OSCON 2008 Roundup 182
An anonymous reader writes "Infoweek wraps last week's event with Inside The OSCON 2008 Conference, which pulls together interviews with Mark Shuttleworth, Linux Foundation's Jim Zemlin, MySQL's Zach Urlocker and Sam Ramji, who directs Microsoft's Open Source Lab. Best quotes: 'We will make a significant attempt to elevate the Linux desktop to the point where it is as good or better than Apple,' from Shuttleworth; and 'If I would start a business tomorrow I'd do it in the netbook marketplace. I'd build a dead-simple $200 device that targets sports fans, women over forty,' from Zemlin." We discussed Shuttleworth's better-than-Apple proposition while OSCON was going on. Update Jamie noted this OSCON Summary Video that might also be worth your time.
Better than Apple (Score:2)
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So when is Ubuntu Linux (or one of the other eye-candy filled Linux distros) going to come with SimDock, Kiba-Dock, or Cairo-Dock (my favorite) installed by default? And sensible key-bindings for Compiz functions?
UI != "widgets on the screen" (Score:2, Informative)
I think the bigger issue with Linux isn't the UI consisting of the widgets on the screen. I think it's the UI related to how software is installed and updated. For instance, which of the three installation methods would the general public most readily accept:
I know I've simplified these things, but by and large, the installation
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If anything, the application manager is the killer app (for Ubuntu at least). No, what's holding Linux back is the lack of certain "must have" applications. The biggies to me are iTunes (and iTunes store), and lack of professional-grade design software. I, for one, would switch from Mac to Linux if I could
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You don't install linux programs by typing strange commands into a text box. That's optional for those that aren't as visual and want to fine tune what is happening.
Most linux programs are installed via a program called synaptic. You load it, find the program, mark it, and click Apply. It finds everything it needs for you and does the install.
Another option is to download the .rpm or .deb file and double click on that. Let it happen.
It is nearly never required to type commands into a text box these days
"Sports fans,women over 40"-oh dear (Score:2)
Women over 40 in fact constitute over 1/4 of the developed world adult population. That's not a targeted audience. In fact, I suspect that, as they have had significant life experience so far, it is a much more varied market than women under 40. Which shows that he doesn't understand what is meant by targeted marketing.
As an example, I've just ordered a MSI Wind with XP - why? Because the main reason for it is to work with my 3G HSDPA modem, that'
Ummmm... (Score:2)
The last time I attempted to use iTunes was an unmitigated disaster. I'm pretty sure we are already beating apple. I never have problems like that in Rhythmbox. TVtime needs a lot of work though....
Microsoft Open Source == oxymoron (Score:2)
There absolutely is nothing even remotely resembling Open Source going in any Microsoft entity, subsidiary, or within Microsoft itself. Open Source was defined 10 years ago and Microsoft's efforts in no way even remotely resemble that definition.
Microsoft is trying to Embrace Open Source, to Extend it their direction, and then Extinguish it by making the real Open Source obscure and arcane.
We are smarter than this people. We do not want Microsoft involved in Open Source at any level for any reason, period
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:5, Informative)
For example, when you do a search in a textbox or browser or something, OSX not only highlights the text, it makes it jump out for a second (stretch then shrink). It is really cool. I'm sure it annoys some people. It could be done on linux, but it would take a couple hundred lines. With core animation, it takes 10 or 15, and then because of the modularity of the whole OpenStep GUI system, it is easy to pass that capability into other programs.
Until Linux has a similar programming system, it will be hard to give it the same eye candy. Think about it: suppose I am trying to set up some effect on a windows machine. I know it will take a day or so of coding, so I am going to be careful to set it up and plan well before hand. If it turns out nice, I'm going to feel pretty good.
Whereas with core animation, if I suddenly think of something cool, I can just try it out. If it looks good, then great, if it doesn't, I can tweak it or throw it out until another good idea comes up. And you don't have to be an expert, it is pretty simple once you get it. So even the B-rate programmers can come up with this stuff, and the non-graphics programmers (documentation is still pretty horrible, however). That is cool. In fact it is one of the coolest things I've seen in programming in years.
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This just is flat out wrong.
This is like claiming that Apple has such polished desktops and product design because they have really good artists and industrial designers.
It is the management culture at Apple that makes those things happen and the people doing it are just the tools they use. And the same goes for Core Animation and the rest of OS X's UI and imaging technologies.
Just take one look at the visual abortion that is KDE 4.1:
http://www.linux.com/var/uploads/Image/articles/142661.png
Core Image isn't
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's true! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Quite simply, don't forget the planning.
stop the rants and give us some facts (Score:2, Interesting)
May I interrupt your rant and ask for some facts please? Where are the usability studies showing OS X or Windows to be superior?
The fact is that Apple has never shown their usability to be better than anybody else's.
And you have nothing to back up statements "There is a complete lack of even the most basic UI design concepts that have been developed over the past 20 years." Come on, try naming those "basic UI design concepts" that Gnome or KDE supposedly violate.
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http://www.linux.com/var/uploads/Image/articles/142661.png
Looks like a [bad] fanboi theme on XP...
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I totally agree with you. I just started hacking around with Cocoa, and I am pretty blown away by how elegant it is.
Objective C is pretty amazing, too. (I couldn't speculate about whether developing for Cocoa with Java is fun or not).
It's a total cliche, but it's true: You only get one shot at making a good API. If it has warts that you want to get rid of later, be assured that millions of developers will have written code that depends on those warts.
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Yeah it's basically due to the easy modularisation of the apple API due to Cocoa (objective-c). THat makes programming for mac so simple. Linux has an equivalent to this in Gnustep/Etoile with Objective C but it is lacking developer manpower. I am convinced that with a lot of developers backing gnustep/etoile it could easily replicate the mac experience on linux and surpass it.
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E17 (i.e. Enlightenment) has been promising a lot of this kind of thing for a while now. Of course, the Hurd, and DNF also promise a lot as well...
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Re:KDE and Gnome Have Failed To Match OS X (Score:4, Interesting)
And it can be done. Each one of the problems you have listed can be overcome, and furthermore OSX has showed how to solve a lot of those problems. It's going to be a lot of hard work, but it can be done. And incidentally, I don't even think Interface Builder is that great. It gets the job done, but the latest version annoys me.
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What are you going to do if you can't push OSX, and Microsoft is dying? You start pushing Linux. Maybe this won't happen, but it isn't an unreasonable scenerio.
It is a completely unreasonable scenario. And where do get off saying that Microsoft is a dying company? Here's their FY 2008 earnings release [microsoft.com]. Tell me again how $60B a year is a dying company. Perhaps you were talking out your ass?
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It is a completely unreasonable scenario.
It is not a completely unreasonable scenario. Are you suggesting there is no way for Microsoft to lose the market? Are you aware that at one time, people said similar things about IBM? IBM is still around, but it isn't in any way the company it once was.
Microsoft's lifeline is Windows (and office). If people don't want it anymore, then the cash flow dries up. Mac sales grew by 40% over last year. The previous year they grew by 30%. Apple is expected to introduce a new line of low cost computers by
Re:KDE and Gnome Have Failed To Match OS X (Score:4, Informative)
Apple: down 23% fom their 52 week high Microsoft: down 30% from their 52 week high VA Linux: down 66% from their 52 week high
Why look at VA Linux, when they don't even sell Linux anymore? Take a look at Red Hat, which is down only 14% from their 52 week high.
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Microsoft has a P/E ratio of 14, which I believe indicates people see very little growth po
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and it's time users gave them a piece of their mind more directly, or helped with better themes, instead of simply nagging on slashdot.
Uh huh....you do realize it seems like you are simply nagging on slashdot, right? The sad thing is, interface development tools are not enough, if the underlying framework is hard to use.
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The real problem is X and the fact that it is an utter pile of gash.
That's a pretty ironic statement, given that both Apple and Microsoft had to abandon their previous window systems a few years back and adopt an X11-like architecture.
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:4, Interesting)
What's X11-like about the Apple windowing system ?
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That was pretty much X's only really good idea.
Many other technologies you take for granted today were pioneered with X11: mixed desktop and 3D graphics, client/server 3D graphics, separation of window management from applications, theming, 3D look-and-feel, remote GUIs, pixel accurate graphics, backing store policies, server-side extensibility, window server media handling, mixed direct screen buffer and desktop interfaces, and tons more.
And technologically, X11 and the desktops built on it are lightyears
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Macs don't "just work".
People try them because they are told they "just work" and they pay highly for the privilege. When they discover that they have been lied to they are assured to "stick with it" and once they are heavily invested they are afraid to pull out because they don't want to lose that investment. Then they try to enlist other people so they don't feel so abnormal.
In other words, it's a cult. And if you find that too hard to believe, keep in mind that the leader of this cult is Steve Jobs.
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:5, Funny)
http://xkcd.com/456 [xkcd.com]
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Macs don't "just work".
People try them because they are told they "just work" and they pay highly for the privilege.
TBH, I bought a Mac because I'd had enough of issues with hardware (both under Windows and Linux) which didn't do what it said on the box.
Which is not to say there isn't the occasional issue - if I'm buying a peripheral I need to ensure it's not some Windows-only POS but to be honest I'd have avoided such things in the Windows world as well because IME Windows-only peripherals are Windows only because the manufacturer decided to shave a bit off their costs and do the legwork in the driver rather than on the
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In other words, it's a cult.
Then how come you're acting so much more brainwashed than the people with positive things to say about Macs?
"It just works" is obviously referring to the machine being usable on day one, without requiring a lot of work first. In other words, the software to do what you want to do is already there and there's no preinstalled deadweight bloatware or nagware that you need to waste time removing. It also suggests that the software is of higher quality and crashes less often.
I'm sorry, but it's completely fair f
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:4, Insightful)
We're not talking about the people who "just like it", we're talking about the people who claim it "just works". It doesn't just work! The fact is that for the vast majority of people who get on a Mac for the first, second, or even 20th time, they damn thing doesn't "just work" it doesn't even "just kinda work". What it does is anything but. So stop speaking shit. I challenge everyone who has never used a Mac to go to the Apple Store and try to perform the most basic of tasks.. hell, try to switch from one maximized application to another. Enjoy the learning curve. They don't.. just.. work..
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:5, Interesting)
If you take a Mac from the Mac store and sit down and use it (i.e. don't install a bunch of garbage on it before you figure out how to use it), well, most people find it pretty intuitive.
And this is different from Linux how?
If you plop down an Ubuntu system on someone's desktop, in my experience, they find it "pretty intuitive" as well. Actually, many users prefer the Ubuntu desktop because it's easier to find and launch the apps that they need; nobody has has had any complaints about it.
or a linux machine (which could look like anything depending on the window manager installed and the programs opened).
That's a bullshit comparison. You need to compare desktop operating systems, not a kernel and a desktop OS.
Furthermore, OS X can also "look like anything" if people choose to theme it.
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My grandma officially can use the Eee PC Xandros OS after trying for months and failing to feel like she could do anything in OSX. Now my parents have a spare rather new Macbook of some sort...hmm...
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"Most applications don't start maximised" isn't a solution. I want them maximised, so if they don't start that way, I will do it manually. And from there, I can't just "[click] a window behind the front one".
And once I have 5-6 maximised applications (which is more often than not), "clicking the red or yellow dot in the upper left hand corner of most windows and then clicking the window behind" becomes an utter PITA.
OSX may be pretty, but it'
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Command+~ switches windows. Command+Tab switches applications. You're right that the Zoom button does fit-to-content in some apps and maximize in some apps and I'd rather see it do just one of them, preferably maximize.
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you're doin it wrong.... (Score:2)
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I *challenge* you to take a person who has never used a Mac to the Apple store and ask them to use a Mac to do any standard task. Actually listen to what they say. If they don't mutter "how the hell do I..?" in the first 5 minutes you've found a genius. It is not intuitive. You're told it is intuitive and you believe it, but have you actually tested it?
Mr. (or Miss or Mrs, for that matter) MG, you appear to have a great deal of anger about OS X and how intuitive or otherwise it is.
Why? Why does it matter to you what OS anyone elects to use? More to the point, how is it any of your damn business? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, surely?
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For the same reason we should care about what Christians believe - cause they are delusional and accepting irrational belief as "ok" is bad for all of us in the long run.
Their belief in charity and community are just a ticking time bomb. I heard the other day they were giving out free food and clothing to the poor! This must be stopped.
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Speaking personally, I don't really care what any group believes as long as they don't try and impose their beliefs on me or use them as an excuse to cause harm to me or anything I feel strongly about. I certainly have better things to do than try and convert them to atheism.
I don't really see how your "you are deluded and I will keep on telling you this until you agree with me" attitude is fundamentally different from Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on doors and asking if the occupants have found God.
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:4, Funny)
The nipple's intuitive. Everything else is more or less hard to learn.
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Funny, I found a Mac incredibly intuitive and easy to use -- especially after 5 years of Linux.
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I would disagree, while there is a (shallow) learning curve, when I plug in a printer it "just works".
then you do agree with me.
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No.. I'd be happy to say that no OS "just works". It's not a question of Apple-vs-Whatever.. it's a matter of Apple lying.
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Dude, you are obviously trolling. This is nonsense. OS X does "just work," for many many many reasonable definitions of "just work."
Example 1: I don't have to fight with my computer just to find out what the date is. In most computer users' experience, this is ridiculously hard, because WinXP inexplicably stops showing the date on hover-over-the-systray-clock sometimes. Now, if you're on your home computer, you can double-click and bring up the calendar view where you can set the date. But if you're at work
Zeroconf (Score:2)
One of the biggest 'just works' is Zeroconf/Bonjour. You can take a room full of brand new out of the box Macs, turn them on and they are on the network. Nothing to setup. Toss in a zero conf printer (like those from HP) and again, nothing to setup. I went to my Uncle's for Thanksgiving and had to print something. Without setting anything up or even forgetting I didn't have a printer installed I did the "Apple-P" and low and behold his USB printer on his desktop was setup as a ZeroConf, I hit print and it j
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That's a trick question because you can't maximize applications.
But in my experience there are those hot corner thingers that make every window fly out of whatever nook or cranny you hid it in and then you just click the one you want. Combining youur visual processing ability and Fitt's law mean you're much more likely to end up with the window you wanted sooner than say a linear search via alt-tab.
Now I don't own any Macs, but frankly, that's a killer feature.
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Took me a couple of days to understand the whole thing.
What? So it didn't "just work"? Huh?
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What? So it didn't "just work"? Huh?
Hey, jackass. "it just works" mean things just work (and this is generally true). It does *not* mean "I don't have to learn how to use it".
How you got the second notion from that phrase is beyond me.
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"it just works" mean things just work (and this is generally true). It does *not* mean "I don't have to learn how to use it".
Control the language and you control the debate, eh? I see you are still drinking the Koolaid.
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"it just works" mean things just work (and this is generally true). It does *not* mean "I don't have to learn how to use it".
Control the language and you control the debate, eh? I see you are still drinking the Koolaid.
What kool aid? I said "it just works" means that things "just work". You seem to think it means you don't have to know how to operate them. Which, of those two, seems like word games?
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Compared to Windows the Mac indeed "just works". But it still has many problems.
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I'm not so sure.
Apple 'just worked' and had a GUI from the 80s (pre-os X), and now just works and has a modern GUI.
It happens that that OS X is also when the masses really started using Macs again.
Now, there are *A LOT* of factors that changed in that timeframe - marketing, GUI, features, etc. However, is there any proof, one way or the other, that that the 'just works' is enough without a flashy GUI?
There's plenty of proof of the exact opposite, as it happens. Clever marketing can sell a product which is otherwise running about 2-5 years behind everything else in the marketplace.
Witness MS-DOS and the rise of the IBM PC compatible at a time when Apple had a much larger market share than they have ever since.
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That's not proof the opposite happened, that's circumstantial evidence suggesting that you can't be sure it happened. I already said you can't be sure one way or the other, so you really didn't counter my point.
There are a *lot* of factors that could be involved.
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That's not proof the opposite happened, that's circumstantial evidence suggesting that you can't be sure it happened. I already said you can't be sure one way or the other, so you really didn't counter my point.
There are a *lot* of factors that could be involved.
I'm not sure what sort of evidence wouldn't be considered circumstantial.
MSDOS was miles behind more-or-less everything else that existed in the personal market - particularly in terms of UI and ease of setting up. This remained the case for its entire life.
Now, I can't produce evidence of this without spending an inconvenient number of hours going into the history of personal computing, but if you're prepared to seek a little for yourself, I suggest you look up the Amiga, the Atari, the BBC Micro, the Aco
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I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm just saying that I've yet to see proof that /Apple/ is moving ahead in the computer market with a drastically inferior product, or a product, as much as I hate it, that is technically less than on-par with the competition. At least in computer/OS terms. Well, my experience suggests it's inferior in terms of accessibility for people with certain disabilities, but that hardly is a major affect for most users.
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There's no such thing as an inferior OS these days - it's all in the applications and, to a lesser extent, peripheral support.
I've heard it said - and there is a glimmer of truth to it - that Unix makes difficult things possible; Windows makes easy things difficult and Apple make difficult things $19.99.
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People don't use Macs because the GUI is pretty. They use Macs because "they just work"
People do buy macs 'cause the hardware is prettier, which I think is what most people think of when they think Mac eye candy. At this point, Windows just works about as often as Macs do,(meaning just fine as long as it's used as intended) so usually once cost/functionality are factored in, it probably does boil down to eye candy.
Another reason things just work is 'cause Apple GUI's tend to be fairly intuitive, so it's easy to get things working, once the user gets accustomed to it. Lots of FOSS UI's aren't
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I am posting this from a fairly new Mac lappy and I would estimate that I've used the Mac OS on this thing less than two dozen times. Bootcamp + XP SP3. FTW
And yes, yes I bought it for the beauty of the hardware.
Re:Better-than-Apple? (Score:5, Insightful)
They use Macs because "they just work".
I constantly hear this quote from Mac fanboys but it doesn't make any sense. The implication is that other computer systems don't work. I'm on a machine that dual boots Windows and Linux, and guess what? It works!
And you know what else. Nearly every server in the world is on Linux or Windows and they work too. And most businesses are running Windows or Linux and it works there too. And finally Linux and other non-Apple OS's are running nearly all of the embedded systems in the world. And what's most interesting about this is how microscopically small the amount of these people who think Apple "just works" is.
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This is why Shuttleworth is dead wrong (Score:3, Interesting)
I have used and administered Linux systems for a decade now. Whenever I try to setup a "Linux" desktop such as Ubuntu, there is always a long list of problems that would never, ever afflict a Mac or Windows system.
Here are some of the current problems:
- NumLock light is opposite the NumLock mode (this on a dead-common 104-key setup). We see a very high degree of spurious breakage of what should otherwise be very solid functionality.
- Right-click in Firefox 3.x sometimes executes random context item without
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I myself hate to be quoted because often doing so takes sentences and phrases out of context. Overall you have to read the meaning of what's being said and address that instead of nitpicking someone's inability to precisely elaborate what they mean. So, I won't do it to you.
Over the past decade you are correct, many of these issues existed, and some still exist. By far, the issues were addressed in the past couple years and most of the problems you speak about affect all the operating systems.
As a small
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I think you are wrong on many technical points, and that people with your mindset are a large part of the problem preventing a worthwhile FOSS desktop system from being developed.
On a couple of the technical points: If these issues have largely been addressed, then why are my Numlock lights reversed? Why do I have to edit a file in /etc to fix it? And Why has Firefox 3 for Linux gone on for so long with a massive UI bug that is not shared by the OSX and Windows versions?
Why is there no SDK? No default IDE t
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First of all, my enthusiasm for looking for the interesting points amidst dismissive names, such as fanboys and freetards, is waning. Please, if we must babble our useless cliches, let us return to welcoming our frist posting "In Soviet Union" joke overlords.
The phrase "just works" dates back to the mid-80s and was no more than a relative statement at best. Since then, everyone has made great strides in simplifying usability. Comments about server and embedded space are irrelevant because, as you imply, whe
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At my shop I'm tasked to remove Vista and replace it with XP on more machines than I see with Vista come in for other issues. Those vista issues I do see are nasty and show how haphazardly the OS was implemented.
I have also been tasked more in the past few months to put linux on machines even for elderly people. People in their late 60s to early 80s want me to put Linux on their computers. And, when done I rarely hear back from them. Those that do visit me say that Linux is working well for them and tha
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Don't hold your breath:
http://linuxhaters.blogspot.com/2008/06/catastrafont.html
A few more years Linux fonts will suck in an equally but completely different way.
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Don't even have to use profanity. Essentially you could say that "proprietard" is the equivalent of the expression of profanity you make.
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linuxhaters is awesome, right? It's like maddox only somehow dumber and less entertaining (which is itself impressive, I guess).
Err... Maybe I should put it in terms you'll understand:
linuxhaters sucks big hot hard freetard cock!
- freetard
Actually, even Jeremy Alison of SAMBA fame agrees with the general thrust and acknowledges the technical acumen of the LinuxHaters blog. He is a big proponent of free software, GPLv3 etc., yet considers it valuable criticism of the way the community is running things. So I guess that makes you a doctrinaire, humorless, freetard. :p
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It is written in the style of the Unix Hater's Handbook. So yes, its insulting and potty-mouth but it effectively draws the humorless and doctrinaire in, and those are the types with the least tenable ideas and attitudes about "Linux". LinuxHater makes mincemeat of them, showing what a sorry gruel of platitudes and excuses they keep dishing out. IMO he is doing us a big favor.
Check out the article on fonts... the author has his Linux chops and knows well of which he (angrily) speaks.
And really, who would bo
Re:2008 - The Desktop Linux Dream Is Dead (Score:4, Insightful)
My main problem with Linux right now are the damn fonts... They look like complete crap without heavy aliasing. This should *NOT* be the case even with the extra font packs installed.
You probably didn't set up the right anti-aliasing in preferences; that can happen on Windows and OS X as well. The OS doesn't know what you need or want.
When you use X or power management features or bluetooth..etc its not long before something starts going haywire.. at least thats been my experience.
Did you buy supported hardware? If not, that's like complaining that when you install OS X on your PC, things don't work.
It's not a Linux problem when Linux doesn't work on unsupported hardware, and that simply will never get fixed.
Compared to RDP there is no contest in terms of network resources consumed by remote sessions. X11 is a pig.
That is by design: X11 and RDP are designed for totally different bandwidth/performance/functionality tradeoffs.
Furthermore, modern X11 applications are not written or tested for remote usage anymore. The equivalent of RDP in the Linux world is VNC, which works very well.
Give it a few more years and I'm sure Linux will continue to make great strides on the desktop... IMHO they really do just need to kill the damned X11 system alltogether.
You don't know what you're talking about. Microsoft and Apple had to abandon their idiotic attempts at window systems and Windows UI Server and Quartz now have the same architecture (asynchronous client-server systems) as X11. X11 is still the better system.
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If "asynchronous client-server" architecture makes something "the same as ... X11", then practically all asynchronous networked software is the same as X11. That's not a meaningful distinction.
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Oh, please, get a clue. We're talking about window systems here. X11 was one of the first asynchronous client-server window system. And it's the asynchronous client-server aspect that Mac and Windows users keep whining about. Yet, after more than a decade each, both companies came around and adopted an asynchronous client-server architecture for their window systems as well.
If you have some other complaint about X11, please share it with us.
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No, Mac users kvetch about X11 because it requires sending every little damned pixel across the connection rather than sending sensible drawing instructions like one does in Quartz. Oh, and X11's godawful color modes.
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No, Mac users kvetch about X11 because it requires sending every little damned pixel across the connection rather than sending sensible drawing instructions like one does in Quartz
Are you just not listening? X11 and Quartz do the same thing: they both have connections and they both send vectorized instructions across them. The only difference is that X11 has been doing this for 20 years and does it a lot more efficiently, while Apple only came around half a dozen years ago.
Oh, and X11's godawful color mod
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must be your hardware. on an intel laptop with a broadcom card + bluetooth, compiz, etc and had no problems from X11, but on a new laptop with an ati card things are a bit less stable
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WTF? "update" only retrieves the package lists, which cannot ruin anything even theoretically. "dist-upgrade" is a bit of a risk but if you're using official repositories and the stable branch, you'd have to try really hard to break something. Either way, it's hardly Debian's fault.
Re:Spice Rubbed Steak with Quick Garlic Fries (Score:5, Funny)
If you're going to troll(?) at least do it in metric please!
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About 700 ml vegetable oil
2 (3.2 cm-thick) boneless top loin (New York strip) steaks (about
15 cc spice rub for beef
1 (.45 kg) package frozen french fries (or strip-cut some potatoes, lazy american)
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced lengthwise
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 233 C.
Heat 1 inch oil in a 3.7- to 5.7-liter heavy pot over high heat until it registers 190 C on thermometer.
While oil heats, pat steaks dry, then rub all over with spice rub (and salt if necessary). H
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I can do better than oven roasted steak.
Parents, talk to your kids about Linux, before somebody else does:
http://xkcd.com/456/ [xkcd.com]
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That sounds good, I'll have to try it.
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I'm confused. Are you talking about something other than what's in the Layouts tab of System -> Preferences -> Keyboard? Because there's also the keyboard setup that happens during the install process. What's missing?
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The issue you are encountering has nothing to do with Linux or Ubuntu. It has to do with how they configured and locked down your configuration. Linux keyboarding works fine. I doubt 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the population of the 50 million worldwide users have issues with Linux and their keyboard.
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OK. Thank you very much for that pointer. I will reinstall my own VM. ... it seems there has been a kernel change which has messed up some keyboards like the MacBook Pro I'm using.
I thought it was general, because several people complained on the Ubuntu forums, and were told to go edit files
Edmund
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Actually, I'm stuck using Ubuntu because it has support compiled in for some FTDI based usbserial hardware I'm using - usually I employ Puppy in a VM. And yes, I consider resorting to a compiler to be something to be done with malice aforethought :)
Edmund
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Is that all the Linux leaders today can think of, is copying or matching what has already been done? "When we catch up to OS X..." "If only we targeted netbooks..." - Why can't they think of anything original? By the time they've reach their their target it will have already moved.
On an overall level, Linux distributions (ie: Linux operating systems) are designed by community consensus. And community consensus behaves like a gigantic committee. And we all know what happens when you leave software design to a committee.
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Image sells. Linux needs an image. Nothing wrong with rallying others to bring the same level of image to Linux.
Companies large and small have taken up the Open Source ideology and are carrying it further. Essentially it means that Open Source is surpasing closed source, and that is hardly a copying effort to accomplish that.
In the late 80s and early 90s innovation in software concept was so varied that trade journal computer magazines were released often 2 times a month and were packed with information,
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Ok fine, do that. I urge the entire Linux user community to please tune out anything that has to do with Solaris, Windows, Mac OS X, and any OS that isn't derived from sacred Linux code.
Don't even look at a Mac or Vista desktop, you wouldn't be interested, nothing to see there. Linux is perfect, and in every way. It's not even useful to draw comparisons between Linux and other ungodly OS's, so just run a mental grep -v Apple|Sun|Mac|Solaris|Windows|Microsoft filter on everything you read. Correct my re
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