Linux Foundation Announces 2010 "We're Linux" Video Contest 460
prourl writes "The Linux Foundation (LF), the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, today announced the 2010 'We're Linux' video contest. The contest seeks to find the best user-generated videos that demonstrate what Linux means to those who use it and inspire others to try it." Sadly, the winner will almost certainly be edited in Final Cut Pro on a Mac ;)
Can we *please* stop... (Score:5, Insightful)
... with the damned "I'm a" bullshit? It's getting really old.
I'm a PC! Well I'm a Mac!
And back there you have Linux who is insecure and just has to jump onto the bandwagon.
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"I'm a" bullshit
I think I'll pass watching those videos.
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I'm a penguin!
What's on the telly?
Hhmf, looks like a penguin to me.
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You're all PCs, get over it!
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As AndrewNeo said in response to you, they're all "PCs." They're not all "IBM Compatible PCs" of course.
What's this one going to say, "I'm Linux" - which is pretty much completely wrong? That's like calling your monitor your "computer" :P
Linux community? Ha! (Score:2, Insightful)
Linux was a community many years ago, but the days of songs around a camp fire are over. These days when I think of Linux, I think of:
Tivo
Apache Web Server
Android phones,
WiFi routers,
OLPC
Portable media players
Server Farms
Linux has really come into it's own, but I don't think anybody will ever mistake it for a hobbyist niche again.
The IT Crowd Flashback (Score:4, Funny)
This contest makes me think of the "sexy nerd" calendar they did in The IT Crowd.
Shudder...
Final cut pro == sad (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is that sad? It's a great program that puts world class non-linear editing within reach of most everybody. What is sad, is the insanely expensive and fiddly avid workstations and non-linear editors of the past.
Linux is just like macs in that there are huge disciplines where no applications exist. For example there is no credible 3D solid modeling programs or printed circuit board layout on the Mac. Now there is no credible non-linear video editing program for linux. Both platforms are a niche market, both excel in ways that windows does not, and both are a victim of that nitch-i-ness.
It's only sad if people tried to make a video editor for linux and somehow were denied by forces outside their control. If the only reason is that nobody has bothered to write a good one, then that's not sad.
Sheldon
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Final Cut Express is $199
iMovie is Free.
It's the Pro version that is $999.
Unless you're editing a movie that you plan on putting on the big screen. FCE is MORE than you could ever hope to use.
You could edit most stuff made on TV today with just iMovie.
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Not sure I'd consider them "world-class", but for most purposes kdenlive [kdenlive.org] is pretty good for video editing under Linux, Eagle [cadsoftusa.com] is a very popular PCB layout tool that runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.
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It's only sad if people tried to make a video editor for linux and somehow were denied by forces outside their control. If the only reason is that nobody has bothered to write a good one, then that's not sad.
As a Linux user I think it's sad that we don't yet have a decent video editing solution on Linux...
I agree with what you say that Final Cut Pro itself isn't "sad" - but the fact that Linux users making a video about using Linux don't have a decent tool to edit their videos with is kind of a drag...
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I heard VLC's development path has video editing implemented in the near future. Just sayin'.
Yeah and it's just as amateurish looking as Duh Gimp.
Do you have to use linux (Score:4, Funny)
to actually make the video, or can you use Win/Mac?
Re:Do you have to use linux (Score:4, Funny)
to actually make the video, or can you use Win/Mac?
Just create a makefile listing all the video segments you want to glue together, that's very easy to do on Linux under 500 lines of code.
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You have to use VIM. Sorry...
"The winner" = Exactly (Score:3, Insightful)
I was perfectly happy with Linux until I wanted to start editing video. Most Linux video editing apps while "free" and do a basic job, they IN NO WAY compare with even iMovie that comes included with your Mac.
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Sure. A Linux NLE will happily work with any file you want. iMovie will barf if you try to feed it anything that's not quicktime.
It won't even allow you to so much as have an intermediate step between "pull movie off of camera" and "try to use it with iMovie".
Nope. Linux editors surely can't compare to that.
Re:"The winner" = Exactly (Score:5, Insightful)
SO wrong it is not even funny. Never mind the 100's of cameras iMovie supports natively.. and ignoring the 70+ formats QuickTime supports there are DivX plug-in, Windows Plug-In for both import and export. Worse case you pass it though StreamClip (free) and convert it to QT. About the hardest thing to convert is muxed MPEG-2.
Where as on of Linux best Editors, Cinelerra, still needs about $30 of plug-ins to do Windows media and MP3 audio correctly.
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Sure. A Linux NLE will happily work with any file you want. iMovie will barf if you try to feed it anything that's not quicktime.
Hahahhahahahahha LOL. First time I tried opening kdenlive to edit HDV video I tried to cut the clip, instant crash. Tried it again thinking it was bad luck, another instant crash. And that was supposed to be one of the good ones, the rest weren't quite as bad just ranging from terrible to abysmal. I manage to capture it under Linux but for any editing I'll still take Windows or Mac any day.
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Laugh all you like. iMovie is a big fat fail because it will refuse to work with common video formats.
Your rant doesn't change that fact.
Re:"The winner" = Exactly (Score:4, Informative)
Those formats except for iSight seem common to me. Now what you probably mean to say was iMovie doesn't support all video formats, that is true. It won't probably support Windows based video formats or obscure formats. But remember iMovie is for consumers to make and edit their home movies; it is not intended for professionals. Final Cut probably supports a larger range of formats.
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I've heard OpenShot being described as "iMovie for Linux", it would be nice to hear some objective comparisons on here.
Phillipo.
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It's still a work in progress. It's not feature complete yet but the UI seems promising. The same goes for kdenlive. Although kdenlive is a bit further along.
Like any "Mac versus Linux" comparison you're going to run into features vs. flexibility. The more established Apple tool is further along but might fall down in some basic use cases that involve inputs that aren't carefully pre-selected.
I also like the one-dimensional presentation of clips and the project better in openshot/kdenlive. The snaking effec
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No Ogg/Theora support for videos (Score:4, Insightful)
Can we at least get the Linux Foundation to support Ogg/Theora as a supported format to upload videos in. Ideally they would accept only Ogg and use HTML5 to show the videos instead of Flash..
I'll take "retarded snowclone" for 500, Alex! (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm a Mac
I'm a PC
I'm IBM
I'm a Windows
Got milk?
Can't we just trash all these? Also, the annoying commercials where lots of multi-culti people finish each other's sentences. Exactly what are you trying to say, that using your product will turn you into a hivemind? Well, isn't that neat.
How about we get more creepy children whispering about mirrors, or babies making stock trades. Babies talking like adults is PURE ADVERTISING GENIUS.
Oblig: I'm a Mac, I'm a PC, I'm Linux (Score:5, Funny)
http://news.cnet.com/i/bto/20070322/1157960476967.jpg [cnet.com]
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No mention of last year's contest? (Score:2, Insightful)
The Linux Foundation also did this in 2009. Here [linuxfoundation.org] are last year's winners.
Also, I'm pretty sure that good results come from people who know their tools, and not from the tools themselves. A large amount of the video-editing tools on Linux leave a lot to be desired, but they're still light-years ahead of what was available, say, 20 years back. People made (and still make) good videos/movies without any kind of digital intervention, so that snide remark is probably debatable.
A sunny beach, a warm breeze (Score:2)
And a cell phone that doesn't ring. Contrast that to my "I am Windows" support team: they haven't left town yet being called back to the office to reboot machines, fix virus problems, mange servers, handle local applications.
Ah....aren't thin clients and Linux grand :)
done. (Score:2)
Were Linux, and we do what we want! (Score:2)
with apologies to the "Red Riding Quartet"
What Linux Film Would Be Complete Without... (Score:4, Funny)
IBM Commercial (Score:4, Insightful)
Can we please have more IMB-like ethereal commercials [youtube.com] showcasing how Linux is growing and is ultimately unstoppable because it represents the collective knowledge of the world?
These guys really want to be an example? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm using Linux. And I'm boycotting flash. So I'm here on an Ubuntu Linux (my home computer) and can't watch the videos on http://video.linuxfoundation.org/category/we-are-linux-foundation-video-contest [linuxfoundation.org] the linuxfoundation is talking about. WTF? You people should try to make some accessibility example for OSS folks if you want to be taken seriously. What is this carp??
On the other hand, reading about the content of the videos, maybe it's better this way..
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Insightful)
Sounds like you had no clue what you were doing.
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You shouldn't have to know what you're doing to install an OS.
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That's not the kind of expectation that Windows can live up to really.
OTOH, any PC is a "random collection of spare parts".
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes you do. You need to know how a computer works on a rudimentary level, you also need to know how to install an OS.
If you really think that you don't need to know what you are doing, give the first six-year old you can find a computer and a windows installation cd/dvd. Have fun!
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BTW, given supported hardware, a six year old will have no problems installing Ubuntu neighter.
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Informative)
My 5 year old learned to install Ubuntu just a couple weeks ago. I don't think he understands what the password is for, or why the default option of using the entire hard drive was desired over of the other options, but everything else he could figure out on his own.
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Interesting)
How many windows users install it? Usuially it's installed at the factory and that's that.
I've installed it several times, likewise various linux distros. I'd say the share of installation problems is about equal.
Oh, and 1983 called...
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The windows installer has given me 100 times more headache due to the activation process alone, ignoring the less powerful disk formatting and partitioning tools, having to load drivers from other media, et cetera.
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Unless his "generic PC" had a vendor recovery disk, I don't see the re-install of XP going terribly well either.
With a near total lack of information, it is hard to tell.
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Not necessarily. By now most people who have more than a few years of computer experience also have a lot of experience (re)installing Windows. Simply due to necessity. And it can be very frustrating to try to install a new system, even if it is easier to install than Windows, simply because they already know all the quirks and kinks of the Windows installer. Practice makes perfect, ya know...
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I might actually buy that if I didn't have plenty of firsthand experience to the contrary.
The average n00b consumer would have no hope without special purpose made vendor recovery disks.
That's the fun thing about Windows bashing. EVERYONE has been forced into having experience.
It's not nearly as easy to get enough Mac experience to eviscerate that OS.
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Sounds like you didn't know what you were doing then ;)
Frankly I don't find Linux to be all that much harder to install than Windows though. It's those edge cases with obscure hardware where Windows has always proven to be easier in my own anecdotal evidence.
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I can hack my own drivers if necessary. Clearly what I find difficult is not a useful metric when considering the vast majority of users out there.
Besides, the fact that I can do it doesn't mean I want to be bothered by it. That's what progress is for, so we don't have to be stuck in 1983. We can take advantage of niceties like networking, automation and graphical interfaces.
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People appearantly want their OS like their politicians: Making decisions for them.
Exactly, because the average end user wants a computer that just works, and they don't care about the specifics of how it does.
Imagine you take your car to the dealer for service and the technician asks you: What would you like to set the spark plug gap to? What would you like the ignition timing to be? Would you like the tires to be rotated in a cross or mirror pattern? You would give him a funny look and say "I don't know, I just want it to drive like it's supposed to."
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2) IF Windows actually has drivers for your hardware
3) IF it actually had 'generic' drivers that work with your disk controller
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Informative)
Put Windows CD in computer. Turn on. Click "next". After the install is done, Windows Update starts automatically, and grabs most of the specific drivers.
Um, that's most definitely *not* how Windows installs. Not any version ever installed like that.
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:4, Informative)
Put Windows CD in computer. Turn on. Click "next". After the install is done, Windows Update starts automatically, and grabs most of the specific drivers.
Assuming it has the base set of drivers to start with and that the computer is configured to boot CDs before the hard drive.
Granted, most cheap computers are probably easily covered. but that doesn't mean their network cards are, or modems, or other things. For example, it's pretty difficult to get a WinModem working in Windows without manufacturer provided drivers. Too many built-in network cards suffer from non-standard drives too.
And don't forget that WinXP until SP2 didn't come with SATA drivers either. So if your hard drive is now a SATA drive, but you only have a recovery disk for WinXP original, you'd be out of luck in using it.
That's where the vendor disks come in - they provide support for how they shipped the system to you, even if the drivers were not part of the standard Windows media.
So I'd still have to say that the average person cannot so easily re-install Windows without a vendor disk - especially when so much of the Windows-oriented hardware does depend on vendor specific drivers that Microsoft doesn't provide.
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No problem, here's a driver disk.
Uhh... where's the disk drive?
Ok, here's the drivers on a USB stick.
What do you mean, WinXP can't use it to install the drivers?
(can you tell I already had that problem?)
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I thought that, that didn't matter with Ubuntu
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Well I do know what I'm doing and didn't much care for Ubuntu, but it probably depends on what it is used for. My brother on the other hand, loves Ubuntu - easy to use from an end-user's perspective, so YMWV.
I had issues installing graphics drivers in a VM for hardware accelerated graphics (yes, the VM is set up for it), issues with getting developer packages installed, issues finding certain packages (admittedly, they were non-GPL and I did manage to install them by pointing to another serv
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My video would be one showing me frustrated, angry, swearing a lot, and ultimately smashing my keyboard (last time I tried Ubuntu on a generic PC). It would end with me saying "fuck it" and installing Windows XP again. I doubt that would win.
Sounds like you had no clue what you were doing.
Ubuntu's brain-dead "easy install" fails terribly when it can't recognize a video card. Ironically, if he had tried a less-user friendly distro, he would have had less keyboard smashing as it would have gone into a perfectly usable ncurses install instead of making xorg reload every second.
Get real (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like you had no clue what you were doing.
I have computers that run Windows XP, OS X and Fedora. Each one is particularly good at one set of tasks while not so good at others so I switch around as needed. From my experience of installing different operating systems over the past fifteen years, the only one that goes without a hitch every time is OS X, mainly because there's a limited amount of hardware it's expected to support. I've run into install problems with Linux (various distros), Free BSD and Windows and it's always been related to drivers
Well, I Know What I'm Doing... (Score:3, Funny)
I've been using Linux since '94. And it's dorky "community" stunts like this that make me want to disassociate and pretend I still used Windows.
"Hey Kids! Let's put on a show!"
"Oh, super! I can recite all the dialogue to "...Holy Grail!" What can everyone else do?"
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Your approach to the situation flatly contradicts your claims regarding "experience".
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> Also, an argument could be made that base 12 unit systems, e.g. inches/feet/miles,
> are computationally more convenient. I think. Never used that system myself.
Divisible by 3 and 2, both easy to "eyeball".
Ever tried to split something up into 5 equal parts without the aid of a scale?
Rationales always depend on context and not all contexts are interchangeable.
Some methods are better for machines, and some are better for people.
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Divisible by 3 and 2, both easy to "eyeball".
This is silly. This only works for whole units. One could easily say the same thing about metric, 12cm and 1.2 meters, and so on.
Besides, since division by 3 only works once in imperial units. Interestingly, it's actually *easier* to divide by 2 in metric. 1 meter / 2 is 0.5m or 500cm. It's simply a matter of moving a decimal point, whereas in imperial units, you have to convert between feet and inches to go from 0.5 ft to 6 inches (not that that's hard, just that it's even *easier* in metric).
Ever tried to split something up into 5 equal parts without the aid of a scale?
You can do th
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Insightful)
I can point out a handful of people with (n) years of experience putting mirrors on a car, but that doesn't mean they are an expert car builder. Being "in IT" anymore could be someone that runs Ethernet cable to someone that processes orders for NewEgg. It could even be someone that works at Best Buy in the support section. It doesn't mean they know how a computer works and can install an operating system. (Although, every version of Linux I've installed recently has pretty much just worked so I can't see the problem here...)
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It sounds like something wasn't supported. Instead of whining about how something isn't supported, this loser would rather make it out like it's "hard".
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Being "in IT" anymore could be someone that runs Ethernet cable to someone that processes orders for NewEgg.
I was just reminded of how many different things the term "medical professional" can mean.
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Insightful)
Could someone with modpoints hand that guy a few? It's hitting the nail so hard on the head that I'd guess the poor piece of iron needs a pack of Aspirin.
I've seen far too many claims along the lines of "I've been in IT for (n) years and so I should be able to figure this out if it was well done". Nope. You don't. I've been in IT for about 20 years by now. Still I would be hard pressed to compare two graphics cards sensibly or actually put together a state of the art machine. Why? Because I know jack about hardware. I also still owned until about a month ago a Nokia 6070. Why? Because I know shit about cellphones either. And I'm still struggling to figure out how to use my new N97 (took 2 days to figure out how to accept a call...).
I'm fairly sure even the average shelf monkey at Best Buy knows more about hardware than me. Hell, maybe even about cells.
And I sure as hell am no Linux wizard either. I can use it, I can write software for it, but I still use the standard KDE desktop simply because I don't want to spend the time figuring out how to configure it. And I'm fairly sure I still do a lot of things "wrong" and in a way that waste a heck of a lot of time.
But even I managed to install Kubuntu easily. Even though I could probably not put a current CPU into a socket without doing some damage in the process.
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Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:4, Informative)
Then you might want to think about a new line of work.
I've installed Ubuntu on roughly 20 different platforms (laptop, desktop, and servers) since 6.06 and I've never had it not boot. In the past some hardware didn't work immediately but was a trivial fix (or ATI) if you could use google and even that hasn't been the case for a few releases for me.
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:4, Interesting)
Windows is just more forgiving with the hardware.
Uh... what?
I have a laptop that bluescreens with regularity under Windows. The error codes it gives me in the brief seconds before rebooting point to glitches in the hardware (sometimes the RAM, sometimes the video card, sometimes a generic error).
The same laptop runs Linux without issues.
I'd say Linux is more forgiving of hardware glitches - or rather, the Linux kernel doesn't panic at the first sign of a ripple in the pond, like Windows' does.
This is anecdotal evidence, YMMV, XYZPDQ, etc.
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:4, Informative)
There's a setting to stop that auto-reboot if you want to actually read the message: Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Startup and Recovery Settings -> Automatically reboot checkbox.
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Funny)
So, your a PC? (Score:2, Informative)
So I guess you are advertising yourself as a PC user by being easily frustrated, violent and unable to learn anything so you resort to using an OS soon 10 years out of date...
Somehow I don't think MS will be calling you to advertise for them.
Lets face it:
Mac users = Gay.
Linux users = Elitist assholes.
BSD users = Even more elitist assholes.
PC users = Wishing they could be any of the above so they to could have cool sites to post upon rather then having to claim "I am a geek" on a windows machine.
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PC users = Wishing they could be any of the above so they to could have cool sites to post upon rather then having to claim "I am a geek" on a windows machine.
Are you trying to assert that using Windows and being a geek are mutually exclusive?
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I would say he was, and is correct.
Unless you mean that there are windows users who bite the heads off live animals, I am sure those exist.
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You're doing it wrong. The Ubuntu installer has a graphic user interface and I can see where that could be frustrating if you tried to handle it with keyboard only (quite seriously, trying to install it keyboard-only is frustrating, I can vouch for that).
Re:Smashing my keyboard! (Score:5, Interesting)
My video would be a split-screen labelled Linux on the left side and Windows on the right side.
The video begins with left-side user installing Linux and right-side user installing Windows.
The time span shows Left installing Linux, messing up, starting over two or three times and text that says "time elapsed: 3 days" at the end of which the user looks a bit tired but finally satisfied.
During this, the user on the right side pops in the Windows XP disk and installs Windows mostly by clicking OK. A text appears that says "time elapsed: 2 hours"
Then both the left and right users sit down and start using their computers.
Many quick-succession shots follow, indicating passage of time.
On the left side, the Linux user sits and uses his computer as the caption indicates the passage of time: 3 months, 6 months, a year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, 6 years... This goes on with no end in sight. The user is oblivious to everything as he is absorbed in actually using his computer now.
During this time, the user on the right repeatedly complains that his computer is getting slower and slower. He reluctantly stops every three months and backs up his files, angrily wipes everything from the computer, reformats and reinstalls everything. This happens over and over, with the user becoming more and more frustrated each time as the user on the left continues using his computer with no interruptions.
The video ends with the user on the right giving up and asking the user on the left for his Linux install disk.
The caption reads "This is based on a true story" and then "Linux: What do YOU want to do today?"
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Sometimes, the OS itself can make up for failings in the "applications".
My favorite examples are iTunes and iPhoto.
Then there's stuff that's "3rd party" but is trivial to install due to how the core OS is setup.
Ignore the OS and you will probably be patching it up piecemeal with annoying crippleware shareware apps.
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but if you really have a love for computers what's making you have to stick to one OS?
Because it does everything the person needs?
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I have a Mac under the desk (tiny little thing) but I have no great temptation to use
it despite being a Linux user and Linux tools supposedly all being so inferior to Mac
tools. It really helps to use other stuff and see what all of the various pitfalls are.
It would still be a MythTV box but better and cheaper PC hardware came along.
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How warm does it get?
I don't know about you but I'd like to have something like that to put my feet on to keep them warm, its cold in the basement.
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Every [current year + 1] is going to be the Year of the Linux Desktop!
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the army of porn sites happily hosted on Linux servers open their collective floodgates spewing video offerings.
I think the adjective you were looking for is "ejaculating".
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I have 2 monitors right now. Kernel updates sometimes break closed drivers, too bad so sad.
The other problems sound like sour grapes.
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See my comment to the other guy. I didn't mean 2 monitors. I meant MULTIPLE, as in 6 or 8. You try setting THAT up. I have. I gave up. You may laugh at what seems like an insane amount of monitors, but we day traders need them.
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See the response you got in your other comment. X really doesn't care how many monitors you use. If you can plug them all in, you can use all of them at once. You may have had issues, but it certainly is not the fault of the kernel...
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Eh? I have been using muti-monitors under Linux for over a decade. Are you going for a retro 80's ad?
Phillip.
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I have been using muti-monitors under Linux for over a decade
How many monitors? I wasn't referring to two. I have EIGHT monitors on my windows box, and it took a total of 2 minutes to set up.
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Linux's supported this for ages...
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Who cares? Most people don't want a bezel in the middle of their desktop. It's just not something they would be into.
So this whole idea that "multi monitor is a killer" is just PC gamer wannabe nonsense.
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I'm actually using a multi monitor setup on my Ubuntu system, don't suffer of 'driver breakage', know where to find the related documentation and have received plenty of friendly help from fellow linux users.
Why, you ask?
Because i'm not a douche, that's why.
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No multi-monitor support. Kernel updates that break drivers. Poor if any documentation. A "community" that trips over itself to insult you when you "dare" ask for help.
Are you talking about Linux, or Windows? IINM Linux has had support for multiple monitors for quite some time; Windows took a while to catch up. Kernel updates that break drivers? Windows again, only with Windows it's mandatory. The first automatic update that hit XP when I first got it replaced my perfectly good network driver with one that