Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacement for Windows and macOS

Re:Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacemen... by mrhappyunhappy on Saturday November 17, 2018 @06:37AM (#18475076)

Has Linux changed a lot? Last I tried installing it years ago, I had to find each driver individually and had to get some stubborn ones working. At the time I thought to myself - no average Joe would figure this out, no wonder nobody uses Linux (and by nobody I meant non-devs)

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Re:Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacemen... by reitanqild on Saturday November 17, 2018 @02:39PM (#18476986)

Had less problems with Linux tyan with Windows for about 10 years now.

Installation is quicker.

No bloatware/scareware to uninstall (bundled McAfee etc).

I've spent more time hunting for drivers on Windows than on Linux the 10 last years.

Linux is also significantly faster for some of my workflows (git commits, anything with maven or node).

For me (partially colorblind, never cared much about fonts, everything is an improvement from what I grew up with) I also find certain Linux DEs a lot nicer and easier to use than Windows and even MacOS. Again this is my personal opinion, but I have used Windows for years before I switched to Linux and I've also been enthusiastic about Mac and Apple and have used it for years, I just happen prefer KDE or a well tuned Gnome, Cinnamon or elementary

The downsides? In my experience Linux is slightly less stable. And there exist stuff that is only supported on Windows (an old scanner I have. Although I should add it is not great under Windows either.)

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Re:Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacemen... by RaitoBezarius on Sunday November 18, 2018 @06:43AM (#18479914)

For old scanners, you can try VueScan (paid app under Linux) which is a real breeze for those scanners which you cannot find driver anymore.

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Re:Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacemen... by reitanqild on Monday November 19, 2018 @04:37AM (#18485148)

I did. I like VueScan and had a paid license at that time IIRC. But that particular scanner just didn't work which was a shame since it was supposed to be a good with photos and negatives. And as mentioned above it was good on Windows either.

Edit: I actually looked it up now on the VueScan website and here is what is says: "VueScan is compatible with the <my scanner model> on Windows x86, Windows x64 and Mac OS X."

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Re:Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacemen... by BenjiWiebe on Saturday November 17, 2018 @10:12AM (#18475806)

Absolutely. I've installed Linux on quite a number of computers, and I've yet to run into a missing driver. It just works. Whereas I've also installed Windows on a lot of computers, and that's far more likely to have issues with drivers...

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Re:Elementary OS – Fast, open, privacy-respecting replacemen... by michaelmrose on Saturday November 17, 2018 @01:23PM (#18476661)

99.9% of drivers are in the kernel nto downloaded from random spots on the internet. The big exception is proprietary gpu drivers which user friendly distros provide packages for in the repos.

The big issue is thus. If you intend to run linux don't buy random hardware and hope it supports linux then complain linux is hard to make work. This is a natural course because people have all sorts of existing hardware and no real desire to buy new. It's also reasonable to try because linux does support a lot of hardware. Try it and if you like how the environment but not how works with your machine buy your next machine with linux in mind.

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