08-16-2015, 09:12 PM
I refurb laptops, mostly value units and a lot of netbooks. About 18 months ago I was surprised to find that a unit or two that I put ubuntu on for licensing reasons did not take much of a valuation hit in the marketplace. Then recently two things happened. A friend's machine was increasingly struggling to run Win7, and MS came out with an its aggressive policy of controlling users' machines with Win10.
It was time to look for alternatives. I had tried Linux a few times over the years, but thought it was too rough for general use, especially to the newcomer. But now I set up VMWare and ran several distros. Ubuntu I gravitated to because of the broad user base/support system, but ubuntu no longer had any performance advantage over Win7. I almost settled on Mint Mate, but then tried LL and it was a perfect fit. It "just worked", it was frugal with resources, and it had very elegant aesthetics to it. Even the Super key worked! I began converting a couple of units, with great success, and then switched my own machine over. I've done four machines so far.
I heard "Linux is just about ready now" for years, and felt cynical about it, but now it's finally come to pass. Linux IS ready, and just in time as MS sets the trap for a massive bait and switch on end users. I think the IT industry is at an immense inflection point.
It was time to look for alternatives. I had tried Linux a few times over the years, but thought it was too rough for general use, especially to the newcomer. But now I set up VMWare and ran several distros. Ubuntu I gravitated to because of the broad user base/support system, but ubuntu no longer had any performance advantage over Win7. I almost settled on Mint Mate, but then tried LL and it was a perfect fit. It "just worked", it was frugal with resources, and it had very elegant aesthetics to it. Even the Super key worked! I began converting a couple of units, with great success, and then switched my own machine over. I've done four machines so far.
I heard "Linux is just about ready now" for years, and felt cynical about it, but now it's finally come to pass. Linux IS ready, and just in time as MS sets the trap for a massive bait and switch on end users. I think the IT industry is at an immense inflection point.