Is it true that Linux is more efficient than Windows

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In all fairness to f3l1x, I don’t think he was talking about the OS source, but instead the application source

Ah, i see. My fault. I stand corrected. Thanks for that :slight_smile:

You can absolutely run LibreOffice from a terminal as root (best case, use sudo… worst case, use su). Though LibreOffice is probably a bit heavy-handed for editing a simple text file (even in Windows, you’d use Notepad or Wordpad instead of Office). And with tools like gksudo it’s absolutely possible to run any graphical application as root without touching the terminal at all. Granted, Ubuntu disables the root user by default (horrible idea, IMO), but Debian and most other distributions certainly don’t.

Sorry for the Libre Office example. It was just an example for a well known text editor :slight_smile:

Both, Debian 7 and Ubuntu doesn’t allow the login as root anymore. And yes, this is a horrible idea.

I can of course also tweak my linux to my needs. Allow root login again, install mentioned gksudo, and so on. But i have to invest quite a bit time, knowledge and effort to get things working that should be there by default. And even starting a software from the console is quite an effort compared to a mouse click.

It’s unfortunate that your experience with Linux as a desktop didn’t work out for you and that you chose a distribution that wasn’t adequately suited to your needs. But, it’s certainly not for everyone. Neither is Windows. Neither is Mac OS.

It’s not that i don’t have enough experience to judge as you might think. It’s really that Linux doesn’t fit my needs at the desktop, all the UI issues asides. The world out there is Windows. My software that i need and use simply doesn’t run at Linux. And my users are also mainly Windows users.

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And if that’s the “business conclusion” for your case, then: “case closed.” You’ve got a job to do, and Windows is doing that job. Doing anything else would be unjustified for you – and risky, if it worked at all (and why try?).

An OS is a tool for a job, nothing more or less. All of the mainstream microcomputer OSes (Windows, OS/X, Linux) are efficiently implemented for their hardware. Any one case might be slightly-more or slightly-less, but nothing to change your workflows for. (And besides, Blender is platform-independent.)

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One mans trash is another mans treasure.

I like Linux for the exact reasons you don’t like it:

You need a text editor to edit configs:
The sort of config you edit with a text file is generally something along the lines of your X config or your grub boot. The sort of thing you have to edit maybe once when you first install it. I’ve been running my current version of Linux Mint for a couple of months now, and haven’t touched a txt config file since the week after I installed it.
It doesn’t make sense to develop a UI for something 90% of users never edit. The things that people do change normally do have UI’s, such as creating users. That’s got a UI in every single distro I’ve tried. (barring the bare-bones arch).
So, if it’s in a text file, you probably shouldn’t be configuring it by hand anyway, or at least, not often. Having to use a text editor is, to me, a warning that it’s something serious you’re doing.

And even starting a software from the console is quite an effort compared to a mouse click.
Huh, want to bet?
Here’s my experience starting something simple, say, libreoffice.
In Microsoft Windows:

  • Look for the icon on the desktop and double click
  • Click the start menu, click all programs, click libreoffice, select which version of libreoffice (eg draw, etc) (Windows 7)
  • Click the start icon, scroll sideways (or click all programs), hunt for the icon, click it. (Windows 8)
    In a terminal:
  • Type ‘libr’ press the tab key, press enter.

How about opening a particular file?
Normal GUI:

  • Double click ‘My Documents’
  • Navigate a tree of folders
  • Double click on the file
    Console:
  • xdg-open /path/to/file
    With use of tabbing, again, it’s much much faster

In the time it takes for a normal person to start a program using a GUI, I can have it running and be a sentence into writing it.

It’s much more memory-based. In a terminal, you need to have some knowledge how to use it. In a GUI, you need (ideally) no other instruction. But everything is a tradeoff. The GUI will always be slower than a command line interface for many many tasks.

Windows ‘dumbs things down’ so that anyone can use it. For 99% of users this is fine, but for the other 1%, it’s a little too ‘dumb,’ and things that should be doable are instead not doable because the computer should be able to handle them. And 99% of the time, this is fine. But the 1% of the time when Windows decides to reboot in the middle of a long rendering, or when Windows decides that this wifi doesn’t need DHCP on for some reason, or when Windows explorer stops working because ‘DCP Watchdog Violation’ then it leaves the user frustrated and calling either tech support, or dumping it altogether. (yes, all three of those happened to me)

Here’s my synopsis:
 - Both work

  • They suit different people
  • Linux is suited to programmers and developers because it uses the same mindset as programming.
  • Windows is suited to artists and normal users because it is easier to use.
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but i think _atom_s question is already answered: you can reconfigure it to beat windows and mac.

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In a terminal, you need to have some knowledge how to use it. In a GUI, you need (ideally) no other instruction. But everything is a tradeoff. The GUI will always be slower than a command line interface for many many tasks…

I heavily disagree. A click at a icon is always faster than typing text. No matter how fast you are at typing. I usually have the software that i mainly use in my toolbar. There is no searching. Just move the mouse and a click.

But even when, and there are indeed some special tasks that goes faster at console, the more things you have to do at a console, the slower you go. Searching time and learning time is also working time. You cannot ignore the learning and searching time for a solution when you count that a specific task is now 0.00126 seconds faster at console compared to the graphical UI. Given that you are at the console anyways. Because you are most of the times already at the graphical UI, we talk about the desktop. Means you have to open a console, type in su or sudo, type your password, then finally type the command …

It’s the same discussion with the good ol Blender UI and the hotkeys. It may be faster to use hotkey / console for some things and under some special circumstances when you look at the single isolated task. But the more you use hotkey / console the more cumbersome and slower it gets because of the effort to remember lots and lots of hotkeys or commands. A button and an icon is ways easier to remember. A button has a tooltip. A button reminds you that there is a tool underneath at all. It’s the overall usability that counts. Not isolated tasks.

The users have long voted with their feet. So this part of the discussion, what the user really wants, is already finished. People want it comfortable and easy, which is in most cases also the fastest way. And that’s where the graphical UI has won at the desktop by evolution.

  • Linux is suited to programmers and developers because it uses the same mindset as programming.

I develop games :wink:

By the way, i find it interesting that the graphical approach more and more arrives at the programming too nowadays. Have a look at Blueprint in the Unreal engine. Or have a look at the node editor in Blender :slight_smile:

26

tiles, isnt this getting a bit off topic? you can start a new thread if you want.
ps, i agree with sdfgeoff that running for example libre from a terminal is faster, but if we want to argue about it, we should probably start a new thread

27

I think at some point, Linux can come in handy even for Windows-installed devices. I mean, if your laptop starts showing error on the HDD and you just can’t gain access to it, there is on Linux tiny software (which i’ve forgotten its name :D) that can help you gain access to your HDD.