What's up with OS fanboys?

[Steerpike]

What I mean is, why do people get all fanboy over an operating system?

I've used Macs, and PCs with Linux or Windows quite a bit. Linux is my favorite, Mac is my least favorite. But I'll admit it is almost all personal preference. All of them simply work just fine for whatever I want to do.

When Vista first came out it had some problems, and so there's legitimate criticism there, but since about 6 months after launch I never had another problem. Windows 7 has been excellent since the beta.

Linux is my favorite and the various distros are a lot of fun to play with and highly customizable. No matter what anyone tells you, there is a slightly higher learning curve than Windows or MacOS, but it is worth it in my view.

Macs have been fine for me as well, though I just don't see any benefits that justify the added expense and in the past I haven't liked how much Apple tries to lock you out of the OS. But for the vast majority of users the latter won't make a difference.

Sorry to burst any fanboy bubbles, but the simple truth is that various Linux distros (I like Mint, Ubuntu, and OpenSuse) are very good, Windows 7 is quite good, and MacOS is good as well. So get whichever one you like the best and stop pretending that you have some inherently superior OS.

/soapbox

 

[BasicGreatGuy]

Linux Mint is my favorite. A nice tight OS.

 

[Steerpike]

Linux Mint is my favorite. A nice tight OS.

Yep. That distro stopped my distro hopping, where I'd try the next cool thing I saw, be it Fedora, DreamLinux, Sabayan (which is the only Gentoo distro I've been able to install properly) SliTaz, or what have you.

Looking forward to Mint 8 in a month or so.

 

[BasicGreatGuy]

Linux Mint is my favorite. A nice tight OS.

Yep. That distro stopped my distro hopping, where I'd try the next cool thing I saw, be it Fedora, DreamLinux, Sabayan (which is the only Gentoo distro I've been able to install properly) SliTaz, or what have you.

Looking forward to Mint 8 in a month or so.

Me too. Ubuntu is nice as well. I like the fact that Mint has a lot installed already, whereas with Ubuntu you have to manually install a lot, just to use basic programs and sites like youtub etc. I prefer to use the Wicd manager in Mint or Ubuntu versus the standard config.

 

[Steerpike]

Me too. Ubuntu is nice as well. I like the fact that Mint has a lot installed already, whereas with Ubuntu you have to manually install a lot, just to use basic programs and sites like youtub etc. I prefer to use the Wicd manager in Mint or Ubuntu versus the standard config.

Agreed. Like the RUSH quote too

Guess what I don't understand is why people become so emotionally invested in a piece of technology like an OS that they get really offended by people who use or like something else. I'm not inclined to bash Windows users (I am one), or Mac users, or people who use some Linux distro that I don't like.

:shrug:

 

[BasicGreatGuy]

Me too. Ubuntu is nice as well. I like the fact that Mint has a lot installed already, whereas with Ubuntu you have to manually install a lot, just to use basic programs and sites like youtub etc. I prefer to use the Wicd manager in Mint or Ubuntu versus the standard config.

Agreed. Like the RUSH quote too

Guess what I don't understand is why people become so emotionally invested in a piece of technology like an OS that they get really offended by people who use or like something else. I'm not inclined to bash Windows users (I am one), or Mac users, or people who use some Linux distro that I don't like.

:shrug:

I chalk it up to immaturity. I agree with you. It doesn't make sense to get nasty with others, just because they use a different OS. As long as an individual is happy with their OS, that is all that matters.

RUSH rules and so do Persian Cats.

 

[KittenKoder]

They all have benefits and drawback, but Linux/Ubuntu is my personal fave. No real problems with it that I can't fix.

 

[Diuretic]

I try not to evangelise Ubuntu. But I do recommend it for those who can't afford a high end computer and Windows or a Mac. I hope I haven't bad-mouthed either. My wife has a Mac, she is very happy with it, I don't like using it but she is a whizz with it. I got annoyed with Windows for its licensing issues but I have to tell you it runs the best flight sims (the only games I'm interested in, but I am quite happy toddling about with FlightGear on my Ubuntu machine).

I don't see Linux as a sort of monolith either and the squabbling in some Linux forums is bloody annoying. I run Ubuntu and some prick running Debian wants to look down his nose at me. Meh (I've always wanted to type that ) Debian has issues with my machine and Ubuntu doesn't. I've tried others - started out with TurboLinux (epic fail by me, not the os), tried and liked Fedora, was completely stumped by Gentoo, liked the look of Mint but it's a pretty green Ubuntu anyway, tried Sabayon, really good but just not for me, OpenSuse just hates me and besides I'm not that keen on the repo system it uses - is it me or is it slightly proprietary?

Anyway whatever you use, it's a small modern miracle that we can do exactly what we do here in the forums....use really great technology to have a go at one another

Tim Berners-Lee would be pleased!!

 

[KittenKoder]

The different Linux flavors cater to different levels and types of users, most are for programmers, Ubuntu is trying to make it possible for "average" users so much if it is automated or simplified. The problem I have with Windoze is similar to Diuretic, as a programmer getting the right libraries is expensive and difficult because of licensing crap, and they even charge you for updates on those, which is just pushing more programmers away. Not to mention that the APIs have become messy and all over the place and the new graphics libraries are not interchangeable like they use to be. But this is all pretty new (since XP). Oh well, it just means more of us programmers will be going to Linux and Mac and MS will have to remember who made them what they are ... or crash and burn. My issue isn't really the OS, it's the company's new big wig, Bill chose an idiot to leave ini charge.

 

[Ringel05]

I've just recently switched to Ubuntu on my primary system and I find only some aspects of it have a steep learning curve, the rest is basic point and click. Tried Mint 7 and while I like the setup I have one issue, which I stated in a different thread, I hate mint (the flavor) so it's an association issue for me, so I'm sticking with Ubuntu for now.
I'm still running XP on my other machine simply for gaming purposes. Most of the games I like aren't written for Linux systems.

 

[Steerpike]

Oh well, it just means more of us programmers will be going to Linux and Mac and MS will have to remember who made them what they are ... or crash and burn. My issue isn't really the OS, it's the company's new big wig, Bill chose an idiot to leave ini charge.

I think if Win 7 is a success many programmers will continue to go where the money is, which will be in Windows-based apps, and then secondarily in Mac-based apps. Unfortunate from a Linux perspective, but I don't think MS or Apple are going to find an inability to hire programmers any time soon.

 

[Steerpike]

I'm still running XP on my other machine simply for gaming purposes. Most of the games I like aren't written for Linux systems.

Yeah, that's why I still have Win 7 on a couple computers. Games. And Netflix instant view, though that might be available in Linux if we get good Silverlight support. It doesn't work with Moonlight.

 

[Polk]

What I mean is, why do people get all fanboy over an operating system?

I've used Macs, and PCs with Linux or Windows quite a bit. Linux is my favorite, Mac is my least favorite. But I'll admit it is almost all personal preference. All of them simply work just fine for whatever I want to do.

When Vista first came out it had some problems, and so there's legitimate criticism there, but since about 6 months after launch I never had another problem. Windows 7 has been excellent since the beta.

Linux is my favorite and the various distros are a lot of fun to play with and highly customizable. No matter what anyone tells you, there is a slightly higher learning curve than Windows or MacOS, but it is worth it in my view.

Macs have been fine for me as well, though I just don't see any benefits that justify the added expense and in the past I haven't liked how much Apple tries to lock you out of the OS. But for the vast majority of users the latter won't make a difference.

Sorry to burst any fanboy bubbles, but the simple truth is that various Linux distros (I like Mint, Ubuntu, and OpenSuse) are very good, Windows 7 is quite good, and MacOS is good as well. So get whichever one you like the best and stop pretending that you have some inherently superior OS.

/soapbox

Bravo.

 

[KittenKoder]

Oh well, it just means more of us programmers will be going to Linux and Mac and MS will have to remember who made them what they are ... or crash and burn. My issue isn't really the OS, it's the company's new big wig, Bill chose an idiot to leave ini charge.

I think if Win 7 is a success many programmers will continue to go where the money is, which will be in Windows-based apps, and then secondarily in Mac-based apps. Unfortunate from a Linux perspective, but I don't think MS or Apple are going to find an inability to hire programmers any time soon.

Don't wager on it ... either way. Many companies are making the switch to other OSes (primarily Linux) lately, even IBM, the company that made Microsuck. As I said, it's the person Bill put in charge when he psuedo-retired that is bringing MS down, he's just another manager while Bill was a marketing genius.

MS doesn't actually hire most of it's programmers, the OS ones yes, but most programs you see for sale are not actually Microsoft written, they are third party that just get the stamp of approval from MS by paying for the API header files and "certification". Increasing the fees for these is what will ultimately hurt Windoze in the long run as third party programmers will switch to more affordable options, like Mac and Linux (Mac can run Linux code now I believe), which reduces over head. But ... here's a big "but" ... only if more people make the switch, otherwise many will just get out of the programming market and move to network technicians.