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Worst Linux Annoyances?

greenrd writes "Ever spent hours trying (and failing) to get a printer driver to work on Linux? Struggled to configure something ever-so-slightly out-of-the-ordinary? What have been your biggest annoyances when using Linux? Three O'Reilly authors are compiling a book on Linux annoyances - and their suggested solutions - and they've started a mailing list here. I can't help but think, though, that such a book will be dated quite quickly. Sure, some problems do languish unfixed for years - but equally, I suspect many of the problems will be fixed before, or soon after, the book's publication date. Still, increased visibility might motivate developers to create fixes or workarounds for some of the problems, so maybe this is an ideal opportunity to get your pet peeve finally addressed!"

19 of 1,918 comments (clear)

  1. RTFM by slyxter · · Score: 3, Funny

    My biggest annoyance is the fat guy in a penguin shirt yelling RTFM lamer.

    1. Re:RTFM by _KiTA_ · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ah, I see you've met the people in #Linux on EFNet. :)

      "I need help..."
      "RTFM you goddamn newbie or go get WinXP."
      You have been kicked by Dudrio (Wanker)
      Cannot rejoin channel (Address is banned.)

  2. Most Common Linux Annoyance by Joe+Jordan · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Where's the Start button????"

  3. Easy... by ryanvm · · Score: 5, Funny

    What have been your biggest annoyances when using Linux?

    Easy - you guys.

  4. Worst Linux annoyance EVER by levik · · Score: 5, Funny
    I got three letters for you:

    S .... C ... O

    Now who can beat that?

    --
    Ñ'
  5. Biggest annoyance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    My biggest Linux annoyance is that it doesn't run Windows games. Sure, you can get some 5 year old games to run by sacrificing a chicken to the Winex gods, but if you want to play any decent games you MUST run Windows.

  6. Re:That damn penguin by teval · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen an angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100 mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had." -Linus Trovals Speaks for itself

  7. Re:Worst Linux annoyance- by endeitzslash · · Score: 5, Funny

    You won't find that with BeOS users.

    Yeah, those two guys are nice. =)

  8. That's Easy. by DAldredge · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just use perl.

  9. Re:Annoyances by C0vardeAn0nim0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It annoys me that Linux is inexpensive, because I don't get the satisfaction of bragging to my neighbors about how much I paid for it.

    send a $699 check to SCO and come back here to brag about it

    It annoys me that I can upgrade Linux without having to purchase state-of-the-art expensive PC hardware, so my hardware is always outdated.

    install Winex and star gaming. since Winex sometimes cause a 30% loss in framerate, it'll be a good reason to buy a Radeon 9800 pro

    It annoys me that I don't have to reboot frequently, so I never know how fresh the bytes of code are in memory.

    linux 2.6 pre1

    It annoys me that I can easily solve my Linux problems in the Google groups section, instead of getting to speak with a real live tech support person, who might be a really cute blonde chick.

    pay for it (also answers #1) and call redhat's tech support instead.

    It annoys me that I don't have a mascot like Clippy the paperclip in the vi text editor.

    vigor. www.userfriendly.org for back reference on it. then apt-get install vigor if you have debian.

    --
    What ? Me, worry ?
  10. Re:dated?? by mikeee · · Score: 2, Funny

    1. Write book on Linux annoyances.
    2. Annoyances are fixed.
    3. No Profit.

  11. Re:CUPS by stratjakt · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ok, the REAL annoyance with CUPS is the FAQ.

    The FAQ is basically a long winded lecture warning you to RTFM (which doesnt exist!) before you dare ask the mighty CUPS gods a question.

    I have a DeskJet 648C that I wanted to stick on my samba server for day-to-day printing (I wouldnt attach my GOOD printer to anything but a Windows box - just a waste of tech otherwise).

    The idea that you can use any printer as a PS printer, and have it share adobe's PS drivers, sounds like such a simple and elegant solution. Printer dies? Plug a new one it, all my networked boxes still use the same drivers.

    The DeskJet is "100% supported" but I still cant get it to print with proper margins. A half inch of everything is cut off. I have absolutely no idea which "level" (PS filters, CUPS, lpd) to start looking for the problem at.

    And thats just the main problem. It still has ridiculous sharing issues (my wifes account cannot print - it would seem that noone but members of @wheel can print over the network)

    I've spent probably a hundred or so hours trying to figure it all out. It's insane.

    You'd think printing would be one of the lowest level no-brainer things to set up. It's not like its cutting-edge tech.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  12. Re:Distros just don't do proper integration testin by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 3, Funny

    I honestly don't know how to reply to this other than to say:

    (yes, yes, I know /. conformaty...) Yes, I really do use Gentoo. I have for about 2 years now. I used MDK before that for quite a while (3 or so years). Personally, I don't use the two distros you mention in your post. I got my teeth cut on RH, and I sunk the 80 bucks into the SuSE 8.0 Pro-Pack, but since I had decided to try Gentoo, I haven't looked back at anything (other than to suggest to n00bs MDK because of ease of use...).
    Really, I know it sounds really cliche and all, but, I prefer to use the UNALTERED souce that the developers released. Sure it sucks rather large moose nards to take so damn long to get a box running (when you compile EVERYTHING from source - but the Gentoo 1.4 Live CD takes care of that part of it... :-) ), but I end up with a machine that is top notch. Hell it's even "designed" for *MY* machine.

    [/RANT Src="Soap_Box"]

    --
    I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
    I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
  13. more work by 514x0r · · Score: 2, Funny

    i don't get as many "reboot breaks"

    --

    !(^((ri)|(mp))aa$)
  14. Most Common Windows Annoyance by C_nemo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Where's the command line?

  15. That'd be... by Black+Noise · · Score: 2, Funny

    Stallman?

    --

    Cig? No, thank you.
  16. Re:kernal modules by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think your problem was that the last Debian release was made before CDROMs were invented.

  17. Clippy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I just can't get Clippy to show up on my text console. :(

    "I see you are trying to shutdown a system..."

  18. Hard games! :p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I tend to hate the way that all your free linux games clubber me. Never made it past level 1 in TuxRacer, never beat the Reversi game either.

    I'm not just talking about linux games. Freecraft and Freeciv beat the sh^t out of me all the time. Man!! Aren't I supposed to be enjoying building my civilizations? Hordes and hordes of things just come at me and kill me! He he.

    Chromium is the only one where the Difficulty button seems to work when I insist to let me in as a newbie. How come noone has made the AI just a bit easier on us?