<div>I understand your frustration. There's so much complexity. Hardware + OS + application software + user = so many opportunities for something (Windows-based or Linux-based) to go astray.</div> <div> </div> <div>The solution is acceptance of the situation. Computing is a ubiquitous tool that requires some learning to gain the benefits of this tool.</div> <div> </div> <div>Please try this: Go to your local source of surplus computer hardware and buy a mainstream laptop (Dell or HP) that's a few years old. Completely wipe the hard drive with a tool like killdisk and then install a stable version of linux from a professionally prepared DVD. Buy a Linux magazine or book with a DVD disk included. Install from the disk to the clean, empty hard drive. While the install is running, pick one daily function that a computer facilitates for you. Is it writing reports or technical documents, doing spreadsheets, web page coding? For me, I'll pick web page coding. Then, on any other working computer that you can access, use Google or Bing to search for a linux tool for creating web pages. Tools that I've come across include BlueFish, NVU, Quanta, and many others. Learn how to install this tool and use it.</div> <div> </div> <div>I've been using Linux and Windows for more than ten years and, in my experience, the Linux / FOSS tool was at least equal and most likely superior to a similar Windows-based application. The barrier to the successful, trouble-free use of any hardware-OS-application combination is the learning curve. Other common technologies have been developed over much longer timespans and have been focused for simplicity and ease-of-use. I like to make an analogy between a cup of coffee and a computer. There's hardware, software, and an operator involved in making yourself a cup of coffee or making yourself a webpage, technical document, spreadsheet, or photo-image. To get the best cup of coffee on my schedule at the point where and when I want it most, I have to climb the learning curve and know how to use my french press, with which variety of beans, etc.</div> <div> </div> <div>Don't let problems discourage you. Try Linux again.</div> <div> </div> <div>Rob Miller<br><br></div> <div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 12:02 PM, sir alaric <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sphinx@q.com">sphinx@q.com</a>></span> wrote:<br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> <div>Listen, <br>i know that most likely i'll get a canned response to this. that's the way microsoft does stuff. so i expect nothing else.<br><br>but i do have a question.<br><br>when, if ever, is anyone, anywhere, going to make a linux version of anything, that just works.<br> <br>sadly, windows does. it has 4000 undocumented features, it freezes every day, even in Arizona, or central africa. but when it's not frozen, it works.<br><br>linux and all it's offshoots, and i do mean all, claim to do what windows does, only better. unfourtunately, it's a lie. unless of course you can spend 57 days tweeking this or that or the other thing. or spending the rest of the year going through the forums. and i mean from starting in january.<br> <br>and i don't need the learning curve excuse. if you want people to use linux and stop using windows because it's better and works better, when, if ever, is that going to happen.<br><br>or should i just give up all hope.<br> <br>bob <br><br>ps if you know of a linux version that REALLY TRUELY does beat windows, right out of the box, please tell me what it is. even if it isn't ubuntu.<br><br><br></div><br>--<br>ubuntu-doc mailing list<br><a href="mailto:ubuntu-doc@lists.ubuntu.com">ubuntu-doc@lists.ubuntu.com</a><br> <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-doc" target="_blank">https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-doc</a><br><br></blockquote></div><br>