New efforts!

[MWRuger]

With Ubuntu you do very, very little on the command line. Usually it's cutting and pasting from some bug post to fix an issue. But it's not like you need to learn to be a linux system administrator.

Heck, my non-techie wife has been using Ubuntu for 5 years now. I had to do some googling and cutting and pasting to get Spotify installed on her laptop, but other than that, it takes care of itself and she doesn't even need help. In fact she (early on) tried to go back to Windows, got a Trojan so nasty that it required re-installing the O/S, and made the decision to stick with Ubuntu. She's been happy (and virus free) ever since.

Very, Very little = Some. I have no desire to do any. Your non-techie wife has you to fix it if it breaks and I am sure that is your memory, but I can't help but think that you probably do little tweaks that don't even take 5 minutes  that you don't even consider to be worth remembering.

I've only ever had one virus on my Windows machine that I remember and I got it from  a disk that was infected. It's possible I had others I never knew about, but they obviously didn't cause me any problems. But I keep my virus scanner and firewall up to date. I also update flash when it needs it as well as other programs. I also now what to watch out for when downloading from the web.

I probably don't need to tell you that no OS is virus impervious. Windows OS represents a huge target with it's large install base and mostly non technical user base. If Linux ever gets to be a large enough install base, you'll suddenly become tasty to the jackasses that write virus and malware

[Aggelakis]

I'll presume you said that with a straight face.

Maybe you're talking about Windows 9?

If Windows is still in beta after two decades, then so is every other program/OS that goes through iterations. Linux, Mac, Photoshop, etc., etc., etc. Being facetious doesn't look good on you.

[LadyVamp]

I know people have run CoH from Wine with partial success, but I'd rather spend $29 than struggle with that.

I never found it a struggle to run coh under wine on ubuntu.  Today I'd be doing that on Arch Linux though.

[LadyVamp]

VMWare Player is free to use, and runs W10 perfectly well.

KVM also handles it nicely.  With libvirt installed, even pretty easy to setup if you hate writing xml at the command line

[FloatingFatMan]

KVM also handles it nicely.  With libvirt installed, even pretty easy to setup if you hate writing xml at the command line

Yeah, but most people prefer to run an OS that's actually relevant. :p

[chuckv3]

Very, Very little = Some. I have no desire to do any. Your non-techie wife has you to fix it if it breaks and I am sure that is your memory, but I can't help but think that you probably do little tweaks that don't even take 5 minutes  that you don't even consider to be worth remembering.

I've only ever had one virus on my Windows machine that I remember and I got it from  a disk that was infected. It's possible I had others I never knew about, but they obviously didn't cause me any problems. But I keep my virus scanner and firewall up to date. I also update flash when it needs it as well as other programs. I also now what to watch out for when downloading from the web.

I probably don't need to tell you that no OS is virus impervious. Windows OS represents a huge target with it's large install base and mostly non technical user base. If Linux ever gets to be a large enough install base, you'll suddenly become tasty to the jackasses that write virus and malware

Sure, that is "some" command line work. It's really just a matter of following a few straight-forward instructions. I had to do far more tech support when she was running Windows. I've had to wipe the HDD and re-install Windows, and I've had to babysit recovery processes. I've never had to do either since she started using Ubuntu.

I've never had a virus on any computer running Ubuntu (I do check once in a while), so I am perfectly happy with that regardless of why.

[chuckv3]

I never found it a struggle to run coh under wine on ubuntu.  Today I'd be doing that on Arch Linux though.

Really? Maybe when it comes back I'll try again. Years ago when I was considering trying, I looked it up on the wine compatibility list and there were reports of issues. I totally don't remember what they were though.

[LadyVamp]

Yeah, but most people prefer to run an OS that's actually relevant. :p

I'd consider Arch, ubuntu, debian, rhel, centos, and fedora to be relevant.  I run them all on the back of an Arch linux install with kvm on a lenovo TS140. Well, all but the rhel.

[LadyVamp]

Really? Maybe when it comes back I'll try again. Years ago when I was considering trying, I looked it up on the wine compatibility list and there were reports of issues. I totally don't remember what they were though.

The only issue I had was finding the command line switch to tell it to use 1 thread for the game instead of 2.  something about how the 2nd thread handled the graphics when using an nvidia card caused the game to freeze

The upside to finding that switch was 140 FPS during hami raids.

[MWRuger]

Sure, that is "some" command line work. It's really just a matter of following a few straight-forward instructions.

So is building a car I suppose.

I am sure that in your mind that is all it is. But it is really more than that. First you have to identify the problem and then collate it into something Google find and then try and figure out what you are seeing.

take for example this statement:

The only issue I had was finding the command line switch to tell it to use 1 thread for the game instead of 2.  something about how the 2nd thread handled the graphics when using an nvidia card caused the game to freeze

Most people, myself included don't want to have to get under the hood. For you, Linux is like a muscle car you love to tinker with so you  know how everything works. I admire that level of knowledge. I really do, but I have no desire to do all that. All I want is car that starts and runs with minimal fuss.

Don't get me wrong, I parsed LadyVamp's sentence just fine. I know what a command line switch and how to use one. I even understood that she was telling it to not use multiple processor threads. I just don't want to have to jack with it.

I'll give you another example: Dosbox. I have hundreds of old games I bought and I could load a Dosbox frontend or even figure out what parameters to set but I would rather go to Good Old Games or Steam and download it all preconfigured. I did it one time for Daggerfall, (which was difficult to get working in Win95), Googled it, read a messageboard thread that had a step by step direction, I followed it ran like two times and then crashed. I'm sure I just needed to tweak something here or there. But by that time I was ready to play something that ran without me having to research it.

Like I said, I admire what you do while still having no desire to do it. So rock on Linux folk!

[Remaugen]

I experimented at various times with Ubuntu, Gentoo and Mint, all without much success, the learning curve is just too steep. None of them are really intuitive and I really lack the patience to keep failing at the most basic tasks. If/when Linux gets as simple to use as Windows maybe I will give it another shot.

[FloatingFatMan]

I experimented at various times with Ubuntu, Gentoo and Mint, all without much success, the learning curve is just too steep. None of them are really intuitive and I really lack the patience to keep failing at the most basic tasks. If/when Linux gets as simple to use as Windows maybe I will give it another shot.

Actually, the learning curve for them isn't really that steep.  What IS the main problem, is that a huge amount of the software for linux is garbage.  It looks horrible, is often overly complex to use (See GIMP), and installing it is rarely a simple thing.  There's also the rather large problem of there literally being NO software in the stores. You can't just go down to your favourite PC store, pick up a copy of Office or something, and install it on your Linux box. That just isn't going to happen.

Finally, Linux's other problem is the userbase.  Some years ago, during one of my many forays into the Linux world (I'm an old SCO Unix lag so I knew the commandline well), I had occasion to go onto one of the newbie user groups and ask a simple question about configuring something (I forget what now).  What followed was probably the most shocking and obscene attack upon everything imaginable about my person, my intelligence, and my sheer affrontery for DARING to ask such a stupid question. At least three people suggested I kill myself, and many others suggested I go get raped in the local jail... Note, this was clearly labelled as a  newbie HELP usergroup...  I felt more like I was on 4chan than a support forum...

Often, you'll hear its fans say "This is the year of the Linux desktop". Well, those people have been saying that for the last 10+ years, and its no closer to being the truth today than it was 10 years ago.

[Zerohour]

Jesus, what are you guys talking about lol

[Balince]

Jesus, what are you guys talking about lol

Well talking about CoH is taboo apparently, and there's nothing to be said so might as well just call this the "random discussion" thread. On that note...

CoH! CoH! CoH! ;D

Seriously, this is a painfully long and boring process for those of us who are uninformed. Isn't there anything we can, send emails to NCsoft or something? lol

[FloatingFatMan]

Isn't there anything we can, send emails to NCsoft or something? lol

Christ no, that's the -last- thing anyone should do!

[Fanta]

https://lifeisaburlesque.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/there-yet.jpg

Just be glad you didn't hold your breath.

Are we there yet?

[Fanta]

Well talking about CoH is taboo apparently, and there's nothing to be said so might as well just call this the "random discussion" thread. On that note...

CoH! CoH! CoH! ;D

Seriously, this is a painfully long and boring process for those of us who are uninformed. Isn't there anything we can, send emails to NCsoft or something? lol

You're new here aren't you :D SO, FOR THE OF LOVE GOD, LEAVE IT TO THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THE KNOW! :D

[darkgob]

Finally, Linux's other problem is the userbase.  Some years ago, during one of my many forays into the Linux world (I'm an old SCO Unix lag so I knew the commandline well), I had occasion to go onto one of the newbie user groups and ask a simple question about configuring something (I forget what now).  What followed was probably the most shocking and obscene attack upon everything imaginable about my person, my intelligence, and my sheer affrontery for DARING to ask such a stupid question. At least three people suggested I kill myself, and many others suggested I go get raped in the local jail... Note, this was clearly labelled as a  newbie HELP usergroup...  I felt more like I was on 4chan than a support forum...

That's a ridiculous generalization.  There's certainly more than one Linux newbie support forum out there, and the attitudes you described can be generalized (legitimately even!) to the Internet at large because anonymity breeds sociopathy.  I also feel like you're probably leaving out one or more critical details which, while probably still not deserving of suggestions that you kill yourself, might otherwise explain a negative reaction to your post.

[chuckv3]

Actually, the learning curve for them isn't really that steep.  What IS the main problem, is that a huge amount of the software for linux is garbage.  It looks horrible, is often overly complex to use (See GIMP), and installing it is rarely a simple thing.  There's also the rather large problem of there literally being NO software in the stores. You can't just go down to your favourite PC store, pick up a copy of Office or something, and install it on your Linux box. That just isn't going to happen.

Finally, Linux's other problem is the userbase.  Some years ago, during one of my many forays into the Linux world (I'm an old SCO Unix lag so I knew the commandline well), I had occasion to go onto one of the newbie user groups and ask a simple question about configuring something (I forget what now).  What followed was probably the most shocking and obscene attack upon everything imaginable about my person, my intelligence, and my sheer affrontery for DARING to ask such a stupid question. At least three people suggested I kill myself, and many others suggested I go get raped in the local jail... Note, this was clearly labelled as a  newbie HELP usergroup...  I felt more like I was on 4chan than a support forum...

Often, you'll hear its fans say "This is the year of the Linux desktop". Well, those people have been saying that for the last 10+ years, and its no closer to being the truth today than it was 10 years ago.

Just to balance the discussion a little: I have not had a single negative experience with Linux people, posting questions, etc. Got a link to that discussion? Just curious!

[FloatingFatMan]

Just to balance the discussion a little: I have not had a single negative experience with Linux people, posting questions, etc. Got a link to that discussion? Just curious!

It was about 8 years ago and on a newsgroup, not a forum (the old nntp newsgroup system), so no... No link, sorry.