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There is one, and only one, reason that Linux is not the most installed operating system in the world. That reason is the command line. The command line is required to install any software and if you get one space or comma or forward slash wrong in the long long series of characters required you must start all over.

In this manner Linux is still in the DOS 4 stage of development. Microsoft early on figured out that they needed an automatic method of installing software. Hence you hit the install button and the Windows software does the installing.

I’m sure that Linux people are smart enough to come up with such. I’ve long suspected that they have a “I’m smarter than you are, you can’t do this.” I sure wish they would get over it. I’ve played around with Linux for years, but always run into this command line blockage. I would have Ubuntu on all my computers if they would get past this. I would even pay a reasonable price for it.

drc

I’ve been using and experimenting with many Linux distributions for the last 20 years. I almost gave up when I bumped into the command line problem. However, Ubuntu and PCLINUXOS dropped that necessity more than a few years ago, as did nearly every other distribution. There’s no need to use the command line to install programs. Just use the distro’s Software Manager. Many use Synaptic Package Manager. Derivatives of Ubuntu (Mint, for example) use the excellent Ubuntu Software Manager.

If you’re still stuck on the command line, you need to try a distribution made in the last eight years or so before cluttering this forum with such outdated statements.

PCLinuxOS seems to work quite well with older hardware, if that’s an issue. Setting up a dual boot is usually automatic within the installation process. I use Dropbox and Google/Picasa to save files and pictures; both are available to any computer or OS I’m using. An external USB drive would also work, although Samba is easy to set up.

If you can do the most basic operations with Windows, you can use any of hundreds of Linux distributions. They are absolutely correct in one thing: Ubuntu and Mint are among the easiest to install. Do a little googling for yourself and locate some ‘how to install’ instructions; they’re all over the place. Download an ISO file (it’s the format for virtually all Linux distributions); Windows Explorer may be able to burn it to a CD, or there are many free utilities (hint: use a CD for 700 M and under, a DVD for bigger files).

PCLinuxOS has the clearest instruction note right on its download site. I’ve resurrected many older machines with this distribution and passed them along to Salvation Army for resale as working computers. Windows is far less friendly to older machines.

With the exception of major, modern games, Linux will do anything Windows will do and do it for FREE. Using the Terminal, a Command Line interface, is virtually unnecessary in most distributions. Check out Distrowatch.com; it’s a practical clearinghouse for everything Linux (similar to Windows Secrets!).

If you don’t have basic computer skills, there are bountiful guides available for the googling. Free yourself!

But wait!–there’s more! Opera not only matches any other browser in basic function, but it also contains one of the best email clients I’ve ever seen, certainly as good as GMail’s and far less finicky than Outlook. Somebody else mentioned synchronizing Opera across several computers, but Chrome does that at least as well.

Gotta say that Victor Wright has it nailed. Well said.

I’ve noticed that many of the non-Windows experimenters are using an old/castoff/orphaned/damaged box, even an ancient Apple in one case. Yes, Ubuntu and most other Linux distributions will give most of these old boxes new life. That’s one of the real advantages of using Linux. Knoppix is even intended to be used only as a live CD, with a major use being to fix old or malfunctioning Windows machines. My son was handed a Knoppix CD in his Computer Science class and told to use it as a toolbox for any broken machine.

My suggestion to many of you is to try an inexpensive K(eyboard)V(ideo)M(ouse) switch and run two boxes. My KVM is currently splicing an elderly HP laptop running Ubuntu Karmic Koala with an elderly homebrewed XPHome box (which has a Linux dual boot partition as well). Mama’s new Toshiba ultralight laptop is also part of the network–Win7, but set up in a workgroup, not in a “homegroup.” They all work together in a Samba/XP network and use printers hooked up to the XP box.

My point is that a KVM and a little CAT5 or wireless network gives you incredible variety and flexibility. Mozy and Dropbox, among others, provide essential backup locations for all of my machines, so rebooting/reformatting are simply a matter of a few minutes with Linux and, yes, a few hours with Windows. A slipstreamed CD for XPHome SP3 does save a little time.

Try everything. With your essential files safe in offsite storage, let the wind blow through whatever hair you have left! PCLinuxOS is quietly becoming one of the best Linux distributions because it just plain works–it even recognizes the Broadcomm wireless chips right out of the box. There are literally hundreds of Linux flavors to try–i actually kind of wish there were some standardization, but that would inhibit open source, wouldn’t it? If you haven’t tried KDE or XFCE or Enlightment or one of the other desktop managers, you’re only looking through one eye! And the repositories for any of the distributions have more stuff to try and experiment with than the Windows world ever thought of. All free.

I’ll shut up now. Some of the posts in this thread show ignorance and bad temper, but many just show a little bewilderment. Some show some pro or con Windows bias, sometimes expressed in ignorant, ad hominem language that’s regrettable. The open source world, as demonstrated by the Ubuntu spirit of cooperation and welcome, is indeed more pleasant and productive than the arguing. I’m no pacifist; a Windows hooligan can get his nose figuratively punched by insulting me. There’s just too much fun to be had in the playground to be nasty and unhelpful.

I invite your comment.