Sorry Microsoft but your operating system just doesn't fit my style. I'm more into innovations and openness. Don't get me wrong, Windows isn't bad for people who want to pay for things that have already been invented by someone else. Its kind of like this company my daddy got into that would give you a free big of software then you would pay a small fee for any software you get after that, but the funny part is that most of those software is already free. One such program was GIMP... But because he didn't know they existed for free, he got it from them.

I want a OS I can control, and that I can see what its doing. I want to be able to fix my system at the core level if something breaks or restore the system, even if I lost my CD. (Burn another without having to pirate one online in order to get it for free). I want to be able to OWN my software, instead of simply owning the right to use it. I want a Operating system that evolves over time by the users. I want a Operating System that doesn't attempt to force me into things, but gives me the options to choose what I want in the beginning. I also want a Operating System where I don't have to always look over my shoulder each moment I'm online in fear of Virus's or Spyware (I know its POSSIBLE to get these things on Linux, but only if I allowed it)

Just my rant ^.^ I also want a company that doesn't promote the dumbing down of Software developers with "easy" tools, creating programmers that have no idea how to do anything outside their little GUI programming system.

-Jessica-

Interesting rant from someone running Windows XP . . . written from work, maybe?

Yep. I don't have a choice here. At home I use Arch Linux on my laptop and Slackware on my Desktop.

-Jessica-

i hate software companies that try to make money off of somthing already free.
ether write your own program or give it away free.

Here is my predicament. I feel I'm stuck on Windows. Perhaps someone can help.
Fact 1: I believe that some Linux distro may be just right for me. If I find it I'll be happy.
Fact 2: I am interested in GUIs and not interested in using the command line. Ever.
As with all OSs you have to turn to the online community for support from time to time. Now these enthusiastic, helpful people are essential. But in the Linux world the help is quite often from some guru who does not use or know the GUIs that much and will often suggest the use of text commands or a complicated route where a very easy route exists.
I see this as a barrier to me trying Linux again. Once I had a reply from someone saying "the command line is what Linux is all about and if I don't want to "learn Linux" then I should stick to windows!" Poor guy. Probably didn't know the GUI way. But this sort of attitude is not going to help newbies.
Personally I have used Unix (AIX/IRIX) a lot in the past with no comfortable GUIs. But I'm not going back there if I don't have to.
Does anyone know a Forum where I might find the sort of help I'm looking for.

@ianp5a: I don't think any distro can guarantee you'll NEVER have to use the cli- there's just no way to foresee/test every possible combination of hardware, software, and use. Often, you'll be advised to use a text command because it's a common denominator- most common commands work on most distros, regardless of the installed gui. In addition, sometimes the cli is just quicker and more efficient. Linux really isn't Windows, and if you want/expect it to be, you're bound to be disappointed.

^ i would suggest finding a distro with a display manager/ desktop environment you like and ask for help from those specific forums (either on lq-linux-distributions-5 or on the distros website).

when someone asks about, for example, how to get their wifi card to work there would be about 10 to 15 different answers because:
some people use fedora, debian, suse, ubuntu, mint... as a distro
some people use gnome, kde, fluxbox, xfce, xvwm, xvwm-95 ... as a window manager
some people use network-manager-applet, wicd, ndiswrapper, ... for the software to control there wifi card.

giving advice thru the command line is an easy way to get around every combination and permeatation.

@mudangel. You have missed the point. Why should I use a text command if there is a quick way with the GUI? I can cope with typing in a command if I wish to do something exotic. But for daily tasks you can be sure that the GUI will cope with that.
You believe that sometimes the cli is quicker or more efficient than the GUI? Maybe the Linux GUIs are bad then? Remember, I am interested in GUIs and thus interested in the state of Linux. If you say the Linux GUI guys are not doing a good job, then I really should stay away from it. But I suspect that all the good stuff is in there. It's just a case of finding it. And that's where the online community comes in.

@schneidz. Yes I've followed the Kubuntu trail and forums which involves the popular KDE interface. Those forums should have known about how to use it. Same result.
So it does not bode well for the future of Linux if the online community remains in the realm of the "techies". And we remain stuck on Windows. Unless somebody knows of a forum that is different?

I actually think Win 7 is a great opportunity for Linux as well as the MacOS, whose commercials I see are already pointing out the obvious:

Since many people are going to be getting new hardware, new apps and moving their data, why not move it somewhere else?

If you're going to break compatibility with all those online sites that want only IE on Win XP, and are subsequently forced to run in XP compatibility mode, why not run XP in a VM?

ianp5a, please keep in mind that you are talking about using Linux, which is a UNIX-like operating system. The command-line interface is the interface. The GUIs are there to allow the use of modern, graphical, windowed applications. As far as system configuration goes, GUIs function only as a crutch for less knowledgeable users to limp through the most common tasks.

If, as you stated earlier, you are "interested in GUIs and not interested in using the command line -- ever" then I would advise that you use Mac OS, which is a fantastic operating system usable only from the GUI. Linux is not for you.

Then again, there is Microsoft Windows . . . no need for command-line use there, either . . .

^ some people like cli some people like gui (its a matter of preference). any recent distro especially if bought from oem pre-installed would require very little need if any for cli.

when installing it by yourself you more than likely would need to do the cli to set up something once (like fixing a wifi driver). but for normal day-to-day (web browsing, email client, word processing, media playing, ...) i dont see a need for cli.

gui's generally only have a subset of features programmed into them. if you know the command well enough you can run any program any way you need. (e.g.- to get cpu info in win-xp you go to control panel -> system for basic information but if you needed to know if your cpu supported sse2 then you can cat /proc/cpuinfo in linux and look at the cpu flags -- much more information thats not programmed in the gui.)

also when getting help you can get a screen print and post it online. if someone needs help with their wifi card i would ask them to post the output of lspci, lsusb, ifconfig, iwconfig, ...
going into 'control panel -> networks' doesnt tell me how/ if the system is recognizing your card.

so like windows if you buy linux oem installed (i think hp sells linux based pc's) you will not likely have a need to ask for help.

ianp5a

Your acting like your paying to use Linux, with the way your demanding. Some people prefer Commandline, some people don't. Commandline is indeed faster if you know how to use it, and have more functionality. Please don't state that its because the GUI's are designed badly. If you make a GUI that has the same capabilities as any CLI, then it becomes so filled and complicated that you need a user guide to know how to make heads or tails of it. GUI's are nice to have and use, and Linux has quite a few, but for deep down complicated tasks, CLI is usually the way to go. If GUI's were so wonderful and perfect, then why do we still have IT services such as Geek Squad? If Windows is all GUI's and all, why everything so easy in Windows? I'm not against Windows, but please be realistic.

Tell us exactly what your looking for, not a general statement, and maybe we can point you to the right direction.

Also just to help, CLI is the easiest way to explain a process online. Because were using Text to communicate, its easier to remember a command than to picture a GUI and try to explain to someone over the net, because GUI's are visually based. So in Forums, CLI is usually the way people explain things... Please don't confuse that with the person not knowing the GUI method.

apt-get update

is much easier to explain than to try and remember Gnomes menus when your not using Gnome currently or Distro differences.

It sounds more like your looking for excuses rather than trying. I will agree that Linux may not have all the GUI's that Windows has, but Linux has so many advantages over Windows too. If you have a issue with a person on the forums then bring it up to a moderator. I have found these forums to be very helpful and nice. I once had a man give me a very sexist comment and I reported it and it was resolved the next day.

-Jessica-

Ultimately, the difference in distros is about support community, funding, release cycles, and package management. On an everyday basis, Firefox in Ubuntu is pretty much the same as Firefox in PCLinuxOS, and Gnome in Fedora is pretty much the same as Gnome in Debian. Then you should be interested in buying Linux preinstalled and doing research on buying Linux-friendly hardware peripherals instead of installing Linux yourself on a previously Windows-preinstalled computer (i.e., gambling on hardware compatibility). Then just reply "If there is a GUI solution for this, I would like to try that first," and someone else who is even more of a "guru" (i.e., who knows both CLI and GUI) will give you point-and-click instructions. So ignore that person. Ask for point-and-click instructions and pay attention to only those who give you such instructions. Do not banter back and forth and argue with those who insist on giving only command-line instructions. Just ignore them. So ignore it when you see it. Most forums are text-based, so you are very likely to get a lot of commands to copy and paste when you ask for help.

As I stated before, the best tactic is to kindly ask for GUI instructions, and if some people insist on giving you CLI instructions, just ignore those people, and thank the ones who give you the kind of help you asked for nicely.

you cant even get away with using withouts without using the command prompt (unless you really dont use computers).

One can easily use Fedora or Ubuntu just using the gui. It might not be very efficient. If the gui was so good, why does windows have a whole lot of command line tools? Most of these copied from Unix/linux eg netstat, tracert, ping etc
This a list from microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true