I will admit, that's an interesting trick you've found, finding a programming language that isn't even referenced in any of the software repositories of Fedora. All that came up for a search in the file names was vim (and a couple of brothers; neovim, vis), PHP-Geshi, Nextcloud, LLVM-Test-Suite, Highlight, and the documentation for gstreamer.

I'm also going to admit that I've literally heard of AutoIt. But give that it's an offshoot of BASIC, I'm sure you could find something that would fit your macroing bill. (See attachment.)

Yeah you guys hit the nail on the head. Linux is not for everyone, and still shouldn't be considered as such. Then again for those same kinds of people, they shouldn't be troubleshooting Windows 10 either...

Sure, I've made laptops with only Ubuntu MATE on it for my older relatives. Things couldn't be smoother - it does everything they need it to do and is stable. I still have AnyDesk installed on it if I need to get in there, but I haven't had to do that more than twice just to check up and update stuff.

But again, that's because I was the one who installed it and made it work for them. ANd continue to provide support if needed. If my Mum even knew what Linux was, she most definitely would not have picked it.

So Linux -> not for everyone.

However, the excuses I'm hearing here yet again are ridiculous and shows that people don't know what they're talking about. Driver issues? Updating software? Loss of control? Stability? I mean, come on. Myths and then some. The previous points mentioned are in fact points that make Linux superior in comparison, this isn't a fuzzy feely statement - it's just the way things are. You can argue until you're blue in the face that Linux isn't for everyone and you'd be right, but please, don't peddle misinformation.

It's not an interesting trick, the AutoIt language has been around a long time, over two decades now. I've been using it for about 19 years, though it was just a scripting macro type language when I first started using it, with no GUI capability.

It is not a BASIC offshoot, it just happens to share similarities to a Basic type language.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoIt

And no, other BASIC type languages are not really like it. I moved from Visual Basic (VB 6) because I found AutoIt vastly superior in many ways, and that was before it had become what it is now. Superficially they may seem similar enough, but in reality they are hugely different.

Many gamers find AutoIt their best friend, though many have been forced instead, to accept the inferior AutoHotKey offshoot from an earlier variant of AutoIt, due to a ban on gaming automation (Bots etc) discussions and code at the AutoIt Forum.

So no, it is not a matter of ease or desire for me, to change to a BASIC language supported in Linux. That would solve nothing, none of my programs would be easily converted over, and I don't like the way those languages work.

P.S. That said, a great friend of mine, a member here, is currently developing something called EasyCodeIt, which he hopes will run AutoIt on multiple platforms, especially his favorite - Linux.

https://www.autoitscript.com/forum/topic/204477-easycodeit-cross-platform-autoit-implementation

Honestly, I think it's easier to fix issues on Linux (except maybe video/audio issues) because of the command line. In fact, while I mentioned video issues in the parenthetical note above, Linux can be used fine without video support; a framebuffer console will often work when the GPU isn't specifically supported, and failing that, you could use a serial console or ssh. Or, if the graphics system locks up, sometimes I can still press Ctrl+Alt+F1 (or F2 if the distro puts the GUI on F1) and switch to a text console.

Being able to get a remote console via ssh is *really* handy. (Sometimes VNC/RDP are too slow/laggy, particularly over the public internet or something like dial-up, but ssh can work fine in those situations.)

What if that device you need to disable is a mouse that's hardwired and has gone haywire?

(Laptops commonly come with a built-in device that the OS sees as a mouse that can't be easily disconnected. It is quite possible that the mouse (typically a touchpad of some source) could go haywire.)

On Linux, there's also ncdu, which is extremely handy for this purpose (and it runs in a terminal, so you can use it over ssh if needed).

Why "more" rather than "less"?

Windows is not for everyone, either. (Neither is MacOS, for that matter.)

There are some pieces of software, like LaTeX, Python, and R, that tend to be better supported on Linux than on Windows. It's unlikely that you will find a Linux system without some version of Python installed, whereas on Windows systems with Python are a minority.



Why the ban?

(This sort of behavior on the part of the developers would be a reason to find something else to move to.)

It's hard to proselytise when I grew up using Windows, started using Linux when I started uni, and stopped using Windows only 3 or 4 years ago.

But it was a different time when Windows had regular magazines published bi-weekly/monthly which promoted Windows, showed you how to do stuff in Windows, etc.

That was also a time when people went to shops to buy magazines...as I said, a different time.

Firstly, not many people are going to say Linux is "as good as" Windows as you are in many ways comparing different things.

That said:
First point why you should use Linux over Windows.

There is nothing about Windows that is fundamentally easier - if it seems easier it is either more familiar or it is hiding complexity.

If Windows hides complexity for something and Linux doesn't there are two main reasons for that:

Windows doesn't trust you not to fuck something up and so restricts your choices.
No-one involved in the Linux version could be arsed/had time to make a good version.

Over time, difficult things usually get easier with familiarity.
Trust in your users doesn't increase over time however if you are investing less and less in your users.

Linux will become easier over time due to active support.

Windows will either stay the same (due to people maintaining/training for current systems) or become more difficult to use over time (due to people not being bothered to buy magazines or look up things)

Second point why you should use Linux over Windows.

Trusted Computing / Telemetry.

It appears to me that you are implying here continued support is necessary with keeping Linux running as opposed to not necessary with Windows.

The only people Linux is "not for" is those with particular needs and incompatibility problems. MS has worked hard to make sure to dominate the market. Some PC's, especially certain laptops and such, I guess just actively oppose any OS other than Windows(and maybe incompatible with newer versions of Windows but will only work with the version it came with), so if you have one such laptop, then 'Linux is not for you- on that specific machine'

If you have a particular program you need to run for work that simply doesn't run on Linux well and there is no alternative options or you need to use the same program as everyone else for compatibility, then you'll need Windows. But Linux can still be for you, you can still duel-boot or use Linux on other machines.

No, I'm not actually implying that. In fact my point was the opposite :) - Windows users require at least the same amount of troubleshooting as Linux, and probably more. And it doesn't help that troubleshooting on Windows is much harder.

I used to be like you and think this, but then I actually interacted with people ;) Let's face it - Linux will at some point require some tinkering or troubleshooting in day-to-day usage on the desktop. Same as Windows, though probably less so. Still, I have become recently convinced an appropriate Google technical term search + applying stack exchange commandline copy pasta or instructions, is in fact beyond many people. I'm sure they have the mental faculties for such, it's not rocket science, but for many reasons are incapable of or unwilling doing even that much.

It sounds cynical, but I think it's quite accurate. As such, without someone setting everything up for these people, possibly supporting them remotely occasionally or even locally, they would be pretty stuck or helpless. Hence, Linux is not for everyone.

It's still fine for a large chunk of the market - anyone who can install Windows 10 on a fresh machine can get a Linux distro up and running (in a shorter amount of time actually). And if you've ever had to tinker with registry edits, commandlines, third party apps in Win10, hell even just mods and config files, then you'll feel right at home on Linux and can handle it fine I think, after a learning curve. At least, you'll have the ability to pick technical stuff from Google searches and apply it easily. Something that can't be said for many out there.

But yeah, I'm basically with you. An Ubuntu install is brain dead simple, and you might even avoid the terminal like the plague if you really really wanted to for a long time - maybe even forever. Considering the demographic we are in over here on GOG, what with self-built gaming rigs, all kinds of 3rd party tools to correct GOG deficiencies etc., I think it wouldn't be an issue for most here at all, however.

Not at all, the ban is very justified.

The archives show what happened before the ban, with those against bots etc arguing with those for. The arguments took over the place, and really the focus should be on programming not botting, which was just one small element of coding.

Add to that the fact that botting drew many people to AutoIt, that were only there for one thing, and that wasn't to learn coding, just to cheat in a game to their benefit. So there were many requests for others to do the work for them or to fix scripts that no longer worked. Those who voluntarily help others with coding, got sick of the situation.

Then you add to that the many who were giving AutoIt a bad name due to all the script kiddies creating bots, and some internet bodies running servers etc started blacklisting AutoIt, including game developers and getting AV companies on side.

So in the end it was decided, that game automation was more trouble than it was worth supporting.

The AutoIt Forums are a much nicer place now.

And here is a very solid point.
I don't know how many people are aware how Windows 10 works under the hood, what it does and when. Microsoft got so much criticism over their practices lately and deservedly so.
People had to come up with tools to debloat and secure (well, more or less) the system, when that should be Microsoft's job, but such an approach is not on their agenda.
As a consequence, some folk will head for greener pastures, which is completely understandable.

If you had read all my replies properly you would see I have no love for Microsoft or Windows. So once again you conveniently ignore the facts while stating your case.

Anyway, like I said, you are quite clearly a Linux zealot, no doubt in my mind about that at all.
Luckily, when replying to you, I was really replying for the sake of others who are a bit more open-minded and not blinded by a Linux agenda like you are.

Like I keep saying, I fully realize Linux has benefits, just as Windows has flaws.
I am not however going to wear blinkers and shy away from realities.

If you want to believe Linux is better than Windows, go right ahead.
The reality, is that what is best for each of us individually is very subjective, based on many factors, that you deliberately ignore or twist to suit your agenda.

I wish Linux was better than Windows, I honestly do ... and for some people it is ... however, not the majority, as the facts will show you.

I can count on one hand those I know who tried Linux and stuck with it. I don't have enough hands or feet, including those of family and friends to account for all those who tried Linux and gave up on it as a bad idea.

My favorite version of Linux, is Mint, the live version, which I run from a USB stick. It works well, but I need more than that. Linux cannot give me what I need, which is a shame, as I would love to kiss Windows goodbye.

What's his Linux agenda, pray tell?

1. "Reality is, it's subjective"

OR

2. "Facts will show you "

Pick one.

Best to ignore his insults - Timboli has a history of attacking and using slurs against people who disagree with him.

The problem is that excludes legitimate use cases, like using this sort of scripting for accessibility reasons.

Perhaps they should have, instead of banning the whole topic, only ban the things that were actually issues.

(Also, if an online game can be easily ruined with bots, then perhaps the game itself is flawed.)

(By the way, there's other ways to send scripted input to games. LibTAS (on linux) allows one to record a sequence of inputs in a game and play them back; it has other features that are useful for tool assisted speedruns as well. There's python modules that allow such scripting (though they may need to run as root). There's even the hardware approach; some microcontroller boards (including the Raspberry Pi Pico) can act as USB keyboards, mice, or ganepads, and can be used to cheat in this way (I once did this with an idle clicker).)

windows troubleshooting is harder ? :D
omg the ignorance of some is astonishing