Case in Point

I don't know if I want your finger on the button. One weak cup of joe and you could go completely postal and kill us all.

Hmm. without being there I couldn't tell you what it was trying to do at the time, nor what the cause is, but in the same case Windows likely would have formatted the drive and installed over any data there, no matter what was there or how much you wanted to save the data. Yeah, Windows is sure a better solution. My best advise for the person would be to try again and this time be very watchful as to what the computer was doing before that, and see if it is reproducible. It may have been user error, it may be a hardware issue. Neither of which would have been solved by Windows.

A quick search on Google shows this seems to be a perl issue(duh, scalar should have told me this), so I will look into this for the person. If you want, feel free to pass my email onto this person and I will try to help out.

“case in point”?
And this is different in what way from the cryptic BSOD messages to a not so sauvy user?
Just trying to keep the discussion going? :)
/d

Don't get me wrong… I like linux but Windows does have a lot easier install for the average user. For the newest versions of Windows you basically just pop in the CD and walk away. As for if one is more stable than the other, Linux is touted as being better but I think it really depends what you installed and run on your system. Linux does have less processor overhead, I will give you that but at the same point most average users can't figure out how to install from an rpg. Some say Linux is more secure, not really true. Just like above it depends on the installation and how the person sets it up. I have seen Windows machines that are more secure than Linux machines and vice-a-versa. I still think Windows is best for the general public but Linux is making great strides to get there it's self. Only time will tell and as for now it is personal preference. I run both and will continue to run both and I don't see myself ditching Windows any time soon.

Well the newest version of Mandrake that he is using is way easier than windows. It takes half the time to install also. Linux is one step away from really, really being user friendly.

RPM. It is simple and there are dozens of tutorials on how to install from source, RPM, DEB, and others. RPM is equally as easy to use as is any EXE. Consider the package managers as equal to the wizards for Windows. The problem with people classifying Linux as not ready for the desktop is that most people have not tried some of the latest versions. Have you tried KDE 3.0? It is much the same as Windows and with a few key points can be very easily made to look nearly identical to Windows.
Linux is progressing at an astonishing rate towards Desktop viability, much faster then Windows went from crap to nice layout. Yes, Linux can be insecure. That is all dependant on what you install. For the default workstation install you will have very few services running that can be exploited for access, and anyone knows that you don't log in as root so anything that is done is not as harmful as it is on Windows 98, which had a setup in which all users had all rights.
As for the person who wrote Chris, I have a few pieces of advice. The best thing would be to be able to ask the person these myself, but I will have to rely on the assumption that Chris can pass my questions and advice along. First, is the person using a Linux CD from a store? If so, take it back and get another. If not, download again, this time using a different download method, for instance if you used a simple IE download box, try using an FTP client.
Then, get an md5sum check program, and check each one before you burn the CD. If it does not work, try another mirror. the research and info I have shows that the most likely solution for this, and most other bad installs that stop mid way or early on in an install, the problem is bad connections for hardware, or a bad CD. If you bought the CD in store, take it back, if you burned it, try again. This, I will say, would cause a bad install even if you used Windows.

Chris,
This is the first time I've felt the need to say this:
Don't bash what you obviously don't understand.

I actually am using a new version of linux and No not everyone knows not to login as Root. You have no idea how many people I have had to fix this on. Sorry I miss typed RPM but some packages don't install well but I will give you the same thing happens in Windows. But if you read your fixes above then you will see that you are giving someone a lot of steps that a normal user probably wouldn't know how to execute properly. I know my mother couldn't handle it.. heck she wouldn't be able to tell what program does what because they would all be named funny to her and she wouldn't under stand that programs with a g in the front of the name was made for GNOME… there are too many competing standards and not enough collaboration at this time. It is still not a home users Operating System but I do hope that one day it rises to that level.

KDE 3.0 is not equal to Windows. Show me how to right click on the desktop and almost instantly change resolution?
I run FreeBSD 4.6 and I thoroughly enjoy it, but even as a BSD advocate I will still say Windows is easier to use than BSD or Linux for that matter.
The new version of Xf86Free is much better than previous version, it auto detected my card and the highest resolution settings, but it is still a pain to have to drop down to a config and rerun the setup just to change the resolution.With Windows right click, properties, settings. Done.
Also, RPM is a joke. Its got nothing on Ports for FreeBSD. RPM is getting better, but Ports is much easier to use than RPM. It automatically downloads and installs all the dependencies for you.
cd /usr/ports/www/apache13
make install clean
Done. Go get lunch. Come back in about a half hour and it is running. None of that “Failed to satisfy dependency” crap. It gets what it needs without your intervention.
BTW, my mom has no idea what a program is. She has pictures of things she uses. An icon is Elvis to her. Start is what she does in the car.
You want my mom to run an RPM? Yeah right.
Mandrake 8.2 is much better than previous versions, but it still isnt near the simplicity Windows.
My biggest grip about linux is that there are so many different flavors. One flavor can be alot different than another flavor and the same flavor can be almost completely different between version.
Go to install some app on Madrake and you find out you need this version of this library, and a newer version of this, but an older version of that. Man I hated that.
Thats I like FreeBSD. There is only 1. You can sit down to almost any version of FreeBSD and not have the same problems you would have if you compare a Red Hat box to a Mandrake box. You install a port of GnuCash and you do not have to worry if it is compatible with your current version of Glibc. It will satisfy anything it relies on without you having to screw around.

drama… whatever

See… someone gets what I am talking about. Great points DomitianX, you are far better with words than me. I have to agree that FreeBSD is pretty good.

Ok, you mention the many flavors of Linux, yet point to the one flavor of FreeBSD, but if you were to be fair, you'd pointy to the many flavors of BSD. I guess that simply detracts too much from your argument, right?
As far as resolution, yeah, I agree. There does need to be a simply way to change the resolution. Unfortunately, that is not currently an option. You may change your resolution 109 times an hour, but most people stick with one resolution and leave it like that for months or years.
As for icon's, well, there are equal icons in Linux, so all she would have to do is learn how to understand the new icon's.
As fro RPM versus the FreeBSD ports, well, I have never bothered with FreeBSD, so I can't compare. I have yet to have a RPM that was not very simply explained and solvable. Most well designed packages have all the depended on packages included. If the package does not, then it is not the problem of Linus, Red Hat or any other people besides the maker of the package. Oh, and don't try to pull the crap about Windows not having that, because Microsoft will be the first to tell you that the maker of a product is responsible for how it runs and affects your system.
In the end, Windows is insecure, and a waste of hard drive space. It forces you to install hundreds of programs that you don't need, and it's maker is a greedy corporation that feels it is justified in forcing DRM and root level exploits on people. Just because 50% of the computer using public uses Windows, does not mean that is it good, better, or the right choice. It simply means it is better marketed, and intertwined into the users minds. No self respecting computer user will be happy with Windows. This, though, is a moot argument as even Microsoft employees admit the company is dying a slow and very painful death. Linux keeps getting better. Windows keeps getting worse. Give it 10 years and Microsoft will be a low grade niche company. Oh, wait, they already are.