Kathy Gibson reports from a SUSE/SAB&T TEC webinar – There is a belief that Linux is hard to use – but this is simply not true.
That’s the word from Tinus Brink, director of consulting at SAB&T TEC.
Among the enhancements that have been made to the operating system of late are more user friendly user interfaces.
The Gnome interface is native to Linux, Brink points out. “It is easy to use and quick.”
If users want to use other interfaces, they can install multiple themes for front-end computers using KDE, LXQt, XFCE and others that emulate a Windows operating system.
Deepin, Pantheon and Budgie can be downloaded to run a MacOS-like front-end.
Command interfaces could scare users off, but Brink explains that, from an administrative point of view, these are similar in all operating systems – and, ironically, the Linux interfaces are much easier to use than many people think.
“How many clicks does it take you to find a particular feature in an application?” he asks. “If you know commands, you can get to your result a lot quicker which is why administrators all prefer command-based interfaces.
“Luckily, this doesn’t mean everyone has to adopt a command line interface. For front-end computers especially, you can easily perform any work-related tasks with familiar interfaces. It is definitely still an option.”
SAB&T TEC is committed to offering free advice for customers looking to make the move to Linux.
“We will do a free Web session with your IT team to discuss possible cost-saving scenarios,” Brink says. “We provide a no-obligation quote to achieve this.
“For larger IT departments, we will do up to a full-day free session to plan for possible cost-saving scenarios.”
Customer can look at what the company offers at www.sabttec.com, or contact tbrink@sabttec.com or the SUSE team at suse@sabttec.com.
Customers also test Linux for themselves. “Don’t take my word for it,” Brink says. “I recommend downloading a distribution on to a USB and let your IT team test it. Boot Linux up and prove to yourself that Linux can work in your environment.”
Free bootable versions of Linux can be downloaded from https://www.suse.com/download; https://www.opensuse.org/ or https://rufus.ie/.