Conectiva Linux 7.0 is Out 116
rsd writes: "Conectiva Linux 7.0 is out. Here is the original announcement. And here is the babelfish translation. They are already shipping Portuguese box and will start the english soon. However the CDs (iso for what matter) are available in english already. Their main ftp server is overcrowded. Hoever, Rik VanRiel provided us with a really
fast server. I will not describe every feature on it but the main change is the
Synaptic tool, which in my opinion is the best APT frontend ever written."
Money (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Yet another one (Score:1, Insightful)
This isn't in my opinion *the* most cutting edge distro available, but it is very good distro and is best what it aims to be: the distro for people who they target at, that is Latin American bussinesses and users.
The users at LA too need some sort of official tech support and special localization support. Trust me if they didn't do their job, no one else would. You really don't think that RedHat, SuSe or Mandrake are going to switch focus from their current mainstream makets to fill in the gaps in other not as rich markets, are you? People at LA are interested in having localization work done, in having competent tech support people who can speak their native language and having development targeted at people that might have different needs than the rest of the geeks in the rest of the world. How would you feel if you needed to call Germany and speak in german for every single tech support anyone in your country would ever need? Trust me i can do just fine without any tech support, as most geeks can, but bussinesses really can't be operated on this assumption.
They have also been very evangelists for Linux in LA. With their support many counties have passed laws in which the local governments are to use exclusively free/open software, unless that for the required function the software only exists in a non-free type of license. Not only that but they have been working [wired.com] also on a more stripped down distro to give more people access to computing and the internet. Personally I wouldn't really mind seeing another few million users being introduced into computing directly to linux. And anyone trying to get technology to those who need deserve some kudos!
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Nothing like Free home-brewed Beer and Freedom and happiness to all that pursue it!
Re:Yet another one (Score:5, Insightful)
Linux doesn't necessarily need the learning curve that many people attribute to it. Sure, back in the Slackware-only days, installing, configure and using Linux required some knowledge and effort. But today, it really depends on what you want to do. If you just want to run a few office apps like most people do with windows, you never need to touch source code, or bother with the tricky stuff. Just buy a good distribution (like Mandrake or Redhat or [insert favorite here]), and install it.
Now, what makes Linux difficult? First, there is partitioning your hard drive and installing file systems in preparation for the install. This makes many users really nervous. But here's the reality. If you started with a blank hard drive and installed Windows from scratch, you'd still have to set up the file system on the hard drive during the install. You might not have to *partition* the drive, but you don't have to do that with some of the Linux distributions if you are running them without a dual-boot situation. Don't want to go through the trouble of installing it yourself? Do what most people do with Windows -- buy a machine with the OS preinstalled. While rare, you can find machines with Linux preinstalled.
The second difficult thing about installing Linux is the reported problems with recognizing hardware. Note that this is getting better and better, but you'll find that there are problems with devices designed specifically for Windows (WinModems and Windows Printers), and there are also problems with proprietary hardware in which the manufacturer has not opened the specs to Open Source developers. Want to avoid this problem? Make sure your hardware is fully supported by the Linux distribution BEFORE you install. Think consumers wouldn't go for this? Surprise! They did a few years ago when Microsoft released Windows NT 4.0. It was funny how all of those machines my former employer bought from Compaq weren't certified to run Windows NT, and when we had installation and reliability problems, we were outta luck. And these were high-end machines at the time.
While I'm rambling on, let me tell you where I see *real* problems with Linux. The problem is with user interface consistency. You see, one of the great Linux strengths is also a weakness. There are lots of choices for your desktop, and each has a set of applications tailored to it. Great! Nobody is going to tell me what desktop environment I have to use. But if my favorite applications require various environments, I have a slight problem. Yes, I can run all of them under my favorite desktop environment, but they look, feel and interact differently. In many cases, you almost have to know which libraries the application was written with to fully understand how to use it. This can be very confusing for the average user -- it's bad enough that they have to learn something different from Windows, but try explaining that they have to learn two or three different styles of user interface. It can be frustrating. I hope to see this improve. Perhaps authors of good applications tailored for one environment will port them to another. For example, if your favorite web browser is Konqueror under KDE, but your favorite desktop is GNOME with Enlightenment, wouldn't it be nifty to see a port that interfaces really well with GNOME? Maybe we'll see these kinds of things in the future.
Yet another one (Score:1, Insightful)
I really think Linux should take a look at the ease of which BeOS installs and configures itself. That is what the average user wants - transparancy.
Re:Yet another one (Score:2, Insightful)
There will always be a market for people who want to recompile the Kernal, and tweak this and that. This is good, but not for the Average user out there.
That is all I am trying to say.
Interface Consistency (Score:4, Insightful)
That's why I find KDE so exciting. They are actually acheiving a level of consistency and quality in the interface that meets (or, in my opinion, exceeds) that of Microsoft, Apple, or really any other desktop I can think of.
What I'd really like to see is KLinux. A distro centered entirely around KDE, with no non-KDE apps available. At this point that might make the app selection just a little slim, particularly since KOffice is still not on-par with the functionality of something like StarOffice. But I think there are many users that would really appreciate the level of consistency that would be achieved by such a distribution, and the distro maintainers could focus on a 100% KDE-based system, hopefully producing a more integrated final OS.