Realistic Timeline for Learning Linux

But I still stick with my premise "no matter how proficient you are [or think you are] you will never stop learning,"
True but once you learn the basics of Linux a lot other things that you don't know know around Linux become easier, let met give you an example. I have always been used to the following commands when using Debian: apt-get, apt-cache etc. Then a new wrapper command for those commands came out with just one command and sub commands called apt. Some years later Flatpaks(and Snaps) came out now thanks to my knowledge on how to use package managers I was easily able to the the flatpak command without having to really learn anything but just apply what I already new with a few adjustments in the differences from what I already knew. It's not like you're constantly spending time learning things you don't already since most of the stuff is built on the basics.
 


True but once you learn the basics of Linux a lot other things that you don't know know around Linux become easier, let met give you an example. I have always been used to the following commands when using Debian: apt-get, apt-cache etc. Then a new wrapper command for those commands came out with just one command and sub commands called apt. Some years later Flatpaks(and Snaps) came out now thanks to my knowledge on how to use package managers I was easily able to the the flatpak command without having to really learn anything but just apply what I already new with a few adjustments in the differences from what I already knew. It's not like you're constantly spending time learning things you don't already since most of the stuff is built on the basics.
I think if pair that with the understanding that:

-things are only really only as hard as they seem

-linux distros will initially be harder than apple or windows

-there are things you won't be able to do easily in linux, but there are always alternatives to the things you can't do.

Then you don't need to use anything else ever again :) The real killer with linux though is the social pressure demands of proprietary software, so thats why forums like this are still necessary even though google is pretty easy to use.
 
Apple
Android
Linux
Windows

If one won't do what I need OOTB than one of the others will.
I have them all and will use them all and do use them all.

Android and Windows will login to websites I need where Apple and Linux will not.

I read where you can trick the browsers or website by doing this and that however if it don't work OOTB I don't need it or want it.

I'm willing to spend maybe a few minutes to an hour to get stuff to work but if it don't than screw it.

Android and Windows have never failed me.

Unlike most Linux users I don't and never had any complaints with Windows and TBH still don't.

The only reason I use Linux is because I was board one day and decided to give Linux a try and found it did most things I needed to do on my computer.

Even though the Wife is using Linux she still misses her Windows so most likely will be getting a new Windows 11 computer for her to use.

An OS is an OS to me and as long as I can get online and do what I need to do online I really don't care which OS I use.
 
Android and Windows will login to websites I need where Apple and Linux will not.
That's interesting, can you be more specific about that?
Unlike most Linux users I don't and never had any complaints with Windows and TBH still don't.
I think a lot of the differences are just a matter of preference, but the main irrefutable advantage that linux distros have are the open source element.
 
Android and Windows will login to my state retirement websites and other state department websites I need.

Apple and Linux will not.

Gives me some BS such as doesn't recognize this OS.

Open source or closed source doesn't matter to me.
 
Gives me some BS such as doesn't recognize this OS.
Doesn't sound like a Linux problem but more like something the hosting provider of those website check for something specific when it comes to what clients are allowed to visit their website(s).
 
Doesn't sound like a Linux problem but more like something the hosting provider of those website check for something specific when it comes to what clients are allowed to visit their website(s).
A couple of the IT guys when I asked mentioned something about having to do with a certificate that they don't have and won't get.
 
A couple of the IT guys when I asked mentioned something about having to do with a certificate that they don't have and won't get.
Sounds more like something administrative rather than technical.
 
Android and Windows will login to my state retirement websites and other state department websites I need.

Apple and Linux will not.

Gives me some BS such as doesn't recognize this OS.

Open source or closed source doesn't matter to me.
As someone who works in the banking sector at times, that's less surprising to me now. Banks and government agencies are pretty much always paranoid because hackers know they have the goodies they want. If i were less secure about my information, then i'd willing to discuss some funny stories about banks red-flagging me when everything i was doing was completely legal and not ethically questionable. It'll make you mad, but unfortunately you have to shrug and move on.

what you are talking about is a problem on so many different levels...
 
As someone who works in the banking sector at times, that's less surprising to me now. Banks and government agencies are pretty much always paranoid because hackers know they have the goodies they want. If i were less secure about my information, then i'd willing to discuss some funny stories about banks red-flagging me when everything i was doing was completely legal and not ethically questionable. It'll make you mad, but unfortunately you have to shrug and move on.

what you are talking about is a problem on so many different levels...
Exactly which is why I don't care and doesn't matter which OS I use.

I'm wanting to get done what is needed and be done with it so if Windows OS or Android is what I need to get the job done than that's what I'm gonna use.

Life is to short to worry about what OS is being used imo.
 
Exactly which is why I don't care and doesn't matter which OS I use.

I'm wanting to get done what is needed and be done with it so if Windows OS or Android is what I need to get the job done than that's what I'm gonna use.

Life is to short to worry about what OS is being used imo.
And of course let the government and bank blame the criminals for their mistakes...because i can't think of a sillier activity than trying to change their opinion about practically anything.
 
Life is to short to worry about what OS is being used imo.
Well aren't you just precious! :p

Do tell what's the name of that private little world of yours - the one where you think everything is completely secure at all times and there are no viruses, scammers or hackers; no one to steal your personal data and take out a crippling, ruinous debt in your name that your whole family won't hope to pay back in the next 200 years!

The choice of your operating system MATTERS! It is worth spending at least a few days pondering your options. A few days to drastically decrease the chance of needing to spend the next 50 years of damage control because of a punk-ass hole in your operating system security.

By the way, the name "Narnia" is already taken.

Look, I suppose that for someone like you, who has a bit more years behind him than there are head (at least that's what you claim to be by your age), it doesn't really matter that much to you if someone does manage to do some damage, but for the rest of us, those consequences can be a lot more drastic, something that may make paying alimony for that slip could have potentially done in their twenties look like a minor inconvenience in comparison.

Even if life is too short to worry about your OS, it is still worth sinking some time into it to make sure that whatever time you got left on this world doesn't turn into living hell.
 
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Well aren't you just precious! :p

Do tell what's the name of that private little world of yours - the one where you think everything is completely secure at all times and there are no viruses, scammers or hackers; no one to steal your personal data and take out a crippling, ruinous debt in your name that your whole family won't hope to pay back in the next 200 years!

The choice of your operating system MATTERS! It is worth spending at least a few days pondering your options. A few days to drastically decrease the chance of needing to spend the next 50 years of damage control because of a punk-ass hole in your operating system security.

By the way, the name "Narnia" is already taken.

Look, I suppose that for someone like you, who has a bit more years behind him than there are head (at least that's what you claim to be by your age), it doesn't really matter that much to you if someone does manage to do some damage, but for the rest of us, those consequences can be a lot more drastic, something that may make paying alimony for that slip could have potentially done in their twenties look like a minor inconvenience in comparison.

Even if life is too short to worry about your OS, it is still worth sinking some time into it to make sure that whatever time you got left on this world doesn't turn into living hell.
LOL, i think the point is that an operating system is just a human interface for whatever you want to use a computer for, unless you want to become the kernel which is the thing i'm kinda working on right now :p
 
LOL, i think the point is that an operating system is just a human interface for whatever you want to use a computer for, unless you want to become the kernel which is the thing i'm kinda working on right now :p
Its much more than that. Its the difference between you being safe and literally getting robbed by a piece of code. And even after you choose one, there is work that needs to be done to make it truly secure.

As a victim of a cyber attack (fortunately back even then I had some rudimentary knowledge about my security which means the assailant wasn't able to go balls deep into my personal data) I am highly disturbed by by Bartman's casual attitude and the fact that he implies that some consideration and careful thought are to be plainly dismissed here!

Reckless chains of thought such as his are why the success rate is so high among cyber criminals. That "human interface" you speak of can be an undoing for the uninitiated... and the aloof!
 
Bartman's casual attitude and the fact that he implies that some consideration and careful thought are to be plainly dismissed here!
I'm sorry i poked fun at you, i was trying to be gentle but i personally am a little disturbed that his "it works for me" attitude is somehow a personal affront for you. Maybe you need to take a deep breath? I personally was a victim of a cyber attack about 14 years ago but i think the reason it worked it because it was a simple mechanism, the fact i was using windows didn't have anything to do with it. It was all done through my browser, same scam would work on apple and linux.
 
Reckless chains of thought such as his are why the success rate is so high among cyber criminals. That "human interface" you speak of can be an undoing for the uninitiated... and the aloof!

Let's avoid blowing this up into something it needn't be.

When I read posts, I try to assume 'the best light' - that is, that the person who wrote it did so in good faith, with good intentions, and without malice.

So, I read their post as them not actually *personally* caring enough to go on a crusade to make a bureaucracy change their course. They have a way of making it work, a way that works for them.

If I say that I don't care for, nor have time for, romance novels - that doesn't mean you can't like them.

So, let's not get too excited (anyone, this is directed at everyone). Whenever you've got more than one person, there's going to be varied opinions and coping methods.
 
So, let's not get too excited (anyone, this is directed at everyone). Whenever you've got more than one person, there's going to be varied opinions and coping methods.
Its troubling, because there are also other people reading this and taking his... "advice" to heart; but as you wish, I'm letting it go.
For the record, I like Bartman, but I think he really dropped the ball on this one.
 
When Win first came out I was quicker in DOS moving around then any GUI or Norton Commander or some such. Navigating around the OS, installing upgrading hardware....got okay in Basic, started C+ but got sidetracked. Took some Elec. Eng. courses in the Army but the Army sometimes got in the way. Once old PC's were about everywhere you could get one in Goodwill for 30 bucks. I had a learning Linux machine.

Oh the old Linux Mags with the CD's then DVD's then Cable modem speeds, then just download a Distro try it out. Linux For Dummies came with Red Hat before they went all Corp. Started with that then moved to SUSE on a CD. I have always had at least one PC running one Linux or so. Still have lots of old hardware. Have started to get rid of some. I ought to box some up and send to LGR on the Tube...sticks of old memory DOS floppies, included 5 1/4 disks. Even some working MFM hard drives, only 32mb.

Got the first IBM clone in 1989. Have not stopped. My office is filled with working PC's and laptops and projects. I need help:)
 
Its troubling, because there are also other people reading this and taking his... "advice" to heart; but as you wish, I'm letting it go.
For the record, I like Bartman, but I think he really dropped the ball on this one.

I've had one virus using Windows OSs and I let that one in because I didn't know about opening email attachments and BAM it was too late.

Lesson learned never happened again.

Nothing is bullet proof and if you don't use common sense and have smart web habits then well ya learn by doing BAM it's too late.

Anyone who reads anything on any forum and believes it to be the set standard without checking it out first well all I can say is they're a trusting soul.

Trust nothing you read without checking it out first. I don't do you.

I don't care what OS anyone uses and I don't try to convert anyone from the OS they are using to a different OS.

I don't care what OS anyone uses.

What works for me is just that works for me.

What works for others is just that what works for others.

Most folks who have bad guys take over their computers is because they don't keep their computers updated and the protection against bad guys up to date.

Anything anyone reads and decides to use from this forum or any forum is at their own risk plain and simple.

I'm a computer user not a computer guru and I use different OSs and if no one else agrees with my choices that's fine you don't have to.

No ill feelings towards anyone nor am I throwing rocks at anyone.

We all have different tastes and make different choices and no one is an authority imo.

See Ya. ;)
 

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