Changes!

charlie.corder

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Greetings everyone,
The changes I am talking about are some of the ones that have happened to Linux since Sept. 1999.
I have been reading a book about what it was like switching over to Debian Linux from Windows 20 + years ago.
I have come to the conclusion that if I still had to install Linux the way they describe in the book, I would not be a Linux user today.

As I read, I try to analyze what changes have been made since then.
Almost everything has changed - for the better, I might add.

Switching from Windows to Linux today, in 2022, 'is a piece of cake' as the old saying goes.
If installation of Linux was the same today as it was then, I probably would not be a Linux devotee.
I am surely glad that all those changes have taken place.
Obtaining, installing and using Linux today is an absolute pleasure, even for us non-geeky people.

Contrary to the opinion of those who think that you must be able to use the terminal in order to get anything done in Linux;
my opinion is that to start with there is no need for anyone to be able to use the terminal in order to use Linux. With that being said,
I do believe that a person will eventually want to use the terminal, not because it is a 'must', but because they will become interested
in trying out something new and learn about the power of the command line.

My thoughts for today have ended.
Old Geezer, TC

PS - Many thanks to all those who contribute with answers to problems and take excellent care of this forum.
 


Yea, when I first started using Linux I knew I had no need to use the terminal so I always would call my nearby computer repair center.
 
My first desktop Linux experience came from purchasing the disks and an entire book mostly dedicated to getting it to install and run. Needless to say, on the desktop I considered it mostly a hobbyist operating system. It would be another decade before I started using it on the desktop full-time.
 
I agree 100%

Linux for desktop has come along way, I can definitely confirm this because I have tried desktop Linux over the years and up until the last few years, I feel like desktop Linux has made so much progress that it is at a point that you can definitely use Linux as a desktop OS in many use cases as your main OS. I now dual boot with Windows and Linux and use Linux as my main OS and Windows for games I can't play on Linux.

Definitely having a lot more fun on Linux than I do on Windows.
 
I can go with that, when I first started playing with Linux it was not easy, and everyone thought you had to be a Geek, and you did, thankfully desktop Linux has come a hell of a long way in the last 20 years or so, you can make it as easy or as hard as you like for yourself, be a geek and build it from scratch, or take on one of the 500 odd ready assembled distributions,
The biggest change is attitude on forums, [apart from now a very few which still have the geek or elitist attitude], most are now novice friendly
 
You've come a long way baby :) Yes, I can say without a doubt that linux has come a long way in the desktop over the years since I started about 1993 or 94 can't remember exactly was introduce to Slackware when it took 25 floppies to install and hours to configure. Today I can have a Linux desktop up and running in about 20 minute flat and never have to use the terminal unless I want to and I do because it is usually faster. I remember the only help being bulletin boards in those days. Then I bought a redhat set of disks and a book and I stayed with Redhat for a number of year until they split off fedora. Then I discovered Debian and Ubuntu later and it been pretty smooth sailing since then. Hardware was the biggest problem for a number of years. But even that has gotten much much better and more and more components are supported in linux now a days. Just enjoy the freedom! :)
 
Biggest change I have seen on the Linux scene began when the dominant OS stopped supporting XP. That brought in many with a non-Linux mindset who wanted to be spoonfed solutions. Forums became much less L33T and more cordial but something was lost, also.

I remember having to have a thick skin when a beginner using oldschool forums to ask questions. Replies like "the problem is the IBTKB" and "RTFM." For one thing, it made me do the research before resorting to a forum for answers I could not find via a search engines.

Newer users also had been so ingrained in the point-and-click method that some had an absolute hatred of using the CLI. While I am not a coder, I believe the true power of GNU/Linux becomes manifest with the command line.

That said, I believe the changes have been for the betterment of our OS, except where money comes into the picture more than it had been in the past.

Long live RMS! LOL
 

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