIX in relation to OS X, however, so they knew that much.

But whenever I've shown them the same thing, apparently I'm geekier, since Ubuntu's just SO hard to set up, and Linux is just SO difficult for anyone but a biochemist to understand. Seriously, it's starting to tick me off, especially when my grandparents actually installed it themselves, use it daily, find it much nicer than Windows and express their satisfaction.

It's NOT that hard. Ever try installing OS X? It might not be too much more difficult, but it takes more steps, DVDs, and time.

Which brings me to my main point- my Dell Mini 10v.

When I show it to people, show them the effects, and say, "DELL ships computers with Ubuntu on them, so I didn't have to install a thing, it just came like this," they don't look at me like I'm a geek, and they don't see it as something hard.

So, as you see, having Linux preinstalled on hardware is a huge piece to the presentation of Linux. No matter how simple you make the installation, even if you give them Wubi, they'll see it as a geek's toy just because no one's shoving it down their throat.

Apple brand loyalty for the rich, I'm stuck with Windows but so what for the poor, this is the mentality people have. They just don't want to wait to download something, even if it's going to make their computing life a lot easier.

I wish I had more money to buy DELL's Ubuntu computers, because we really need a bit more of that. Many of us support Linux with old Windows hardware, and many Linux vendors sell for the same price as Windows to get at our sentimental attitudes towards Linux. But when one of the main brands starts doing it, we need to support that effort to diversify the market.

Linux is spreading, and I've seen it in my own life, as about 10 people I know have started using it merely out of desire after seeing me use it, and only a couple have ended up dual-booting for gaming needs. Still, they prefer to log into Ubuntu.

If you care to see open source software consumed by more people, now would be the time to support it and show hardware manufacturers that it's a viable technology, not only on netbooks.

Anyway, back to my point- I'm not a geek, I tells ya'! I'm just posting a TLDR topic on the Ubuntu Forums by coincidence!

[wilee-nilee]

Contrived story?

[libssd]

This is a very interesting take on the situation. In theory, I agree with you, and I had hoped that economics would drive more manufacturers to support Linux more widely, rather than hand over part of their profit margins to Microsoft licensing fees.

I had some hope that Linux-based netbooks, selling in huge numbers, would jumpstart an end-user migration, but in my case, the experience with Acer's crippled version of Linux, "Linpus," left a bad taste in my mouth. I think Acer has stopped shipping netbooks (and possibly any other computer) with Linux pre-installed because they sold so few (and probably generated more many support calls than the Windows machines).

Beyond obscurity and weird names like "Ubuntu," "Karmic Koala" and "Lucid Lynx," it's going to remain an uphill struggle because with the hardware manufacturers are basically paying Microsoft for OS support. Once the box sells, as long nothing breaks, it's Microsoft's problem to keep it running. MS has a huge support base, both in-house, and with the millions of users out there. If you have issues with Ubuntu, who are you going to call? Certainly not the Geek Squad at Best Buy. I don't want to imply that the Geek Squad is competent, but here's the type of response you might get if you take your Linux/Windows hybrid back for a hardware problem:


I have recently had to return my laptop to the best buy for warranty on the mobo again. (Just died one day in xp) Anyways, When I was there for the initial paperwork filing out on the second time they managed to get it to boot up, and they ask what was the boot menu for? I said I run ubuntu for recreation and xp pro for work. Than the one geek called the manager over and here said I don’t know if I can help you with your laptop.

[Timmer1240]

I totally agree with you Its here its great its fast its not hard to install its secure its easy to learn its FREE!Theres a ton of FREE applications all checked and malware free!Ive got windows xp and windows 7 and I never boot them up anymore I would rather Use Ubuntu because it works so good!And Gnome a simple intuitive desktop environment what more could you want or need!Im not a geek either but my friends and relatives think im some kind of computer guru just because I run linux. I do admit im pretty good at fixing windows meltdowns but I never wanted to pay some one else to do it for me so I Learned about it!Knowledge is power!To me learning linux is just a further enhancement of what I already know about computers Im very curious by nature so it doesnt bother me to learn new things Im 46 now and expect to keep up with technology until I drop!

[irv]

I believe libssd hit the nail on the head. Three years ago I bought a new Dell Inspiron 1521 laptop with Vista installed on it. (World's worst OS). I had nothing but trouble with it. I call Microsoft and they told me to take it back to Best Buy to get it fix. I had bought the extended warranty, and bust buy wanted to charge me to fix it because I had installed Ubuntu on it and was dual booting. I laid the laptop on the counter and told them I wanted my money back. I guess I did make a big deal about them taking my money and not giving me service that I had paid for. They finial gave me my money back I paid for the extended warranty, but I had to keep the laptop. That was fine with me, because I went home and fix it myself. I just bought a new Hard Drive, Windows 7 and installed it and Ubuntu on it. I have not had any problems with it since, and I will never buy another computer from Best Buy again. And I told them they have lost a good customer and I will make sure all my family and friends know how I feel.

[Legendary_Bibo]

I believe libssd hit the nail on the head. Three years ago I bought a new Dell Inspiron 1521 laptop with Vista installed on it. (World's worst OS). I had nothing but trouble with it. I call Microsoft and they told me to take it back to Best Buy to get it fix. I had bought the extended warranty, and bust buy wanted to charge me to fix it because I had installed Ubuntu on it and was dual booting. I laid the laptop on the counter and told them I wanted my money back. I guess I did make a big deal about them taking my money and not giving me service that I had paid for. They finial gave me my money back I paid for the extended warranty, but I had to keep the laptop. That was fine with me, because I went home and fix it myself. I just bought a new Hard Drive, Windows 7 and installed it and Ubuntu on it. I have not had any problems with it since, and I will never buy another computer from Best Buy again. And I told them they have lost a good customer and I will make sure all my family and friends know how I feel.
I had that same experience with HP, Vista broke itself, and my laptop never came with a recovery disc. I argued on the phone for 3 hours to get a recovery disc which was rather unsuccessful...
Windows 7 looks pretty, I'll give it that much. I know eventually I'm going to need Windows for school, but I never want to touch Vista again. At least my laptop is powerful enough to run Win7 just fine. If not then I'll just try to find XP which so far it hasn't dropped in price.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

...

I didn't read anywhere in your post why the age of 60 is in any way relevant.
:lolflag:

[koenn]

I didn't read anywhere in your post why the age of 60 is in any way relevant.


If you're over 60 and using Linux, it's because you used to use UNIX at work, so you know how to handle Linux.

In all other cases, if you use Linux, you're a geek.

Or something like that.

[murderslastcrow]

I meant it in relation to my grandparents- my family and their friends don't view them as geeks. They just think their computers are cool.

I really wish stuff like EeePC's Linux never came out. I have a Norwegian friend who got a similar computer with a craptastic distro on it, and since then they thought Linux is some retarded phone-like OS that can't run actual programs. I had to show them Ubuntu running The Sims 3 before they believed me.

We need to make sure the Linux distributions we ship are high quality, like Ubuntu, and tailored towards desktop users, rather than what companies think 'the mobile market is'. If it can run desktop programs and games, then make a point out of it! Don't sell it as merely an internet browser with a keyboard.

Anyway, the perception of Linux is changing and getting better every day, especially since Ubuntu 10.04. It really goes to show that image goes a long way, while functionality and real results (which Linux has always delivered) is what keeps people happy once they're done playing with compiz.

[NCLI]

I didn't read anywhere in your post why the age of 60 is in any way relevant.
:lolflag:

I think it was the part about his grandparents. Not sure though.

[PartsMan]

I just showed my desktop to some family yesterday.
They were shocked at what it could do. The Compis Cube gets them every time.

One of them mentioned that Linux was to hard to set up.
His jaw dropped when I told him that I have only put in 2 commands and they were cut and paste.

[McRat]

Using Linux makes you a REBEL!! %-)
:guitar:

A Geek is a circus act that bites the heads off of small animals.

Seriously, Ubuntu is good enough today to be sold in large retail stores with complete systems.

I guess it will happen.

Want to be a millionaire? Put together a powerful Ubuntu system that can be mass-produced on a scalable production model, and put on a presentation for a Buyer at Costco and Sam's Club.

You will need some nice art on the boxes, retail display artwork, a great Demo Mode on the display systems. The computer cases should be FLASHY. Make it look like a SuperComputer. 4 Color Choices, LED lights, etc.

Advertise based on Virus Resistance, Free Applications, and MS Office compatibility.

Keep the price point under $1500, but over $800. This is to be a Premium system, and marketed as superior to WinTel systems. Fast boot, fast graphics, and try to put at least two Gee Wizz! hardware items on it.

Ideally, the specs and speed will surpass anything on their display inventory. AMD X6, two 32gb SSD with RAID0, and third HDD for storage? Overclock it by increasing cooling. Have the demo do a reboot ASAP.

You can't compete in Dirt Cheap to start. You need to do it with Faster and Improved! You want the price to be under Apple and over HP.

[McRat]

PS - Yes, it's Father's Day, and the Kids got me my favorite beer (Fat Tire Ale).

I'm rambling... :guitar:

[zuerston]

Hello
I switched to Ubuntu about two years ago,after experimenting with many distros thru the tears (years).
Seems Linux really didn't work,until the last couple years!
I think its here to stay!
Ubuntu is great desktop distro. However ,now I'm experimenting with web servers and am considering Debian or centOS for that project. I still got to get the hardware!
:p
This thread is monitored at my website.
http://www.zuerst1.com/index.php/this-weeks-videos/

[Sealbhach]

Using Ubuntu does not make you a geek. It is not a geek distro. Just my 2c.

.

[fela]

Cool story bro ):P

[MooPi]

When people see screenshots of my OS doing something cool or unusual, ask what it is, and I tell them it's Linux, most Windows users are all like, "WAAATTT!?" They basically immediately label me a hardcore nerd, even if what I'm doing looks nice, convenient, or cool. To do it would take a rocket scientist, they think, so they'd rather stay away from unfamiliar territory.

I've had similar experiences. I installed Linux on a friends computer. I was showing him how he could run a cron job to wake his daughter every morning to her favorite song. I also showed him how to record her favorite DVD's using MEncoder. Just simple scripts and text editing and it blew his mind. He went to work and told everyone I was an amazing hacker and could do incredible things with a computer. I can't get him to shut up about it either :-(

[Jim_in_Omaha]

Geekish if you want it to be and so are pocket protectors.

I see Linux another way => Antiestablishmentarianism

:lolflag:

[XubuRoxMySox]

I have no "mad geek skillz" at all. I tried Ubuntu out only because I couldn't afford a Mac, and my old hand-me-down 'puter wouldn't run anything but WinXP, which was getting reeeeeally slow.

I've learned a few skills along the way, but for what I use a 'puter for, simple, easy, fast Xubuntu works best for me on my old machine - and on the other two hand-me-downs I've inherited from frustrated Windows users who bought new 'puters.

I have shared Xubuntu with several families (friends from dance class and church) and even the over-60s love Xubuntu for it's ease, simplicity, and speed. No mad geek skillz needed. The seniors use it for e-mailing their kids and grandkids, sharing photos, all the ordinary stuff they did on Windows - only faster, more securely, and without as much worry about viruses and stuff.

Even the littlest kids at the dance studio (most of whom have no idea they're using Linux) find no difficulty in using an old Dell "community computer" with Xubuntu on it for doing homework and Facebook and such in between dance classes. One 13-year-old dancer even wrote this article (http://www.linuxforums.org/articles/non-geeky-girls-love-linux-too-_368.html) about how even the most non-geeky of computer users can really appreciate Linux.

Young or old, Linux need not be "geeky" at all, and thanks to distros like Ubuntu (and articles like Amy's, which was also published in the local newspaper here), the word is spreading!

Happily,
Robin

[Old Marcus]

I read that article and it was a breath of fresh air. I agree that 9 times out of 10, the barrier is the salesman more than the product. That girl obviously knew a little bit about computers, but not much, and she had no problems using Linux to do her things. Letting people try the system first before telling them what they've been using is best.

Same tactic when getting kids to eat 'strange' foods. You don't tell them what it is or what's in it, but when they say "that was great!" you then tell them it contained a food they previously thought was horrible. Most of the time they change their mind. (At least I hope that's true across the board, the kids I've seen in that situation have been fine, but I haven't seen every child in the world. :P)

[irv]

I'll be 72 this year, and I guess I am just a old geek. I said old geek not old geezer :lolflag:

[Ioky]

I think be able to master Windows make you more geek than master Linux

Serious, Windows is very "hard" to use. I have been using windows for years. And there are still hell lot of UNKNOWN. there are so many thing that I don't know how to do it under windows, and a lot of magically working part (that do not logically make sense)

It almost feels like it either work, or not work. and when thing doesn't work, you have no idea why, which make it impossible to fix the problem. whenever, someone put up a HOWTO to fix so issue. I was always amaze on how they figure that out.

In linux, I am able to figure out most of the issue myself. Everything have a very logical structure. so once I learn that, I am pretty much know where to look for things. And whenever something goes wrong, there are log to help me fix my problem.

I mean those thing might exist somewhere in windows. but I just happen to not know about them. and serious, even with the newest Windows 7, it is not much difference than windows 95. yes, graphic seem much nicer. but after 10 years. not too many thing have been change. The one thing that it actually get improve is that it can shows more that just English, in 98 it is impossible to open a file name with language like Chinese or Japanese. And yes, even with very high end computer, it still feel slower than windows 98. I wonder why.

This is not a joke, or anything, but I true believe you need to be more geek in order to master windows, than you do in Linux, sense all the info are there to look it up in Linux but not in windows.

And yes, Linux is not really for geek. (it doesn't come with as much as video game as windows too) (one of the very reason that a person been call a geek, video games)

[mamamia88]

I think be able to master Windows make you more geek than master Linux

Serious, Windows is very "hard" to use. I have been using windows for years. And there are still hell lot of UNKNOWN. there are so many thing that I don't know how to do it under windows, and a lot of magically working part (that do not logically make sense)

It almost feels like it either work, or not work. and when thing doesn't work, you have no idea why, which make it impossible to fix the problem. whenever, someone put up a HOWTO to fix so issue. I was always amaze on how they figure that out.

In linux, I am able to figure out most of the issue myself. Everything have a very logical structure. so once I learn that, I am pretty much know where to look for things. And whenever something goes wrong, there are log to help me fix my problem.

I mean those thing might exist somewhere in windows. but I just happen to not know about them. and serious, even with the newest Windows 7, it is not much difference than windows 95. yes, graphic seem much nicer. but after 10 years. not too many thing have been change. The one thing that it actually get improve is that it can shows more that just English, in 98 it is impossible to open a file name with language like Chinese or Japanese. And yes, even with very high end computer, it still feel slower than windows 98. I wonder why.

This is not a joke, or anything, but I true believe you need to be more geek in order to master windows, than you do in Linux, sense all the info are there to look it up in Linux but not in windows.

And yes, Linux is not really for geek. (it doesn't come with as much as video game as windows too) (one of the very reason that a person been call a geek, video games)

yep been using windows since 98 and learn something new every day

[irv]

For me, Windows, any version is boring and no fun to use. I like a little life in my OS. I like to look underneath and see what is happing and why. This was in me from little on. I liked to take things apart and see what makes them tick.

[dragos240]

If you use linux, you are not a nerd. You're just one of us.

ONE OF US! ONE OF US!!!

[yossell]

The op's point about it being pre-installed making a big difference to user's perceptions is an interesting one that hadn't occurred to me - it could well be part of the story.

But I got into linux because I missed the old dos days, and the thrill when one managed to get diagnose a problem and get something working again.

[sydbat]

I'll be 72 this year, and I guess I am just a old geek. I said old geek not old geezer :lolflag:Wouldn't that be "old geekzer"??

My dad is 83 and has used Linux since he asked me to put it on his computer 2 years ago. He is anything BUT computer savvy...and he has no problems.

[betrunkenaffe]

90% of the time when there is a Windows problem with my system, I just reinstall, it's faster and less hassle then trying to fix the problem. I can't do that for other peoples machines that I'm supporting but then, that's their money, not mine :)

I tend to find the cause and fix it in Ubuntu, I don't know if it's just because of the community, easier to find answers on google (typically for me) or the construction/design of OS.

Either way, it's the preinstallation of Windows which makes the difference, normal users don't have to deal with those difficult 6(?) questions when you install the OS vs. Ubuntu having to be installed and partitioning needing to be right (I always advocate a separate /home)

[WinterRain]

90% of the time when there is a Windows problem with my system, I just reinstall, it's faster and less hassle then trying to fix the problem. I can't do that for other peoples machines that I'm supporting but then, that's their money, not mine :)


90% I just reinstall for my customers after I back up all their stuff. (which usually isn't much) It's seems to be the best method to give them a good working computer.

[lancest]

Using Linux makes you a REBEL!! %-)
:guitar:

A Geek is a circus act that bites the heads off of small animals.

Seriously, Ubuntu is good enough today to be sold in large retail stores with complete systems.

I guess it will happen.

Want to be a millionaire? Put together a powerful Ubuntu system that can be mass-produced on a scalable production model, and put on a presentation for a Buyer at Costco and Sam's Club.


This is a wonderful idea. But you can bet MS will be there in some way applying pressure to stop you. It's not about real competition in USA retail- but underhanded channel control.

[bondo101]

Well if being over 60 and using linux makes me a geek . well alright , then i can get chicks who are tech savvy and let them sit on grandpa's lap and eat candy. My son loves it he said your doing something instead of letting your brain rot and getting alzimers. Been using linux since the days of mandrake. And still having fun fixing things that go wrong. Rock on LInux):P:p:KS:popcorn::KS

[Legendary_Bibo]

i can get chicks who are tech savvy and let them sit on grandpa's lap and eat candy.
uhhhh...

[Timmer1240]

Im more of a windows geek then Ubuntu I just started using linux about 5 months now absolutly love the system!I usually fix family and friends windows boxes when they get messed up for the fun of it !They think im a geek guess their right I enjoy fixing em.I wish I knew as much about linux as windows but Im learning by using it and having fun too!Next computer I buy I would have no problem buying with Ubuntu preinstalled actually now I prefer it to windows.5 months in and no major issues and its still really fast so Im really impressed with linux!