Hindsight

[raymac46]

A couple of threads on here recently got me thinking about the past and how different it would be if I had to find a Windows alternative today. Would it be Linux, or could I do what I wanted with Chrome OS Flex?

Back in 2006 I ran an old desktop system (Dell Dimension 4100) plugged into a wired router behind a cable modem. My daughter replaced her old system (a slightly older 4100) and gave me her old one.

I had just upgraded my system to XP and did not want to spend more money on an older obsolete PC. SueD (who I knew from another forum) suggested I try Linux. I knew nothing of ISOs, CD burning or downloads, so I went to a local PC shop where the owner gave me a FREE ISO of Ubuntu 5.10 - Breezy Badger. I put the old system in the basement, ran a 50 foot Ethernet cable down the stairs, and got Ubuntu installed.

My wife quickly tired of the cable and I didn't want to rewire the house, so I soon got into the minutiae of wifi routers, wireless chipsets, Madwifi drivers, wpasupplicant.conf, etc. Bruno, Striker, Urmas, et al helped me out - that's when I joined this forum. I was forced to get into Linux to do what I wanted to do.

17 years later the world has changed - wifi is everywhere and supported almost universally out of the box. Nobody burns a CD ISO anymore (DVD either.) Chrome OS Flex makes it a cinch to install on an old piece of hardware. It would take half an hour to do what took me months back in early 2006.

So would I go that Flex route today? Probably. All I wanted to do was repurpose an old machine and keep it out of the landfill. The fact that I learned and still learn about a great open source OS (and have made so many online friends here) would have likely never happened had I started looking for an alternative OS today. And that is not a good thing.

So I'm grateful I had to do things the hard way.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

3 hours ago, raymac46 said:

A couple of threads on here recently got me thinking about the past and how different it would be if I had to find a Windows alternative today. Would it be Linux, or could I do what I wanted with Chrome OS Flex?

 

The biggest problem you'd have today, if you were just now coming over from Windows to an alternative OS, is the fact that without some friendly guidance, you'd be easily overwhelmed trying to make a choice between all of those choices out there these days.

 

When I first left Windows as a primary OS (2005 or so), I had friendly assistance from a couple fellows on my private forum who'd been nagging me for years to try Linux (Urmas was one of them). Anyway, the XP Service Pack implosion fiasco did it for me. My first Linux (at Urmas' behest) was 6.06 Dapper Drake Ubuntu. I was immediately hooked... and quite interested in finding out how this Linux stuff worked under the hood. That's when Urmas brought me over here to meet Bruno.

 

Shortly after that, I was multi-booting 18 Linuxes on my main machine. I was trying all of the mainline Linuxes... SuSE, Debian, Slackware, Arch, Mepis, CentOS, Mandriva, Fedora, and so on... After about 6 mos. of tinkering and learning, I settled on Slackware. Why? Well, it just suited me. Bruno prophesied that this would be where I ended up. He was right on the money. I always did have a "Slackware" kind of attitude; I guess he saw that.

 

17 years with Slackware. It's been a fun ride!

 

My first GNU/Linux screenie:

 

 

My current Slackware (notice my desktop hasn't changed much -> creature of habit):

 

[ebrke]

5 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said:

Anyway, the XP Service Pack implosion fiasco did it for me

I was turned off a couple of years before with all the carp MS wanted to put you through for XP--checking your hardware to be sure you weren't pirating, etc. Unlike almost everyone else here, I just wanted a good, stable OS. I started with SuSE and just stayed with it. I supported my mom's laptop with MS up through Win7 and was just grateful to have a stable system in the house if Win7 updates (ugh) gave her laptop fits.

Edited June 12, 2023 by ebrke

[raymac46]

I have never been turned off Windows except when my hardware gets too old to run it anymore, or I want to refurb a junker laptop I get that is perfectly good for Linux. Then I blow away the old Windows installation.

Right now I run Mint for stability and ease of use, Debian for interest, and EndeavourOS (Arch mostly) for fun.

I used to get old  XP desktop systems which I refurbed and gave away but no longer. I get the odd laptop which might be worth fixing, but I suspect a lot of old Windows 7 laptops were either broken or recycled before they reached me.

[securitybreach]

While I mostly use windows at work, I would never use it by choice. It's a buggy mess compared to linux.

 

[raymac46]

My major beef with Windows is how Microsoft hangs its users out to dry by not supporting older systems. A current well-spec'd desktop or laptop will run for 10-15 years with the odd upgrade. Good luck getting a version of Windows that'll last that long. Thanks to Linux I can keep my lovely 2012 Thinkpad running like a top.

Sadly a lot of fine hardware will be junked when Windows 10 reaches EOL. It doesn't have to be that way.

[Hedon James]

38 minutes ago, raymac46 said:

My major beef with Windows is how Microsoft hangs its users out to dry by not supporting older systems. A current well-spec'd desktop or laptop will run for 10-15 years with the odd upgrade. Good luck getting a version of Windows that'll last that long. Thanks to Linux I can keep my lovely 2012 Thinkpad running like a top.

Sadly a lot of fine hardware will be junked when Windows 10 reaches EOL. It doesn't have to be that way.

ahem....ChromeOS Flex for the masses.  Linux for us mechanics and tinkerers! 

[raymac46]

Well either way it's going to require a trusted friend intervention.

Neighbor presents tired looking Windows 10 laptop.

Option 1 - I can install a new OS called Linux - it'll run a lot better. You'll have to learn a bit about Linux and how to keep it updated and install programs.

Option 2 - I can turn this into a Chromebook that is probably better than the cheap ones you can get at Staples. You can then just use it.

Which one will your neighbor choose?

Of course there's Option 3 if friend ain't all that trustworthy.

Option 3 - non -TF spots potential in i5 Skylake or Broadwell laptop. You don't want this piece of cr^p. Go buy a new Windows 11 machine. I can help you transfer your data, then wipe this old junker and recycle it for you.

Non - TF installs new SSD, Linux and has a really nice piece of kit for his own use.

 

 

 

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Don't tell anyone I admitted this, but I've NEVER in my entire computing career ever give Microsoft 0.01¢ for anything. The first PC type system I had was a junker 486 system with Win 3.1 on it that came from my brother's office. I played games on it, but no Internet for me back then. Later on (early in 2000), I got a  hand-me-down from my brother. It had Win98 on it. That was the first system I used to get on the Internet/WWW; yes, I was a late bloomer. Later systems I had utilized XP, then 7, now 10. None of those Windows operating systems were paid for by me. I'm not saying this in a prideful or remorseful fashion; I'm just saying it is what it is.

 

I actually very much liked Win 98; even XP.. until that above mentioned fiasco. I never much cared for 7 or 10, though. The thing that mostly aggravated me about Microsoft was that they seemed to pump out "beta" software, charging quite a bit of $$$ for it, I might add... and then sitting back and observing while their paying customers became beta testers spending their time and aggravation finding all the bugs in the software; after which, MS would send out a bunch of patches, fixes, etc. on their purposely super-slow servers to fix these issues (often exploding systems here and there across the world).

 

Sorry for the negative MS rant here. I had respect and liking for MS at one time. Then I realized that they were just another Big Corp doing ALL they could to increase company profits... or so it seemed to me, anyway.

[raymac46]

Microsoft did have a virtual monopoly on business and home computing at one time. It's a little less iron clad now but still pretty impressive.

My gripe with them is that they have many times taken advantage of that monopoly power to throw their customers under the bus. Vista capable machines out there that were not capable, upending the whole WIMP paradigm for its established users, locking out a whole bunch of competing OSs with Secure Boot, and cutting off support for a whole lot of Windows 10 users. I had Windows 10 on an old Sandy Bridge desktop system that worked great - until I couldn't update it any longer. I had alternatives though, but a lot of people don't see anything but Windows, so they don't have alternatives.

[abarbarian]

Not quite as bad as Eric I did pay for a copy of Windows 7 once.

 

Loved XP once I had customised it which took some doing. Windows 7 was pretty ok. Untill it blue screen of deathed on me twice when I was doing updates. It was a pretty clean basic install too with only Steam and some games. I ditched Windows after the second BSD and have never gone back. I do keep a copy of 7 on a spare pc that I was using to update me Sat Nav maps.

 

I have no problem with paying for a Windows os. They worked hard to create the os's and they should be rewarded for the work. However the top brass of Microsoft should be tarred and feathered for charging high fees for foisting buggy os's and misleading the public. A pox on em. 

[V.T. Eric Layton]

A pox. Yes.

[securitybreach]

Meh, the last good windows version was 2000. That said, windows has gotten better but still a buggy mess.