linuxtoday.com— This is an editorial from the good folks over at Linux Today. It makes sense to me, here's hoping their right :)
Jun 3, 2006View in Crawl 4
Until the Linux community kicks up the level of professionalism in their apps and UI to match that of Mac OS X or Windows, Linux will never be a viable alternative. People simply don't want an operating system that feels like a potluck rather than a restaurant. That's why people pay: To get a unified, comfortable experience-- not a mismash of random applications with minimal functionality and 0 user-friendliness.It has gotten better-- and with more users, I'm sure that it will get better still, but until the community gets its act together, Linux will not succeed.
I'll be another to say that the directory structure could stand to be updated. There's nothing wrong with having directories that actually have descriptive names. Yes, some people will be able to learn the directory structure quickly. 99% of the world, however, will not. That 99% represents the people that many distrobutions are trying to interest.This is one thing that OS X has done very well.
1. Why did you morons mod down nailbunny? His post successfully made light of comparing Windows and Linux to capitalism and communism.2. There is absolutely nothing more capitalistic than Linux, though I would say that Windows would be the communism if that comparison made any sense in the first place. It's the nature of capitalism to drive down the price of goods and services. With Linux, we're attempting to drive the price of OSes and other software down to $ZERO. Since there is no physical good to distribute, this is possible, where with actual products it would not be. Capitalism is about COMPETITION, and Linux is giving Windows COMPETITION. We, consumers, will benefit, one way or another. In my opinion, it is only natural that any type of software end up being Free/open source in the long run. Quality will go up for all products and in the end, price will make it clear which product to use.3. Russian Communism is not communism in any way. Neither is Chinese communism. Communism is a system where government ceases to be relevant and then ceases to exist. Libertarian Capitalism and True Communism basically aim for the same goals, but have different routes to get there. No one on the entire planet knows which, if either, works because neither has been successfully implemented without collapsing in some way.
@spectreSame old song and dance. Communism has always failed but only because it hasn't been done correctly.Lets face it, "complete equality with a communal social structure" only serves to suck the life out of the human spirit.Linux is an operating system not a socio-economic philosophy. I personally don't think everything associated with it has to be free.
On my AMD64 3200+, 1gb RAM, there is a noticable decrease in performance but it is minimal... it's mainly the GUI stuff that is a bit buggy (try running an msstyle... you'll see :S) and of course it's a bit ugly but the apps do run pretty well... most of them anyway.
Wait, linux good for gaming? CEDEGA? Wine? Let me catch my breath....I understand the "Linux not meant to be a replacement for Windows" but if you want that big chunk of the Desktop Market, you know the one that WINDOWS is currently DOMINATING, and you're NOT, than Linux WILL be used as a REPLACEMENT. And currently he is a VERY BAD ONE.I mean look at this:You want to do ______ on Linux?Internet - good luck configurating, good luck with net driversOffice - crappy compatibility of OO with MSOfficeGames - limited choice, good luck configurating that 3d videoMovies - good luck installing that movie playerMusic - want to listen mp3/wma, oops we don't support, go download some codec and prepare to compile hellProgramming - well from my experience if you're a Delphi or a COBOL programmer you're screwed (YES i know Kylix and Lazarus exists and some COBOL alternatives - good luck installing them)Now there will be some of you who will say - Oh ______ works fine with me, but bear in mind that not every user out there is a geek, the sheer amount of difference between linux distros, the PC architecture.... you get the idea.Man, you're so ready for the desktop!Keep on dreaming, boys ...(sorry for the long rant - linux zealots can get on your nerves sometimes)
Okey, let me get it straight to you people who really have no idea:Linux is NOT!!!!!! Windows. PERIOD!If you use linux, don't expect it to act like windows. Saying that linux compatibility sucks is like saying that windows can't run linux programs so it sucks. So stop the bulls**t and stop confusing people!
"Saying that linux compatibility sucks is like saying that windows can't run linux programs so it sucks. So stop the bulls**t and stop confusing people!"People are not complaining about not being able to run the binaries of one platform on another platform. They are merely stating that their favourite applications exist on another platform.Sure there are Linux alternatives to every major application.... just so happens the vast majority of them suck balls in terms of functionality, design, ease of use and consistencyTHERE is the problem.
On a more positive note...I think that many of the major Linux groups are exactly where they need to be right now. Linux is moving closer and closer to being ready to be pushed as a desktop OS. In terms of user interface, they are finally catching up to what OS X is doing, and surpassing what Windows XP can do. Their next tough competition is going to be Vista, which at this point, looks like it's not going to be that big of a deal. I also thing, that the biggest downfall of the current top distributions, are the package management systems. There's far too much dependance on repositories. Gentoo and Ubuntu have it close to right, but you can't always expect the online repositories to have every program you want. Unmasking in Gentoo is confusing and tedious for a newb, and Ubuntu's system just seems quirky. What we need, is a system where you can download a packaged program (ala PCBSD) and simply double click it to invoke the package manager's installation system, where it then refers to the online repositories for any libraries, and additional software that is required for said downloaded package.
madfunkJun 3, 2006
Until the Linux community kicks up the level of professionalism in their apps and UI to match that of Mac OS X or Windows, Linux will never be a viable alternative. People simply don't want an operating system that feels like a potluck rather than a restaurant. That's why people pay: To get a unified, comfortable experience-- not a mismash of random applications with minimal functionality and 0 user-friendliness.It has gotten better-- and with more users, I'm sure that it will get better still, but until the community gets its act together, Linux will not succeed.
spectre_25gtJun 3, 2006
I'll be another to say that the directory structure could stand to be updated. There's nothing wrong with having directories that actually have descriptive names. Yes, some people will be able to learn the directory structure quickly. 99% of the world, however, will not. That 99% represents the people that many distrobutions are trying to interest.This is one thing that OS X has done very well.
oneandonlysnobJun 3, 2006
1. Why did you morons mod down nailbunny? His post successfully made light of comparing Windows and Linux to capitalism and communism.2. There is absolutely nothing more capitalistic than Linux, though I would say that Windows would be the communism if that comparison made any sense in the first place. It's the nature of capitalism to drive down the price of goods and services. With Linux, we're attempting to drive the price of OSes and other software down to $ZERO. Since there is no physical good to distribute, this is possible, where with actual products it would not be. Capitalism is about COMPETITION, and Linux is giving Windows COMPETITION. We, consumers, will benefit, one way or another. In my opinion, it is only natural that any type of software end up being Free/open source in the long run. Quality will go up for all products and in the end, price will make it clear which product to use.3. Russian Communism is not communism in any way. Neither is Chinese communism. Communism is a system where government ceases to be relevant and then ceases to exist. Libertarian Capitalism and True Communism basically aim for the same goals, but have different routes to get there. No one on the entire planet knows which, if either, works because neither has been successfully implemented without collapsing in some way.
shadowmanJun 4, 2006
@spectreSame old song and dance. Communism has always failed but only because it hasn't been done correctly.Lets face it, "complete equality with a communal social structure" only serves to suck the life out of the human spirit.Linux is an operating system not a socio-economic philosophy. I personally don't think everything associated with it has to be free.
xilonJun 4, 2006
On my AMD64 3200+, 1gb RAM, there is a noticable decrease in performance but it is minimal... it's mainly the GUI stuff that is a bit buggy (try running an msstyle... you'll see :S) and of course it's a bit ugly but the apps do run pretty well... most of them anyway.
shakeyshakeyJun 5, 2006
Wait, linux good for gaming? CEDEGA? Wine? Let me catch my breath....I understand the "Linux not meant to be a replacement for Windows" but if you want that big chunk of the Desktop Market, you know the one that WINDOWS is currently DOMINATING, and you're NOT, than Linux WILL be used as a REPLACEMENT. And currently he is a VERY BAD ONE.I mean look at this:You want to do ______ on Linux?Internet - good luck configurating, good luck with net driversOffice - crappy compatibility of OO with MSOfficeGames - limited choice, good luck configurating that 3d videoMovies - good luck installing that movie playerMusic - want to listen mp3/wma, oops we don't support, go download some codec and prepare to compile hellProgramming - well from my experience if you're a Delphi or a COBOL programmer you're screwed (YES i know Kylix and Lazarus exists and some COBOL alternatives - good luck installing them)Now there will be some of you who will say - Oh ______ works fine with me, but bear in mind that not every user out there is a geek, the sheer amount of difference between linux distros, the PC architecture.... you get the idea.Man, you're so ready for the desktop!Keep on dreaming, boys ...(sorry for the long rant - linux zealots can get on your nerves sometimes)
xvampirexJun 5, 2006
Okey, let me get it straight to you people who really have no idea:Linux is NOT!!!!!! Windows. PERIOD!If you use linux, don't expect it to act like windows. Saying that linux compatibility sucks is like saying that windows can't run linux programs so it sucks. So stop the bulls**t and stop confusing people!
Closed AccountJun 5, 2006
"Saying that linux compatibility sucks is like saying that windows can't run linux programs so it sucks. So stop the bulls**t and stop confusing people!"People are not complaining about not being able to run the binaries of one platform on another platform. They are merely stating that their favourite applications exist on another platform.Sure there are Linux alternatives to every major application.... just so happens the vast majority of them suck balls in terms of functionality, design, ease of use and consistencyTHERE is the problem.
uownedgeJun 5, 2006
On a more positive note...I think that many of the major Linux groups are exactly where they need to be right now. Linux is moving closer and closer to being ready to be pushed as a desktop OS. In terms of user interface, they are finally catching up to what OS X is doing, and surpassing what Windows XP can do. Their next tough competition is going to be Vista, which at this point, looks like it's not going to be that big of a deal. I also thing, that the biggest downfall of the current top distributions, are the package management systems. There's far too much dependance on repositories. Gentoo and Ubuntu have it close to right, but you can't always expect the online repositories to have every program you want. Unmasking in Gentoo is confusing and tedious for a newb, and Ubuntu's system just seems quirky. What we need, is a system where you can download a packaged program (ala PCBSD) and simply double click it to invoke the package manager's installation system, where it then refers to the online repositories for any libraries, and additional software that is required for said downloaded package.
seifsallamMar 27, 2009
50-50, is good for now