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Author Topic: The Day, Or Year, The Linux Desktop Died - InformationWeek  (Read 9050 times)

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Offline Colani1200

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Linux dead on the desktop? Ridiculous... I really wonder who hired that guy, was it Apple or Microsoft? :lol:

Even the company I work for started to switch to Linux desktops in several areas. And this is just the beginning. I agree with kolla, Microsofts fight against piracy + the struggle to make Windows rudimentally secure rendered it unusable over the years...

BTW: I doubt that computing can get any "untechier" than with Ubuntu...
 

Offline Colani1200

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Re: The Day, Or Year, The Linux Desktop Died - InformationWeek
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2009, 12:16:35 PM »
Quote from: mr_a500;509694
Thanks. I'll check out fvwm - but don't Linux applications need to be specifically compiled to use a certain GUI?


It's the same on the Amiga (i.e. MUI / Reaction applications) and on other platforms.

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I already ran into the nightmare of dependency hell and KDE-only applications. (Speaking of dependency hell - installing a simple frigging text editor installed over 1GB of libraries!! The text editor sucked too.)


Well... installing a KDE app for a desktop other than KDE doesn't really make sense. Possible, but not optimal.

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As I said, GUI is only one reason I think desktop Linux sucks. I've had Linux crash on me many times (8 times just in one day!), I've had kernel panics and 6 times the install list got corrupted and I had to reinstall the entire damn OS


I really wonder what distro that was...
 

Offline Colani1200

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Re: The Day, Or Year, The Linux Desktop Died - InformationWeek
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2009, 05:37:27 PM »
Quote from: mr_a500;509792
Yes, I know. My point was that if I wanted to use fvwm, I'd have to limit myself to applications compiled for fvwm (or command line).

No. You can run every app you want on it. But you have to live with the fact that if you want to install e.g. KDE apps on it, your package manager will install half of KDE. I think only the QT library uses a few hundred MB already.

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I was using a KDE desktop and the application was KDE! (on OpenSUSE 11) I can't remember what text editor it was, but it really REALLY sucked.

I agree that OpenSuSe sucks. And KDE aswell ;-)

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All I wanted was a simple text editor. The few I found couldn't even compare to a 1989 Amiga editor... and that is pathetic. I'm positive Linux has some kick-ass editors somewhere, but all the ones in the depository (suppository?) sucked hard!


There's a sh*tload out there. Personally, I use gvim (which was written on the Amiga originally).

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Not just that, but the reason I needed to find a text editor was that the supplied editor kept refusing to open files (permission crap - another pain in the ass) and didn't prompt me for a password. At least Gnome has an editor that prompts and eventually allows access. (and yes, I know I could go into a shell, cd to the directory and sudo every time)


Well, Linux is a multi user OS. And one that has a certain focus on security. You can't compare that to a toy like Windows.

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It was Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10. I had multiple partitions on multiple computers. Ubuntu 9.04 had lots of problems too. Even running one of the supplied screensavers could crash it consistently (couldn't even shut down using power button, had to pull plug!). I once had a program crash and it opened a crash report and when I clicked on it, it failed and said "The problem report is damaged" (psyche!) and told me to reboot.


Sounds like broken hardware to me. If you can't power your system off by pressing the power button for a few seconds then something is seriously wrong.

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But even that is nothing compared to the problems I had with the crap known as grub. You can quote me on this: "Grub is quite possibly the worst piece of shit ever programmed!".


Nah, you just need to know how to use it. PS: It nicely boots Aros aswell ;-)

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What is the point of having multiple partitons as backup when the boot manager fails completely when just one is corrupt??


You need a usable /boot partition and a correct GRUB config (BTW: you can edit the boot options on the fine by pressing 'e' and 'ctrl-x' after your changes.)

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What else to hate... forced FSCK checks,


I think it is a good feature to see problems early. But of course you can turn it off easily if you don't like it.

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manually editing things like xorg.conf to add monitor sync rates just to change screenmode or refresh rate,


Again I suspect bad or badly supported hardware (e.g. a monitor that has no / incorrect EDID output).

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unbelievably long boot times


Are you REALLY really sure that your hardware wasn't broken? I just measured with a stop watch. My ~5 years old Toshiba notebook (Centrino 1.6) with Ubuntu 9.04 boots within 27 seconds (with fully encrypted hard disk!) to the login screen. Another 15 seconds to a fully working desktop.

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 incredibly stupid directory structure which can't be changed,


A matter of taste... I think it's clever. :-)

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programs altering grub - screwing up manual edits,


wot? O_0

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I TRIED to like Linux... I really did. I really REALLY did. I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really REALLY did. (But I don't.)


If you don't like it, that's fine with me. Maybe you had bad luck / picked a wrong distro, whatever. Or it really just doesn't suit your needs, dunno. Still I think everyone should give it a try.
 

Offline Colani1200

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Re: The Day, Or Year, Information Died
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2009, 11:17:39 AM »
Quote from: mr_a500;509896
Oh yes, security. How is Ubuntu secure? All I have to do is insert the live CD, mount a drive and have full access to all files.


No, you can't do that if the hard disk is encrypted. All of my Ubuntu installs are. Because Ubuntu makes it so easy, it's almost boring, you just need to install from the alternate CD and choose encrpted lvm).

BTW: Mounting an unencrypted volume is easy on all platforms.

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Yeah, all the sacrifices of having to sudo everything and enter root password for every damn thing really make up for that level of security.


Ever wondered why so many Windows installations started to have a life of their own?

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(Also, is there really a need - in 2009 - for a desktop computer to be multi-user?


Yes. My guess is that 80% of all virus problems on Windows are caused by people surfing the web with administrator rights.

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The thing that is seriously wrong is the whole concept of software controlled stateless buttons. The power button is software controlled (OS). If the software screws up (as in crash), the button doesn't work. Notice the setting in Ubuntu that asks what to do when the power button is pressed? (sleep, ask, shutdown) Most modern electronics have these stupid software controlled power buttons - where you press the switch and then IT decides what to do (and may refuse your request). I'd much rather be back in the days of big shiny switches - on means ON, off means OFF! NOW!


Come on, you don't know the ACPI power button? OK, I'll explain: If you press it shortly, you trigger a software shutdown. If you keep it pressed for a few seconds, it is supposed to do a hard poweroff like back in the days. If that doesn't work (even with a crashed OS), then something is wrong with your hardware.

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Why is it every time I complain about something, somebody says something like "you just need to learn how to use it"?? I know exactly how to use it. I've read manuals, web pages, endless forum help threads. I've installed GRUB about 50 times. (many different settings, multi-booting Windows, BeOS, BSD, Haiku...).


Actually unlike lilo, you just have to install it once. After that you can change the configuration any time.

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No, I'm not REALLY really sure. I'm willing to accept that maybe something hardware related is screwed up. Ubuntu 9.04 took about 1 minute 30 seconds.


Seems slow, <30 seconds should be doable for any decent hardware.

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If people like Linux, then that's fine and I'm happy for you. I would like to like Linux too, but unless there are radical changes in the way Linux works (and their entire concept of what makes a good OS), I'm not going to be happy using it.


I think you just have to accept that some things work differently than on other systems you're used to. You had to learn how to operate those other systems in the past aswell. It's just that most people are not willing to learn again. (That doesn't specially go in your direction, I see that you already spent some time with it, but maybe it's still not quite enough).
 

Offline Colani1200

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Re: The Day, Or Year, Information Died
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2009, 11:22:16 AM »
Something more on topic: Linux recently gave birth to an entirely new range of desktop products: The netbooks. So how dead is it really?

And if you wonder why "netbooks" suddenly started to come with a conventional hard drive, 12" screens, Windows XP and other b*llshit, you might want to read this:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/microsoft_strikes_back_at_linux_netbook_push
 

Offline Colani1200

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Re: The Day, Or Year, The Linux Desktop Died - InformationWeek
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2009, 01:56:18 PM »
Quote from: mr_a500;509944
Possibly... but then again, most people are not willing to eat shit either. I suppose I could learn to like eating shit if I just put some effort into that, but for some reason I don't think it's worth the effort. ;)


Many people already learned to. Albeit shit in a pleasent looking package...

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The thing is, I've never had a problem shutting off BeOS. Why? BeOS doesn't support ACPI.


Then it doesn't support dynamic CPU clocking, power saving, cooling etc. etc... Not very modern... And not very ecological nor economical either.