Why Linux Sucks

Wow, quick response.
There are a couple of points I think should be added.
Firstly: there's an increasing number of small, extremely portable machines being sold around the world - so-called 'web-books' for example. Very many, if not most, of these come with a version of linux preinstalled. So the traditional old linux mantra of ' f*** off back to windows' cannot be used quite so readily now-a-days: there is an increasing body of computer users out there who, through no fault of their own, have found themselves trying to get to grips with a 'distro' of linux. These people cannot 'f*** off back to windows": they never had windows in the first place: they didn't choose linux for philosophical reasons; they don't want to become computer experts; they simply, and quite rightly, bought the only computer they could afford.
The fault here, if that's the right way of putting it, lies with the companies selling these things: they imply that the product they're selling is a fully functioning computer when in reality, for the vast majority of people, it is not.
I'm typing this right now on a cute, and actually pretty impressive, Acer Aspire One, which runs, and can only run (I think) linux lite/linplus/fedora - or something: I've not yet figured out precisely WHAT it is.
Secondly: I'd like to quote some passages from a book called "Beginning Ubuntu" written by Kier Thomas and Jamie Sicam, published by Apress:-

"It’s also very easy to use. Ubuntu works straight out of the box. As soon as it’s installed,
you should be ready to start using it without any further work.
There’s also the fact that Linux encourages you to take control of your computer, as
opposed to treating it like a magical box. As soon as you install Linux, you become a power
user. Every aspect of your PC is under your control, unlike with Windows. This means
fixing problems is a lot easier, and optimizing your system becomes part and parcel of the
user experience.
Linux is more than a computer operating system. It’s
an entire community of users spread across the globe. When you start to use Linux, you
become part of this community (whether you like it or not!).
One of the benefits of membership is that you’re never far from finding a solution to
a problem. The community likes to congregate online around forums and newsgroups,
which you can join in order to find help.
Your placement in the ranks of the community is “newbie.” This is a popular way of
describing someone who is new to Linux. Although this sounds derisory, it will actually
help when you talk to others. Advertising your newbie status will encourage people to take
the time to help you. After all, they were newbies once upon a time!
There’s another reason not to be disheartened by your newbie tag: you’ll outgrow it
very quickly.
What should you expect from Linux once you’ve installed it? Well, it’s a little like running
Windows, except there are no viruses, fewer crashes, and no inexplicable slowdowns.
In addition, you have complete control over the system. This doesn’t mean Linux is necessarily
complicated. It’s just that you have the control if you wish to make use of it.
But in just a few weeks after your move to Linux, everything will start to seem entirely
normal. Most of the time, you won’t even be aware you’re running Linux.
Who uses Linux? The myth from the old days is that it’s only for techies and power users.
When you needed to put everything together by hand, this was clearly true. But modern
distributions make Linux accessible to all. It’s no exaggeration to say that you could install
Linux on a computer Luddite’s PC and have that person use it in preference to Windows.
Linux has stepped out of the dark backrooms, with the goal of pushing aside
Microsoft Windows and Mac OS in order to dominate the corporate workstation and
home user market.
Running Linux on the desktop has always been possible, but the level of knowledge
required was often prohibitively high, putting Linux out of the reach of most ordinary
users. It’s only comparatively recently that the companies behind the distributions of
Linux have taken a long, hard look at Windows and attempted to mirror its user-friendly
approach. In addition, the configuration software in distributions like Ubuntu has progressed
in leaps and bounds. Now, it’s no longer necessary to know arcane commands in order to do
something as simple as switch the screen resolution.
You shouldn’t see learning to use Linux as a chore. Instead, you should see it as an
adventure—a way of finally getting the most from your PC and not having to worry about
things going wrong for reasons outside your control.
Ubuntu is designed to be easy to use. Anyone who has used Windows or Mac OS will
feel right at home."

I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say the comments quoted above are extremely misleading. How many people have read this book, and others, perhaps, like it, and opted to try out ubuntu based on the excessively optimistic impression created? Are those misguided suckers at fault? Should they be told simply to f*** off back to windows?
In defense of ubuntu I'd like to say that, in my limited experience, it was the applications that were at fault, not the OS itself. I really think I'd have stuck with it, if only the applications had worked as they should. (I say 'should' as someone who's used to using fabulous, free, open source, software on windows xp.)
The wealth of free, open source,software available to windows users is actually an interesting point, and one that rewards consideration.
Windows dissuades its users from learning the intricacies of their operating system, as every linux fanatic will agree. The truly FANTASTIC thing about linux, or so I'm told, is the way users are forced to learn how to REALLY use their computers. Windows does the opposite: you learn to use the GUIs, not the underlying OS.
But, I suggest, it is precisely this simplicity, this inclusiveness, that has led to windows being, without any doubt, THE operating system of choice for today's genius programmers. People fall in love, not with windows,but with what windows can DO for them. People are inspired to join in. People WANT to learn, precisely because no one is forcing them to.
I say 'people want to learn'; what I should say, of course, is SOME people want to learn. And isn't that the way it should be, ideally? The people who are enthusiastic, and who have the time and aptitude, should be free to experiment, playfully and truly creatively, while the rest of us leave them to it and reap the rewards.
Herein lies yet another problem with linux, and with linux fanatics -in my humble opinion:-
Linux fanatics quite naturally have little or no interest in what windows users are getting up to. Subsequently they're generally completely unaware of the extraordinary innovations that have evolved over there, in the Forbidden Kingdom. As a brief example from my own experience:-
If you own an mp3/4 player with a built in screen you can, now-a-days, use it to read novels; and millions of people worldwide do precisely that. I'm one of them. But if you use linux... To read on a mp3/4 player you have to have the book in .txt format. Due to this (and for other reasons too, no doubt) .txt has become THE medium of choice for windows users to share and edit text. And at this point, I'd imagine, the average linux user would scratch their heads in befuddlement. For the average linux user the word 'text' has only one meaning - code, and nothing but code. But windows users, worldwide, have discovered a new and wonderfully exciting, liberating use for their 'notepad' applications; an innovation that has gone unnoticed in the puritanical world of linux. To an embarrassingly uneducated observer like myself the linux motto would seem to be: if we weren't doing it in 1985, then it just does not (and cannot) exist.
My Gods, imagine if those geniuses who've made windows their accommodating home turned, instead to linux....
Not that they'll ever do that, though. It'd be like moving from Shangri-La to East Germany, circa 1950.
Ok, so perhaps that's a tiny bit harsh.
To reiterate my main point, which has got lost a little here: linux is currently being pushed as a complete, fully-functioning operating system. Lots of people are getting stuck with it, through no fault of their own. Perhaps these poor victims should be warned in advance... "abandon hope all ye who enter here... this is not an operating system, it just kind of looks like one."
I sincerely apologize for the absurd length of this comment.