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Is Linux really easier than Windows or Mac?

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I am a UNIX system administrator and I’ve written tons of articles related to administration and networking on a UNIX/Linux platform. However, I must admit that if I were not as knowledgeable on the platform, many basic doings on Linux compared to old fashioned Windows would have been tougher to deal with.

To name a few, managing user/groups, networking and in particular wireless setup, dealing with driver issues and of course being in the wild seeking answers from the Linux communities.

It seems the average people are constantly being brainwashed by the Linux community about Linux being the perfect replacement to Windows. Many Linux fanatics go on about how great Linux is and how much it has been improved over the years to be the perfect OS desktop alternative to Windows.

I don’t necessarily disagree with them on this but I do think that Linux or Ubuntu in general is still not yet ready for your average grandma or grandpa.

If I were to go ahead and install Ubuntu as their desktop, naturally they’ll have a tough time moving around the system because it’s design is more complex than Windows. It’s less user friendly in many ways and a perfect example for this is if an issue arises such as networking.

On windows, wireless networking is very straightforward and I personally have not had any issue with it and if there are any issues with it, it guides and points the user through a series of steps to check/confirm whether their settings are correct.

On Ubuntu however, if the wireless does not work out of the box, you’re in for a big surprise. I’ve had this issue not once but every time I’ve installed Ubuntu, it does not detect my wireless network by default.

I was not guided through any helpers or any step by step check/confirm screens to figure out what went wrong. Because I am not an average user, I understand enough about the OS to dive into shell and go through the messages and other related logs on the system. But what would an average user do here? A poor little grandma or grandpa who only knows how to click on a browser!

Do you expect the less tech savvy to pick up Linux OS and start scrolling through messages file to figure out why their wireless interface didn’t bother coming up? The point of this article is not to bash Linux/Ubuntu community but instead is to let you know that making Linux sound so simple isn’t fair to the rest of world who aren’t familiar with it.

They would ask themselves – “If Linux is as simple as they say, why am I having such a hard time getting it to work?!”. For this reason, the people who don’t get it working feel stupid, it kills their confidence, lowers their self-esteem, they under perform at their jobs and schools and some may even decide to kill themselves.

I know that Linux is a great OS and it’s an excellent replacement for many. But when it comes to marketing it and spreading the word, let’s just be a little more honest and humble about it. We don’t have to say it’s easier than Windows or Mac. It’s easy but not to everyone in the world.

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