Should You Declare Windependence? I Switched to Linux to Find Out.

[NinjaNerd56]

USB Universal Installer is trash - use RUFUS instead.

My lab has a CENToS machine, and a Scientific Linux machine, along with Windows 2012 on a VMware ESXi 6.5 host...all on a I5 NUC.

I ‘built’ all the installers with RUFUS in minutes and they worked perfectly.

Mint? Yuck.

And yes, I have a docking station in use for MY Win 7 ThinkPad and have all connected to a 27” IPS display. In all, 10 computers in a tiny amount of space.

 

[jirvin6878]

Good article. Your experience tracks with my own; however, I switched to Ubuntu to extend the life of a four-year old Toshiba with an AMD processor. Windows 10 ran really slow and you could fry an egg next to my exhaust port! I just wanted to wait another twelve months to buy the laptop I really want, a Dell XPS 13 or HP Spectre.

I tried Mint but could not get it working right. The Gnome desktop kept pegging my CPU at 100%. A restart solved the problem sometimes but not consistently enough. So, I moved to Ubuntu.

Ubuntu was not without problems. I started with version 17, which also used Gnome instead of Unity (reference to Rick Sanchez's hive-mind girlfriend?). I lived for a month with some little glitches that were quickly solved with updates. It now works great. I can cold boot in about 20 seconds and be working in another ten seconds. (p.s., I have dual-core AMD, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB SSD)

As for apps, LibreOffice works fine. It's crapped out a few times but that might be because I'm using Word format for docs. Dropbox is excellent--no Google drive app--but it has acted weird on about three occasions. Gimp is a fine app, not much more difficult than Adobe. I use Chromium for web browsing and Thunderbird for IMAP access to my email. I can't complain about Thunderbird but it's no Outlook.

All-in-all I do not miss Windows. In fact, I'm now considering staying with Linux, maybe getting a System 76 unit or one of Dell's Ubuntu laptops.

So, if you've got an aging laptop that's running like a dog on Windows, give Linux a try! You might just like it.

 

[brent.mckibbin]

I found this bit amusing:

"Erase unnecessary files: My Linux partition was dangerously close to running out of storage so I followed some instructions for deleting the app cache, a set of archived installers from software you already have loaded. I saved 1.1GB this way."

I use Windows 10 and work and Linux Mint at home. If I need to delete files with elevated permissions, I generally use the command prompt on Windows and generally use Nemo (the default file browser) on Mint because Microsoft has chosen to make it tedious to get an elevated File Explorer instance. In Mint, I can just right-click the folder and open it as root.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Starting as someone who has had to support Windows, Mac, Unix, many flavors of Linux, and Sun when it existed over the years, changing OS always has it's sharp edges, and particularly , not knowing what you don't know or can't find quickly that is actually there. For instance, GIMP can display in separate and single window mode just by selecting it from the Window menu in GIMP (both under Linux and Windows, if memory serves).

Having said that many of your frustrations come down on both sides of the fence. Themes are a good example. The original Linux philosophy was let the user change anything they want down to the micro level. That means that themes are maintained in hidden directories within your home directory and you can copy an icon them into your .icon directory to make it available to the Linux Mint System settings. However, on the negative side, people who develop themes for Linux Mint do so as a hobby unless they are members of the Mint team... think freeware in Windows... and freeware quality in Windows ranges widely and often is unsafe. On Mint Theme offerings are vetted for safety at the least.

However, UEFI is a problem generated at Microsoft by design back when they were less than cooperative with the Linux world. Microsoft made a brief attempt to lock out Linux on new UEF! based computers, but were pressured into allowing a legacy mode. It got more complex than that, but space doesn't allow a complete discussion here.

Bottom line, people should use what works best for them. Since I retired, I use Linux and for the last five years, Linux Mint because I don't have the change on a fixed income that I did when I was a pro.

UEFI was not a problem generated by Microsoft. It was finalized by a forum including most major hardware companies (such as AMD, Intel ARM) and software companies (IBM, Microsoft etc). Its not even a problem.

It was originally conceived by Intel as EFI which was meant to replace the BIOS and the BIOS has very many limitations. It was developed for the Itanium system originally then moved to x86. Microsoft just took advantage of a better performing and more stable feature that became available. It is possible to dual boot on UEFI you just have to disable Secure Boot.

I found this bit amusing:

"Erase unnecessary files: My Linux partition was dangerously close to running out of storage so I followed some instructions for deleting the app cache, a set of archived installers from software you already have loaded. I saved 1.1GB this way."

I use Windows 10 and work and Linux Mint at home. If I need to delete files with elevated permissions, I generally use the command prompt on Windows and generally use Nemo (the default file browser) on Mint because Microsoft has chosen to make it tedious to get an elevated File Explorer instance. In Mint, I can just right-click the folder and open it as root.

What files would you need to delete that can't be done in File Explorer? I have never had an issue deleting files from temp folders and if it requires admin permissions it normally pops up.

 

[Dosflores]

The most satisfactory way to achieve Windependence is to actually forsake Windows: don't try to dual-boot. If you really need to do it, it's best to use a different hard drive for each OS. The best way to install them is: install Windows on one of them; disconnect it from SATA/M.2; connect the other one to SATA/M.2 and install Linux on it; and reconnect the Windows drive to SATA/M.2. Then use your motherboard's menu as your OS selection system. Neither OS needs to know the other one is lurking.

Of course, if you're talking about a laptop with just one SATA/M.2 slot, don't bother. The best way to use Windows applications is installing Windows 10 on a virtual machine using something like VirtualBox. You don't even need to activate a VM installation of Windows 10.

I think that Ubuntu 18.04 is more user-friendly than what is described in the article. It works smoothly as long as every device you use has a compatible driver in the Linux kernel. If that's not the case, then Windows is a must-have, since some hardware manufacturers only create proprietary drivers for Windows.

My attitude is: if someone I care about asks me to set a PC up for them, I'd try to install Linux and check if everything they need works flawlessly. If someone I don't care about asks me to set a PC up for them, I tell them to install Windows 10 themselves. I like Windows 10, but I don't trust it. If you don't need it, your life will probably be easier without it. I think that's the main reason why people spend thousands of dollars on underpowered Macs.

 

[milkod2001]

The biggest issue with Linux is amount of distributions it offers. Very dumb. Why all contributors don't select 1-2 the best ones and all work on that? I bet it would be much better than Windows or anything else. But no, with countless distributions, no support, half baked OS Linux will never compete with WINDOWS unless all you need it to browse internet and think with Linux you are safe.

 

[Guest]

Most that bash Mint Cinnamon have a discouraging lack of knowledge. Other than users that rely on specialized software, Linux Mint Cinnamon is simply stellar. No malware, no automatic updates, no bouncing icons with ads, incredibly stable. Installing themes in Cinnamon is a breeze. Forget dual boot. Forget Windows 10.

 

[Myrmidonas]

But....can it run Crysis?

 

[therealduckofdeath]

Windependence is so 1995. What you should be asking yourself is how to make yourself Google free. Google has flushed any sense of moral responsibility since they realised how much money they're making off a toxic and hateful internet. Google censors Winnie the Pooh for 1/6th of the world's population to appease one authoritarian leader and retain revenue at the cost of freedom of speech. Meanwhile keeps helping undermining democracy in the world for the sake of big ad click profits by helping nazis and extremists spread hate speech and lies everywhere else. Also at the cost of actual freedom of speech.
Show us how to get a Google free Android device instead. That would actually be useful. Eelo is trying and hopefully will succeed. Others should do the same.
#DontBeEvilGoogle

 

[knightmike]

I make donations to Linux & distros yearly but I don't use it. I'm a gamer and that means my machine runs Windows.

 

[ianj14]

I have been using Linux Mint since just before Windows 10 came out, mainly because I instantly stopped trusting Microsoft when it became apparent they were collecting user data via telemetry and forcing updates on to users.

There have been times I wish I could use Win 10, but mostly my experience of Mint has been positive, with just a few irritating issues.

One thing that is still far too prevalent is the need to resort to the CLI to find out things and correct settings. Too little is in the GUI for management, and when using some commands very rarely, having visual clues for what to look for is very useful and far quicker than trying to remember what command and its options need entering in a terminal window.

Regarding Windows software that won't run in Linux (either because there is no Linux variant or it won't run in Wine), I found it preferable to set up a VM (in VirtualBox) for Windows (7 in my case) and just use that. It also avoids the need for dual-booting.

 

[alextheblue]

When compared with Windows 10's buggy updates that take hours

I don't know what is wrong with that system but even the big updates never take more than ~10 minutes to install, and this is on a budget homebuilt system. FWIW they're working on making updates even faster by having them do more work while the system is online. That should especially benefit systems with rust spinners. Really I haven't had any issues with Win 10 (except Creative's drivers kind of suck and they need to release an updated WHQL driver for the Z series) since before Anniversary Update. I don't even make any special effort to keep my system as clean as I did back in the XP days when I did weekly maintenance. In fact I even installed from an 8.0 Pro disc (I had bought it on megasale a year prior to installing it), fully updated to then-current 8.1 builds, and then updated to Windows 10. I've been updating ever since.

I could have clean-installed after I upgraded the system to Win10 but everything ran so good that I never bothered. This runs contrary to my experience with Windows 7 and prior, where upgraded machines tended to have issues. I still recommend a clean install, especially for old machines. But overall things have gotten a lot better. I used to HATE supporting Windows systems... especially back in the Win9x, WinXP, and Vista (pre-SP1 and updated drivers) days. Except for Win95 OSR2, that was actually rock solid... it was just primitive.

My attitude is: if someone I care about asks me to set a PC up for them, I'd try to install Linux and check if everything they need works flawlessly. If someone I don't care about asks me to set a PC up for them, I tell them to install Windows 10 themselves.

That's an elitist attitude. Sounds like Apple... "We know what's good for you!". If you really liked them, you'd install what they want. Windows 10 is very low maintenance, even my parents haven't needed tech support since I bought mom a Win10 laptop and built dad a mITX desktop (he also has a Surface 3). That's impressive given the number of times Windows 9x, XP, Vista, and even 7 has directly or indirectly required me to fix something. A huge part of this lies with the security overhaul... they haven't managed to get infected with any debilitating malware since I put them on Win10! That's kind of mind-blowing when I look back on how many times I had to clean their machines.

I had Windows 10 physically burn out or brick two different towers with custom hardware on forced updates, after turning updates off on the recommendations of the hardware manufacturers themselves.

If I was a manufacturer that built shoddy hardware, I'd blame someone else too! Seriously, the only software update I've ever seen cook a piece of hardware was software/firmware released by the manufacturer. For example, a bad set of Nvidia drivers that wrecked the fan profiles. Anyway, regardless of shoddy hardware and/or installation/ESD issues resulting in eventual failure... turning off updates entirely is a horrible idea.

 

[alextheblue]

Windependence is so 1995. What you should be asking yourself is how to make yourself Google free. Google has flushed any sense of moral responsibility since they realised how much money they're making off a toxic and hateful internet. Google censors Winnie the Pooh for 1/6th of the world's population to appease one authoritarian leader and retain revenue at the cost of freedom of speech. Meanwhile keeps helping undermining democracy in the world for the sake of big ad click profits by helping nazis and extremists spread hate speech and lies everywhere else. Also at the cost of actual freedom of speech.
Show us how to get a Google free Android device instead. That would actually be useful. Eelo is trying and hopefully will succeed. Others should do the same.
#DontBeEvilGoogle

I agree with what you're saying, but good luck getting Google out of Android AND having the apps users want. Most of what makes Android useful to the end-user is proprietary Googleware, for example the entirety of GMS (and it's restrictive licensing, closed project nature). So unless you want a less useful OS with no Google Play... sorry. Look at what happened to FireOS after Google started cracking down. The app store for even the mighty Amazon is downright pathetic, despite FireOS being Android-based with Amazon replacements for everything that would normally come as part of GMS.

But the real irony here is how they build Android on top of Linux. It's brilliant... all that labor for free and they rake in the profit via advertising (user data).

 

[therealduckofdeath]

I agree with what you're saying, but good luck getting Google out of Android AND having the apps users want. Most of what makes Android useful to the end-user is proprietary Googleware, for example the entirety of GMS (and it's restrictive licensing, closed project nature). So unless you want a less useful OS with no Google Play... sorry. Look at what happened to FireOS after Google started cracking down. The app store for even the mighty Amazon is downright pathetic, despite FireOS being Android-based with Amazon replacements for everything that would normally come as part of GMS.

But the real irony here is how they build Android on top of Linux. It's brilliant... all that labor for free and they rake in the profit via advertising (user data).

Google (obviously) don't enforce their anti-competitive restrictions against companies if that company generates enough revenue. You can buy plenty of Chinese Android phones without Google services pre-installed, yet they're not banning those companies from Google Play access in other markets.
Anyways, the whole point of making a Google-free device is to get the Play services out. Android is open source, meaning anyone can do that. Amazon were at one point the biggest Android tablet manufacturer in the world. They've left the segment to die slowly as they now make more money selling coffee bean grinders and whatnot. I don't see why some of the smaller, struggling brands wouldn't consider this as an option to jolt sales. There is a market, they just need to get the word out there to get the consumers.

 

[rluker51]

Good article. Linux seems about the same as it was years back when I tried it.
Your summary of why to use Linux is spot on and has been reaffirmed by the comments.

But there are a few more valid reasons to use Linux.

Some people have outdated or underpowered computers that don't work well with windows and they still want to get use out of them. I have a couple 2/32GB ram/hd fanless atom pc sticks that work well with windows 10 all versions, but some older computers don't. I think pae,nx,sse2 instruction capability or something was needed by the cpu. There are probably some other older pc configurations with hardware that is no longer updated that work better with Linux too.

Also if you wanted to keep an isolated os, Linux on a separate drive would be good.
Windows 10 spring creators update has that timeline which even allows syncing between all of your devices, and even though you can have your activities hop from one of your pcs to the next, sometimes you might be up to something you don't want the kids to be aware of.

That being said, I only use windows and it works great for me. But if someone either likes Linux better or have found it is easier to get their computer to do what they want by using Linux then good for them. The world is a complicated place, sometimes you just have to go with what works.

 

[almarcy]

I started my IT career as a midnight shift computer operator at Univac. I was the OS on a pair of mighty 1004 standalone boxes. It was my first real job, with benefits and vacations and paid overtime and all those old world treats. I got input to be processed in boxes on a card. Batch... the attached worksheet named the operation to be done. I installed the selected program board in the 1004 and put the required punch card(s) in the reader/punch and pressed: STOP/START/CLEAR/FEED/RUN.
Often it ran and did what was requested.

Now I have my old trusty homebrew PC. It is a big ATX desktop. It has many cooling fans and a AMD Phenom II X4 850 at 3.3 MHz (CPS) and 8 GB of 1333MHz RAM and a 2TB hard disk. Wireless KBD/mouse. 1920x1080x60Hz 42" monitor. I have been wearing spectacles since age three. Analog to dig it Al. Windows 10 and ubuntu is on the HDD, somewhere.

Just wanted to brag my experiences. UI is not my favorite endless task to try to keep up. Life was easier when I wrote every instruction in the box. Quest!

 

[chrisbryant]

Because this article is not geared toward the Enterprise user, I'll not dive into the multitude of reasons why choosing a solid GNU/Linux distribution can, in fact, be ALL about economic savings. Curious end users may want to look into what percentage of the global Internet infrastructure rests on GNU/Linux systems. Or, how many software developers use GNU/Linux as their primary development OS and compile their code on GCC (the GNU Compiler Collection, a free software development ecosystem). As a young tech hopeful with little money, I learned computing, programming and Internet tech for no more than the cost of my hardware (all hail Fry's) and my parent's landline. I went on to work building server farms, distributed systems and software build farms for no software cost to me; all I required was knowledge and a host of free and open source software (FOSS) projects. Working in Enterprise environments since 1998, I have seen millions of dollars saved by companies who decided to work with FOSS rather than closed, commercial software solutions from companies like Microsoft. So, yes, economics can very much be a factor, but in this context, if the end user just wants to fire up Outlook and play a load of Windows-only games, then GNU/Linux may not be for them.

But, Enterprise software environments aside, before making any quick leaps to judge GNU/Linux not suitable for the average desktop user, asking upfront what the requirements for each individual user are is essential. I'd hate for intelligent end users who are willing to spend several sleepless nights mastering whatever massively multiplayer online game they've recently purchased to not give GNU/Linux a second look because the plethora of articles like this out there are pointing to sticking with Windows without really digging deep into the different end user types, their requirements for a computing system and all the opportunities for growth each GNU/Linux distribution may offer for each of them. Especially when so many people who spend more time on a phone these days than a computer are actually using GNU/Linux right now (Android) or some form of UNIX (iOS). The time to personalize and bring a GNU/Linux system up to your preferences and user requirements is nominal compared to how much time you might be spending just rebooting your Windows system due to application crashes, Internet connection loss and memory or CPU overload.

I appreciate the conversation this article wants to start, but if I consider that the technical challenges and computing features compared here between Windows and GNU/Linux cover at most 1% or less of what I use a computer for, and likely far less than 50% of what the average end user does on a computer, I have to ask for more. Perhaps make this the introduction for a series of articles on comparing Windows desktop features against a variety of GNU/Linux distros. Pull each talking point out and do the deep dive of where the feature came from, what it does, how it differs on UNIX-like systems from Windows systems, and on which OS it actually performs better on the backend.

And in these future articles, ask the question up-front: What do you DO with your computer? (For great examples of what people actually use their computers for, see usesthis.com.) Ask: What are your biggest challenges when you use your current system? Have you ever tried alternate OS or software offerings? Also note: FOSS lives on Windows and Mac OS as well as GNU/Linux. I have a Windows system that hosts mostly FOSS programs, but also sports Outlook and Office for requirements of my professional job. Additionally, I have a Mac where almost all my daily-use programs except Xcode are FOSS software installed using Homebrew. Ask: Is a hybrid solution something you might be looking for?

The conversation is never a bad one to start, but I have to say that if we're really going to make that conversation worthwhile, we need to get past the typical comparisons between GNU/Linux systems and Windows. We need to get to the heart of why we compute, what we want to accomplish and to what level of quality we expect that end product to rise. For me, hands down, GNU/Linux in some form or another is superior to Windows, offers more for me in terms of knowledge gained and software development options available, and GNU/Linux comes from a community of service-oriented humans who are more about sharing their gifts than selling them, but who are also practical and (mostly) ethical when earning money using FOSS. And when comparing Windows against GNU/Linux, you can't shy away from that conversation, either!

So, from Pop!_OS on my System76 laptop, I say "happy hacking" and remember: "free software, free society"!

 

[rainfactor]

This is a typical article that one would expect from a long time Windows user that "decides" to see how green is the...Mint in Linux's court. Few clicks later the Mint is not as green because the menus are different and not as neat as he is used to in Windows(really??!), he misses the familiarity of his Windows, the icons are ugly and he has to use the dreaded command prompt. O.M.G what a blasphemy!!
Proceeds then to slap a half baked review and runs back to mommy..err..Windows. Because Windows is better, has a broader range of software, the themes work and one doesn't have to use the "black screen where you type commands".

The author could have easily saved himself from the embarrassment of writing such a poorly formulated article and could have maybe gone out and enjoy the fireworks

 

[jamn123]

I had switched for about a month but the only issue I had was running a windows vm with kvm. It was more a hardware issue then anything. I would recommend it to anyone that wants a OS that has not much overhead.

 

[Sleepy_Hollowed]

How is the look and feel that you are describing any different from current Windows icons? They're all flat now since windows 8, which is terrible.

Saving 1MB in disk space per icon sure showed us.

 

[auster.aldrich]

It's a bit disappointing to read this article, because as a long time Linux user, I know that if you got a bit of help from anyone who knows Linux not only would you have saved a TON of time, but also wouldn't have published an article that makes linux look as if it's inherently hard to work with when it's only different. All of the issues that you had were easy to solve just like a long time macOS user would tell to a new user whenever they found issues with it.

The booting issues that you had were caused by bad Boot USB parameters. Etcher is a very intuitive, good software that let's you create a UEFI installation media. This alone would have saved you a ton of time. Then ditching GIMP because it had multiple windows instead of one shows just helplessly you must have been since you didn't even try to google it. There's a very prominent and easy to find option in the app menu to switch to single window mode (LITERALLY 2 clicks). The command line isn't as necessary as you make it seem to be, and even then, the stuff you usually need to do is very easy to learn.

All in all, I'm sad to see you go into it like this, because like with everything, you save a ton by just getting help from more experienced users. I used linux for so long that I when I started using windows again (for games) I jumped straight into windows 10 after having last used windows xp, and I had issues that you would not even think of... but that's because these are different operative systems with different ways of working. Anyway, hopefully if you decide to try something **different** in the future, you get some help to use it before writing a long article that makes it look like crap for your own failure to use it propely.

 

[jeff.rodrequez]

I have used several different Linux releases over the last year mainly to just play around with them but recently installed the new Deepin, dual boot on a Surface Pro 4 with windows 10. Just have to say....wow. From installation to daily usage it's a beautiful and smooth OS, I'd recommend it to anyone trying Linux out for the first time. Took me about 15 minutes to get everything up and running including the touch screen and pen.

 

[Dosflores]

Also if you wanted to keep an isolated os, Linux on a separate drive would be good.
Windows 10 spring creators update has that timeline which even allows syncing between all of your devices, and even though you can have your activities hop from one of your pcs to the next, sometimes you might be up to something you don't want the kids to be aware of.

You don't need an isolated OS; just an isolated user account. Windows 10 syncs between devices via your Microsoft account. You should create different user accounts on your home PC. Only use the one that is linked to your Microsoft account when you want to do private things. Besides, you can set protections on the accounts your kids use so that they cannot do anything the internet allows them to. That's the good thing about multi-account devices. You shouldn't give your phone to your kids so they can do whatever they want, but you can give them your PC as long as you don't give them access to your account.

 

[petersutton213]

Regardless of weather you like Bill Gates (ie Windows) or not, Windows is far more user friendly for many of the reasons in the article. Don't get me wrong, I have a PC with Window and a laptop with 'Mint' and I would defy anyone to say Linux is easier and more user friendly than Windows........ P.S When Win7 does become obsolete I WILL SWITCH TO LINUX!

 

[sleeplessinkanata]

I am not sure what the point of this article is.

I think the author should have done a little more research into the various Linux distributions before embarking on this experiment.

Mint Linux is essentially Ubuntu with the retro-style Cinnamon desktop, and it became popular because users disliked Ubuntu's gosh-awful Unity desktop so much. However, Ubuntu has finally abandoned Unity in favour of the standard Gnome 3 desktop environment. Even before, it was not that hard to install Gnome 3 and make it your default (you basically had to type in 3 commands and you were done).

Basically: the author chose the distro with the traditional desktop, then complained about the traditional desktop.