Slashdot Mirror
Seattle Times Reviews Desktop Linux Distros
prostoalex writes "Seattle Times section on Personal Technology compares Xandros and Lindows as two alternatives to Windows for desktop computing. Their verdict: installation - excellent; OpenOffice - good enough; digital cameras, printers and other peripherals - excellent; CD burning - no problems; video playback - could be better (with more progress bars and support for Apple's formats); digital camcorders - poor; burning audio CDs - poor; Net access and Web browsing - no problems."
Audio CD's are no problem with applications such as K3b. Heck, even regular cdrecord burns audio cd's without a problem.
Seriously, Audio CDs - Poor ????
K3B is the best piece of buring software that I have ever used.... makes nero seem pretty shocking....
tom-george.comBecause geeks rate higher t
isn't xandros capable of integration into the existing windows directory and can use it to authentificate the users ? That would be a great thing to be able the authentificate users with their windows passwords (without using pam_smb)
Spelling mistakes: My is english spoken not tongue of mother.
I think saying 'burning audio CDs - poor' misstates the verdict in the article, by the way. He had trouble finding how to copy .cda files directly, though burning from mp3s was fine. Odd, since you can just grab them right out of Konqueror IIRC, but still a long way from 'poor'.
"video playback - could be better (with more progress bars and support for Apple's formats)"
how is mplayer and xine not sufficient? mplayer has OSD progress bars even and quicktimes movies has never been a problem.
Whenever I burn audio CDs and CPU load or harddrive load jumps at least a bit up, the audio track gets broken, stuttering, breaks, noises...? It's not like buffer underrun, a small peak like at opening Xterm, less than 1/4s, is enough to cause problems!
Will CloneCD employ Realtime Linux extensions to prevent that? I'd like to see it!
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
I like the table at the bottom of the article best.
Installation - last year @ 30 minutes versus today @ 5 minutes. I think it was closer to five minutes last year that that, but it is getting harder to remember the days of 45 minute installs. Look at how far we've come!
You are receiving this message because your browser supports Slashdot Sigs and you have Slashdot Sigs enabled.
Yeah, great, I really care about digital camera support. How compatible is it with games?
In the first paragraph he suggests that worms, viruses and popups are somehow the fault of and only restricted to Windows, and using Linux will solve all those problems.
This is not the reason to switch operating systems, it is a reason to use better software, patch your system, have better security practices etc. Articles that start with this proclamation don't warrant reading any further.
I.O.U One Sig.
That summary could be applied to just about any Linux distribution, not just Xandros and Lindows.
Interesting how in the "normal office" uses (i.e. OpenOffice, Net access and Web browsing) Linux is now seen as at least good enough.
From the article, I suspect the author is comparing installation of Win XP *without other apps* against installing Lindows/Xandros *with multiple bundled apps* - this would mean that Lindows/Xandros installs are actually even better than stated given that nobody installs Win XP without also installing other apps afterwards.
Personally, I've found that installing a "home" Windows PC takes about a day, by the time I install Windows, install service packs, critical patches, MS Office (including finding serial numbers) and sundry apps. With Knoppix or Mepis, it takes me about an hour to get to the same point (i.e install OS to disc, install netselect, find fastest host, apt-get update, apt-get upgrade). Furthermore, installing the Windows PC requires me to actually be sitting in front of the PC doing stuff for a sizeable amount of the time, whereas with the Linux distros I spend very little time actually in front of the PC itself.
I had the chance to play with a Lindows machine in the last month, and it left me impressed with the simplicity, but concerned about the mentality it's going to help keep breeding.
While not all windows users are the "luser" type, there's a massive amount of Joe Average users who can't troubleshoot their way out of a paper bag. Linux has continued to grow for more than a decade now, and has been doing well without these windows style distributions, and leaving behind a group of users with a wealth of knowledge that leaves any Joe Average in the dust.
What I'm concerned about is... with an OS like Windows, why would anyone need to learn to troubleshoot? They can jump from one candy handholding OS to another without going through any kind of knowledge gathering to do so. It's keeping up a culture of ignorance among computer users. That's a legacy I think will come back and bite us on the butt.
It can't really be argued that most of the gadgets such as palm's, digital cameras, iPods etc. work easily with linux. Most of them can be made to work with fiddling and some software that someone has hacked together, but at the end of the day the hardware vendors have more resources to throw at the software, and inevitably produce better software that works well with their product. Until they start producing software for linux, its simply too difficult for the average computer user to get things working on a linux desktop. Take my iPod for instance, with windows I just put the CD in, click install and its done - with a GUI that is _far_ better than gtkpod's (although gtkpod is great), whereas with linux you have to install different things, compile them in some cases, and its just much harder work.
THomas
In using linux I've noticed that we have real problems with installing and uninstalling software (just image uninstalling mozilla on many platforms). This would have to be sorted before Linux could be used by the general public.
I hostly feel how ever that once this and other areas such as connecting devices have been delt with Microsoft have a big problem on there hands. Some projects that could sort the
installation/uninstalltion problem include autopackage zero-install and A-A-P
Why were only Xandros and Lindows reviewed? While I don't have a problem with Lindows, unlike most linux users. I think open source linux has better distros available then those two.
;)
My problem with the article is the possibility that a linux newbie might buy Lindows without trying Fedora, SuSE or SlackWare. What's the point of buying a Windows clone just so you can say you switched to Linux?
Although if Lindows were to change its name to something more respectable I might consider trying it out.
I had absoultely no problem connecting my Linux box to my parents windows machine, but the funny part is I had problems connecting another windows machine to my parents PC. Hmm isn't that something. . .
If you pay your taxes you support terrorism!
When I first ever did a Linux install (about six years ago, with very little knowledge of partitions or anything) I went with manual partitioning. It's not hard. And every recent distro that I've used allows you to do advanced, manual partitioning from within the installer (graphical or otherwise) - you just need to choose the right option. Personally, I normally run fdisk or cfdisk to create the partitions and then specify how to mount them in the installer.
By manually partitioning, you can come up with some seriously wierd multi-boot configurations. My most complicated set up was: /hda1 - FAT32 - 8GB - Win98 / shared data
/hda2 - NTFS - 10GB - Win2K
/hda3 - ext2 - 100MB - /boot partion (for linux)
/hda4 - extended partition, containing:
/hda5 - ext2 - 10GB - / partition
/hda6 - ext2 - 2GB - /home partiton
/hda7 - Swap partition - 500MB
/hda8 - BeFS - 2GB - BeOS5 personal edition
(/usr etc stored in / partion)
My point is really that to set up such a structure using fancy tools is rather difficuly - the tools keep trying to get in the way. fdisk is the way to go.
The system above used a number of boot loaders to get it going. The MBR had XOSL with an option for each OS in it, and used keyboard commands within it to control subsequent boot loaders. Win98 and Win2k booted by Win2K boot loader, installed on the Win98 partition. LILO on /hda5 and the Be Boot loader /hda8. I would never let an automatic tool anywhere near it. The only reason I don't still have that configuration is because I tried using Partition Magic on it once (to test it for a friend, I then recommended against it on the grounds that is screwed up my system) and learnt my lesson.
video editing is in a poor place at the moment on linux, so true hero's are those who help the jahshaka project get it's editing/compositing project better.
http://www.jahshaka.com/
windows movie maker 2 is actually pretty good, and we know iMovie is rad - we need to compete
Till the gaming industry supports windows, it seems unlikely to oust Windows from the Desktop computing market. Given that these alternatives offer the same functionality, the support for gaming would definitely be where they loose out. And most people(non-slashdot readers) wouldn't want to take the trouble of installing 2 operating systems.
--
Schrodinger 's Cat : wanted dead and alive
porn surfing is better with Linux and I'll say why.
Most of the times I sign up to a website only to find that I can't download the videos. I have to watch it streaming from the Internet. This is of course very fraustrating because it is slow and it forces me to keep my membership. Usually Media Player is the default player so it opens it and obeys the website's command and streams.
Programs like Download Accelerator help a little, but the sites have gotten smarter as well.
Now with Mozilla and some video program running I can bypass their system and usually get to save the videos. If not, usually linux video player save the video on disk in the cache somewhere and those can be easily recovered.
Now the only thing I'm trying to get around is the annoying link to a page that contains the picture you want to view, so there is no way to leech the site of pictures. I'm too lazy to write a program to crawl... and wget doesn't do what I want to do sometimes.
Oh well. It's all about choices I guess.
I'm not too sure why they selected Xandros or Lindows over Mandrake for such a review.
Unlike either of the two, Mandrake is composed of 100% FLOSS, is freely available, and it simply "kicks ass".
In fact, I'm some what insulted they chose lindows at all. Lindows is a rather craptacular distro, with super annoying marketing practises, and a high yearly fee for people to get additional software.
Sunny Dubey
What I'd really like to see was a free linux distro among the tested versions. I have no beef with commercial linux distributions, but I'll never use one myself. It would be much easier for me to spread the word of the wonders of linux, if there was a free linux that would score as high as these two apparently does.
What I see here is two windows clones based on linux. If linux is so much better than windows, why try so hard to behave like windows?
So, what I'd really like to see is a Linux version that's easy to install, works out of the box, and stands on its own two legs. To the best of my knowledge, there's no such distro yet. Or what? I'd love it for someone to tell me that I'm wrong and point me in the right direction
Underholdning.info
They're right on the back of the CD jewel case, usually on an orange sticker about 3 inches across.
creation science book
I think that the time for linking to every article that talks about Linux or compares it with Windows has passed. Linux is becoming mainstream. The time has come to focus about other aspects of it on slashdot.
> The good folks at RealNetworks have an opportunity
> to become a de facto standard but they should run
> right out of the box
I never thought to see "good folks" and RealNetworks so close in one sentence...
Author Paul Andrews comes to this conclusion:" Lindows has a slicker interface and emulates Windows so well that it repeats several of my pet Windows peeves. Xandros' user-interface has more obvious Linux legacy to it but shouldn't stymie the first-timer." These are the usual conclusions in our days, deciding whether is something worth to use or not, by having a look at the outside (here the interface). That's one of the reasons of the "success" of Microsoft operating systems. They have put a lot of work and money in their style-guides.
Couldn't they have chose better distro's to judge linux on? don't get me wrong.. all distro's are created equal. But you have to admit, some are lazier than others. Whatever that means... they should have chosen Debian, Mandrake, or Slackware. :P, but that's just imho.
I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
But I sometimes get the odd 500 error trying to access certain pages. Actually, now that you mention it the front page sometimes seems to be almost empty in the "content" centre column.
If you are not a joe user but you still want a good destkop OS to get your work done you should try the power of Gentoo.
Its fast, modular, not too hard to install (just read the docs, it holds your hand) and free.
I am currently typing this from my KDE box on gentoo, KDE 3.2 wipes the floor with XP in ease of use, looks and speeds.
Windows XP takes around 15 seconds to boot, while Gentoo takes around about 8. If you are not happy with your current Linux distribution, give Gentoo a try, you won't be disapointed.
To those who complain that it used to take a long time to install, try it again, with a stage 3 tarball and GRP.
Get gentoo today!
What version of xine does Xandros ship with? My xine can play quicktime movies (I guess the author is referring to streams like apple trailers) just fine without additional codecs, you only need the quicktime binaries for the audio tracks.
Let's face it...if a desktop operating system doesn't come with a great thumbnailing preview app, excellent support for streaming media formats, and the ability to survive having the keyboard and mouse suddenly being disconnected to have semen cleaned out, then it really isn't up to scratch. In future, I'd propose to reviewers evaluating desktop Linux systems a few extra categories:
Disabled accessibility: Many operating systems have features designed to make them easier to use for the blind, deaf, or just plain stupid. But can the interface be easily manipulated using one hand only? Can the video player be precisely controlled with only a few fingers, while the other hand is wrapped around the user's own few inches?
Web brower pop-up enabling and tracking: While most users claim to clamour for browsers which block annoying pop-up ads, in reality they crave what these pop-ups are offering: free porn. Does the desktop OS under review offer a browser platform which makes following these pop-up nuggets of jizz-candy easy to follow and track? Can the browser in fact follow its own trail of pop-ups, closing those containing circular links, and launching the download manager when a rare find of actual porn is found?
I'm sure the Slashdot community will have plenty of other ideas to contribute. I look forward to hearing the community's response!
I'm a long time linux-lover, but I don't use it on the desktop. Here's why.
I have a $3,000 LCD display and a $500 video card. Both show up as options during the linux installer GUI. I select them during configuration and I still can't get decent resolution (should be capable of 2048xWhatever and I'm only getting 1024x768).
I spent six days trying to get it working, screwing with manual configurations, modeline changes, nvidia drivers from nvidia's site, etc. No luck. I gave up. I'm not spending $3,500 on hardware to use it in 1024x768! Fuck that shit!
So, I plugged the display and the videocard into Windows XP (which, sure, I hate) and it automatically detected both and I was working in optimal display settings within thirty second.
Let's see... 30 seconds to use my hardware to the peak ability or a full week of fucking around with XF-86-4 config files and STILL no results.. Duh.. I wonder which someone who has a life and a job and needs to spend their time GETTING SHIT DONE instead of FUCKING WITH UNUSABLE CONFIGS wants to do?
Of the adults I know (over 30s mostly), a lot of them don't play games. Of those that do, some play things like shockwave/java games, some play card games, some just don't play at all, and some play games on their Xbox/PS2 as a preference.
In fact, of the over-30s I know, only 1 does quite serious gaming on his PC.
camstream is a nice collection of tools for webcams and other video-devices that uses video4linux2. Combining it with some Image Processing Library(gimp?) and a fancier gui should make it a decent enough tool.
Why does he review the latest Xandros (2.0), but an almost year old Lindows (4.0).
Lindows 4.5 was released the same day as Xandros 2.0 (dec 16 iirc) so there's really no excuse.
BIAS!
If the worst problems are video playback and burning audio CDs, then Linux is ready for most business applications.
Isn't all this pulse checking getting boring already?
Hi we're a bunch of nerdy Linux geeks and Linux is rilly rilly kewl and 1337 to install (which I guess as an end consumer you're going to do a LOT of as a matter of course in your normal purchase cycle?)
So trust us, here's a bunch of distros that are all only about 40% harder to install and run than Windows and when you're done they will run more or less 80% of what you originally intended Windows to run more or less 90% as well.
A HELL of a lot of printer manufacturers still don't provide Linux drivers, for example, I have Xandros 2 and I can't use my Lexmark x85 with it, meaning I'm going to be forced to keep VMWare installed so I can switch to it everytime I want to print - I have this choice, and I get alot of use out of Linux, other people will just give up.
Actually, I don't see that as bogus at all.
The way to interact with an application is through its interface. When someone uses your program, they don't directly work with your clever code, they work with its interface.
The exact same product, with the exact same capabilities, can be a breeze to use or a bloody nightmare that needs you to spend days learning how to even get started. The difference between the two is the interface.
The thing is: Joe Average doesn't have a Ph.D. in CS, and shouldn't need one. He just wants, say, his pictures copied from his shiny new digital camera to his hard drive, and from there archived to CD-R. He also wants to send some of them per email to the kids, and to print some on his shiny new ink jet printer.
And he wants all that done with the absolute minimum of fuss and frustration. He doesn't want to learn new skills, he doesn't want to gain a ton of clue in how to compile the kernel and 20 libraries, and he doesn't find it great fun to experiment and tweak either. He just wants the job done. That's it.
Which means: he'll want some obvious buttons to click on. Which means: a GUI. That's what he'll interact with. And it's the GUI that can make this job a no-brainer 5 minute exercise, or a 7 day nightmare that includes reading outdated, incomplete and obscure man pages.
_If_ that 7 day nightmare is the best that you can offer him, he doesn't even want your product. It doesn't matter what cool hacks happen in your application, it doesn't matter how you cleverly coded your own uber-efficient image processing library to deal with your files. What matters is that he had to go through a lot of inconvenience to get a simple job done.
Hence, reviews that start with the surface aren't bogus, nor a bad idea.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Windows XP wins hands down. I mean that. XP install was like 30 minutes, Xandros install was probably 5-10 minutes - but the actual running of the system on Xandros is poor - its slow, feels clumsy, and my XP install is faster. This is on 2.4 - seeing as Xandros can't even be "properly" upgraded to 2.6.
This is on an Athlon XP 3000+, 512 ddr.
I went to Xandros to have the speed of Linux and the useability of Windows - Windows has the speed and useability at the moment!
The opening paragraph:
"Don't you wish some days you could just toss that Windows computer out the, er, window and try something else? Something where viruses and worms weren't everyday occurrences, where you didn't have to suffer through lockups and crashes every few days? Where the screen wasn't cluttered with pop-up ads and strange spyware programs, snooping on your every move?"
I find it interesting that the newspaper on Microsoft's home turf, where Microsoft pumps hundreds of millions (if not billions) into the local economy, feels free to speak so negatively about MS software. If Seattle isn't full of passionate Microsoft devotees, what city is?
If anyone here reads the Seattle Times, is this typical?
Who is RTFM and when will he help me with Unix?
This guy did. Also mov playblack is always a hit and miss since there is no official codec for linux or even a free one. You may never have encountered a problem but they do occur. Even more problematic are the streaming movies.
On the whole I found the review pretty much accurate to my own experience. Lack of polish but passing "the good enough" test with some bits a lot easier and the bits that are worse not affecting me.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Before we jump on the bandwagon and start shouting "But I can burn audio CDs really easily" - we should remember that the people reviewing this are our target audience. Sure, **we** can do it, but they had problems with it, and hence it's these problems that we should be addressing.
Get your own free personal location tracker
And 10,000 Microsoft employees cancel their subscriptions in protest to their communist tendancies the next day.
It's a joke. Laugh.
Not used jahshaka, so I can't comment on it.
I have used Cinelerra, which is pretty powerful though its UI could do with being a bit better.
How well did they rate "Using non-standard hardware." Including printers, laptops, and virtually unknown brands of cdroms, ethernet devices, win modems (Ok maybe this one doesn't matter much anymore), windows keyboards (how much function can you get out of those functions), etc.
I'd like to know how well speed step performs in linux. Can a laptop hibernate if it needs to? On my i8k in Mandrake it allows either battery or external power. If I plug in / detach the cord, the computer freezes (although the battery does kick in because whatever was on screen stays on screen). I can only assume everything worked by the high ratings given. Also I can assume from the ratings that the system instantly recognizes when any new USB/Firewire/PCMCIA device is hotswapped, and in most cases can identify it. Right? I mean, I did see the word "excellent" so I think it should at least be equal with Windows.
Anyway I am not that hopefull that these kind of people are safe on linux. I still don't see how a "click me to run" virus/worm will be stopped by linux. Can you as a user send out a ton of emails? Yes? then so can a worm. Can you delete all the important files? Yes? Then so can a worm (oh and the important files are the OS files they are save on the install CD. The important stuff is the stuff you can write too. Your data). Can you conect to remote ports? Yes? Then so can a worm.
There is always a bigger idiot out there.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
A sign of the times.
I also like that he reviewed distros made to be friendly this year, unlike last year when he reviewed redhat.
Even 2-3 years ago when I first started using linux the advice that Redhat was the best distro for newbies was obsolete.
Additionally, I have long been into the free(of charge) and free(dom) distros so I found the review of Xandros and Lindows interesting.
Most of the people I talk to use similar distros so I never get to hear anything about Xandros or Lindows.
In a nutshell....Xandros is all that and a bag of chips and Lindows is a bit shoddy arond the edges.
Steve
Lindows and Xandros aim at these people. Sure perhaps there are "better" distros out there. But this is 1 person doing a review. I am already glad he did 2. Doing a review of every linux distro out there would require pretty much all of the newspapers staff. Cause either they do all or limit themselves. Limit yourselve and you will also have people claim "hey you left out X".
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I recently installed Fedora Core-1 on my new machine. Always I have a habit on VideoCD on my computer and thought I will try it with GNU/Linux. I came to know there are two applications on Linux to view that ie Xine and Mplayer).I dont have internet at my home ,so I downloaded xine and mplayer from my friend's machine and put it in my flash drive.Now my probelm started.When I plugged in my USB drive ,fedora didnt respond to any keyoard events on the first time. Second time when I booted it was shown as a drive.And it happened for the same sequence every time. I came to know Fedore Core -1 doesnt support hot plugin as Win 2K ,but it is supported in latest linux kernel (2.6 >).When I tried to install xine and mplayer it showed endless dependencies,and finally I succeeded in installing xine.While watching a movie ,I felt sound is ahead of picture ! and finally I had to stop that after I started getting echo .And picture quality is not as good in Windows Media Player(full screen mode).
,even for some what experianced users,sometimes getting things working can be nightmare.
What I am trying to say
I was like, burning some audio cds from my mp3s.. and it was like BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP, and I was like, what happened? And it went BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP again and the next thing I knew, my mp3s were gone. They were some really good mp3s.
Best death? What, die from a naked lady avalanche?
Good troll! I'll try to remember that COMMAND-LINE procedure my DESKTOP distros! Especially ones thats contradicts free software and money!
Hell count the number of cross platform games at the moment. X-box, PS2, Gamecube, Windows, Mac and Linux are all platforms. Games get ported according to demand but it has happened and continues to happen. Soon we will have the first game that runs on everything :). I think it will be unreal or quake/doom game.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Mandrake I can see as it is easy to setup. But debian and slackware? Give me a break.
Yes an experienced linux user probably thinks they are easie. Dos users too. There are however windows users out there who don't know what a cli is. These people would be hardpressed to install Windows (notice how windows install is still extremely primitive text only with little help) let alone these linux distros.
No the author selected two distros squarely aimed at the non computer litterate. Don't bitch about the options. Write your own review.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
"burning audio CDs - poor"
Huh? Can't get any easer when using K3B
Why are there always "installation and first steps" reviews? Sure, you have to install the systems, and sure, you have to burn CDs or write letters... but I would like some mid-to-long term review, including differences with Windows or Mac OS X regarding security problems, upgrades (two fields where linux should win hands down), integration of new hardware (which I suppose could be way more problematic), installation of new programs (which could be either way)...
I think long-term reviews would be far more interesting to convince people of the possiblities of the system in the long term, as a stable working environment, not just as a weekend-hobby.
My journal. Mainly about freedom.
Having a non-professional review computer stuff. (Am I'm not trying to offend anyone here - on the contrary)
Example:"Available in a number of "flavors," Linux isn't perfect."
Not: "Vendor support for Linux has room for improvement" or "x86 downsides become more apparent with Linux" Or: "Mac still rules Unix usability. And any other usability."
I just had a chat 15 minutes ago with a guy that sells Windows boxen for small business and he seemed to know his way around computers (read: Windows PCs). He said that he expects Microsoft to buy Linux any time soon.
I'm to bedazzeled and amazed experiencing the view of things some people have on this whole Linux/OSS/Computing issue to make jokes about it.
I'm not a Mac user but I wonder what this guy would say if he where to test a mac. Probably that would be 'close to perfect' or something. I remember spending some time looking for a burn software on a G4 only to then notice that you just have to eject the CDR on which you dropped your stuff in order for the 'Shall I burn this for you?' Widget to pop up.
If you ask me, this whole OSS migration taking so long is entirely just about people being used to certain stuff and having a hard time switching. That's all. When I see what crap standard windows users go through every day that's the only explaination that seems reasonable.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Install Xandros. 15-2- minutes max.
If you are a newbie, you are ready to go.
If you are an expert, apt-get is your friend, you can add Debian standard reporisotires, no problem at all.
You get the best of both worlds and you don't have to spent time fiddling with desktop configurations for uncoountable hours to no end.
It is nice to thinket with this stuff, but sometimes you need to be up and running with something you know works out of the box.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
This just in... the RIAA and the MPAA are now strongly supporting Linux as their OS of choice.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
My parents comissioned me to build them a new machine for christmas, said box still sits unused.
:)
I intended to put linux on it as all it would really be used for is: Web browsing, e-mail, word processing. Easily fixed by mozilla 1.6 and OpenOffice (both of which they already use).
The only hitch came after I got the parts and was ready to add the OS, my dad wanted it to run Quicken, intending to use his current 2k PC only to run his business and not home stuff.
Attitudes have changed over the past 3 months, I'm thinking of getting a copy of xanthos or a nice custom gentoo on there, i no longer wish to babysit their boxen, my mother goes to every goddamn web site out there, getting who knows what for viruses and worms, opening every damn attachment she gets from friends...
I put together a gentoo file server a year ago, i've never had any problems with it
Though a desktop system is a different animal, not having to deal with adware, worms, swiss cheesed browsers/OS etc is worth the pain of 'HOW DO I GET TO INTERNET, WHERE'S THE BIG E?!!!" from my mother.
Logistical Chaos Officer http://www.slagg.org - LAN Gaming in Sarasota FL,USA
This really amazed me, a review of Linux that isn't fanatical about Linux, OS X, or XP. I thought the best points the review made was:
1. Linux is close, but still does some things (hardware detection primarily) a bit sloppier than Windows.
2. Even so, the reviewer seemed really optimistic at the quick progress of Linux, and was able to assure Joe Average reading the article that Linux would probably be up to par sooner than later.
3. Yes, Open Office is slow. Really slow.
4. Linux -is- easier and faster to setup than Windows! I remember when I showed my Dad how to setup Mandrake 9.2 he was blown away by the graphic installer and lack of constant reboots needed.
Moral of this story: yes, admittedly, Linux isn't quite ready for Grandma to handle all by herself yet, but it's damn close, and it's still less of a headache than Windows.
ce n'est pas un Sig.
I think you'll find that any Newbie who installs Debian or Slack can no longer be considered as a Newbie
It feels much more polished than current Mandrake or Fedora do. Everything seems to just work. My only problem with it on the desktop was outdated Mozilla (1.4) but I found an upgrade script. Package installation via Xandros networks is an excellent idea for those who would be scared by apt-get install cryptic-package-name.
I tried CrossOver and most of the stuff installs and runs, including Quicken and Internet Explorer. Seeing Windows Update running in KDE is truly scary. Fonts on Windows apps are terrible.
Now, on my laptop Xandros did not shine quite as well. Once again, no proper power management support. I know for a fact, that if I get a recent Fedora or Mandrake I can get the power management to work (after tons of twiking), but I would except Xandros to take care of it for me.
If I could suspend/hibernate my laptop with Xandros, i would have absolutely no reason to boot Windows anymore.
Linux is good. It's better, faster, and more stable than it's been in years. The level of quality on existing applications has gone up considerably, and new applications are being worked on everyday. You can use it as an everyday desktop as easily as you can use it for web/file/print serving. Systems such as Debian, Gentoo, and, yes, even Red Hat, make installing applications and keeping them updated a breeze. You don't have to worry about viruses, and spam and pop up fighting is integrated into most available web browsers and mail clients. However: it's not perfect. And it still caters to a different type of person than what Windows usually caters to.
Here's the deal: a lot of things in Linux still require you to know about your computer, and the things that go in it. They require you to at least understand a lot about the inner workings of your machine and the software on it. This, however, means that your average Linux user must spend some time and effort learning these things and fiddling about with them, dropping into the command line, etc. etc. This is fine and good if you, like me, enjoy messing about with the guts of your OS. But most people, frankly, don't want to learn about their computers. They don't want to have to know anything about their system, its commands and file structures and methods and formats. They just want things to work, simply and with as little hassle as possible. And, for the most part, Windows provides that hassle-free day to day experience much better than Linux does.
Now, don't get me wrong. I don't mean it as an attack, or in a condescending way, when I say most people can't be bothered to learn more about their computers and spend time learning the format of some arcane commands. It may seem strange to geeks like me, but most people do have better things to do. If you're, say, a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant or, hell, even a housewife, there's a thousand things in your day and in your life that are more important than trying to figure out just what command paramater will enable you to finally view that picture of your grandkids that your daughter in law emailed you. These people, most people, in fact, want convenience. They want to sit down and have their machine work hassle free, and they dont' want ten billion options and configuration parameters, they just want a button they can click that will do what they want, or close enough to it that it doesn't matter. And I can't say I blame them.
Sure, Linux is free, both cost wise and speech wise. And that's a big draw for a lot of us. But it's still not as easy to use as your average Joe and Jane want it to be, and it won't be for a short while longer, at least. Because of thise, while you might not spend money on it, you'll certainly have to spend more time with it, both in education and work to get it to do the things you want to do. Linux can do anything Windows can, and then some... it's just that it's not always as easy as it is over in Windows land. Most people simply don't have the time or patience to deal with that, and they're willing to pay to have things just work, rather than use free apps that require you to spend a week learning them. Why spend hours trying to figure out how transcode, vcdimager, and k3b work and getting around each app's quirks just to put an AVI movie on a VCD, when on Windows, Nero Burning Rom can grab an AVI and slap it on a VCD in three clicks. Sure, Nero costs money, whereas transcode and its ilk are free, but with Nero you click three times and you're done, while even a computer geek like me has to spend a whole morning trying to figure out the command line formats of each command before I can even begin, and then spend time experimenting with it until I get it right. Most people would rather pay for convenience than have to suffer for a free program.
So here's the deal: I'm no longer going to hold Windows against Windows users. If you know about Linux but still want to use Windows, it's your choice. There are risks and costs in that, of course, such as exposure to
"Two things are infinite: the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the first one." - Albert Einstein
Unmentioned in the article, but central to Xandros' value is the Xandros File Manager, which was written from scratch by Xandros. It is very good: every useful file association has been pre-configured so that even a newbie can simply click on a file to do something useful. It just works. And, BTW, it includes very simple CD burning. I'm using Xandros, so are more of the PCs in my company, and it is stable, fast, and professional.
It's commercial - $40 - but that is really worth paying for software of this quality. Xandros really continues the old Corel tradition of excellent software at a low price.
Switching from Xandros to Lindows is painful: Lindows just looks cheap and nasty. And every other distro has the same hurdle: they require technical skill to install.
I've seen Xandros installed and used by a person who had never before in his life used a PC, and watched me doing it once. It is that good.
My blog
After all linux comes with plenty of scripting languages to send email. Trick is getting the idiot/user to execute the code. And that isn't fixed by linux. People can be idiots anywhere.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Isn't this against the law in the US?
So this shouldn't even be in the review.
The RIAA is watching.
And the current practice of blaming the users for your program's shortcomings, and calling them names like "lusers" or even "idiots", is a sad mockery of what the vendor-customer relationship was supposed to mean.
... most of us wouldn't bother to take driver's ed either if we could just get the keys to the car and start learning on our own (making the roads as unsafe as the Internet has become).
... computers ... and demand the ability to do so with little or no education or competence.
If that "clueless luser" had to call tech support to get your program to work, it's _your_ failure. It's that simple.
That is vastly simplified and in many cases flat out wrong. Yes, there is poorly written software that leaves users vulnerable, and requires users to know things they can't reasonably be expected to know. Microsoft is exceptionally guilty in this respect, as the plethora of viruses, worms, and trojans on that platform, and the tremendous damange they cause, attest to.
But users need to be competent to use a computer, and Microsoft engages in a rhetoric that actively discourages competence, replacing education with soothsaying and empty promises of future security and performance.
A more constructive approach would be for people to recognize that computers are like cars in some important respects with respect to what is required for a person to be capable of using them effectively and safely.
In order to drive a car you have to get several weeks of training, pass written and operational exams, and be licensed.
You have to not only learn the mechanics of operating a motor vehicle (how to turn the engine on, in both warm and cold weather, how to operate the transmission, windshield wipers, headlights, turn signals, how to parallel park, etc.) but also the rules of the road (when to use the turn signals, how to read the signage, the unposted rules of the road such as default speed limits in residential vs. rural areas, etc.).
Even in the more permissive countries with respect to driving (such as the USA) you have to take a semester long class in how to drive before you are remotely considered competent enough to take the state exam, and in Europe the training is even more rigorous (and expensive) than that.
Computers are machines at least as complex as cars, capable of doing far more diverse tasks than a car. It is the responsibility of the computer user to gain some degree of competence, and while not every car driver is a mechanic (nor every computer user willing to take the cover off of their machine), every driver does know the basic rules of the road and how to operate the vehicle. The same should be expected of computer users: they don't need to necessarilly know how to install a device driver, but they should be required and expected to know what a filesystem is, what a file vs. directory is, that different programs store information in different formats (mp3, avi, etc.), and the difference between persistent storage and RAM, as well as the difference between what is stored on their local drive and what is on the internet.
Microsoft has persued a philosophy of keeping the users as stupid and uninformed as possible, to their own detriment. The fact that this laziness is embraced by their users (and is no small factor in the spread of worms and trojans among these people) is no excuse
People need to be literate to read and write, and educated to operate a motor vehicle, and none of us expects to be able to do these tasks without being educated in the basic skills required to do so. It is absurd that we expect to be able to operate something vastly more complex and flexible
Today's windows user is like the illiterate peasant of the 19th century, going to the local scribe to write or read a letter because they can't. The difference is that, at least in Europe and the US, efforts were being made to teach the peasant to read and write. Today the opposite is true
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
Such reviews, even if incorrect, can only help in the general mind share. Here you have a story that basically tells people that Linux is excellent to good enough for almost everything they want to do. If that's not a win for Linux, I don't know what is.
As for the incorrect information, hopefully more input will be given from those that know, and those items perceived lacking will be improved to the point of obviousness (like with MS, which is probably what they were expecting) so that Linux will be reviewed as excellent in all categories.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Lindows? No, no, no, it's Lin---s now! It's Lin--..., *sigh*, never mind...
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
With Linux, the manufacturers can take something like gtkpod and customize it for *their* hardware. Not as important for the big manufacturers (they would probably prefer to write their own software), but little manufacturers can benefit from this. As Linux (in all forms) picks up more and more of the market, this advantage will increase. This is why it is good for Linux that it has passed MacOS in new installs. More and more, manufacturers will find it useful to release Linux drivers and it is easy for small manufacturers to do so.
This also might be a good time to review things like use of the LGPL and porting to MS Windows. Note that if gtkpod has both Linux and MS Windows versions, it makes sense for small manufacturers to develop to gtkpod -- they get drivers for *both* systems that way (plus Linux drivers are easy ports to Unix versions). LGPLing relevant libraries can help pull big manufacturers (e.g. HP, IBM) in to development, as they can include the LGPLed libraries in their proprietary versions. This leverages their resources to also help improve the base libraries.
No mention of games? What's up with that? If they're going to review things like Camcorder compatibility they should toss games in there too. Hell how about 3D support in general? The lack of options for artists should be mentioned as well.
The Deluxe version of Xandros comes with this program, which runs most Windows software we've been able to throw at it (MS Office, Photoshop, etc). I'm shocked that this article overlooked this feature, which would arguably be a huge boon to Windows users looking to switch to Linux. Of course, maybe his editors would only pay for Standard, so maybe he never saw it.
The conception that the computer is something that only High Priests of the Sun (or IBM) should have access to, is so 60's that it isn't even funny.
The 60's? Do you mean the 1760's? It's been so long since I last slept...
Do you need to be an electronics expert to use your TV?
well ... yes... but you haven't seen my Visual Display Unit thingy I have up on the top of ... what's it called ... big flat thing.... ummm .. bed! Bed! Yes .. that's it. Haven't used it for ages. TV thingy. Or the bed for that matter.
Do you even need to understand microwave physics to use your microwave oven?
Oh I understand it dammit. So did my neighbour when I built a huge reflecting dish thingy and melted the doors off his car while it was standing in the street. Oh how we laughed! Shame about the six acres of farmland beyond that caught fire at the same time though...
Do you even have any knowledge at all of the chemistry and physics involved in using that detergent in your washing machine?
A washing ... machine? What a strange idea!
Do you need to be an expert in lasers to operate your DVD player?
I wish I'd not miss-copied that line of working half way down my sums for the new static DVD reader (the head was supposed to spin, not the disc). First I thought the requirement for a nuclear power unit was a little high but I built it anyway. It melted much of the back garden and the head shot off through the roof. I'm told that NASA has been covertly tracking its subsequent travels and the FBI seized my paperwork and is allegedly using it for some missile defence initiative.
Well, then why the heck would an end user need to be a computer expert to use a computer?
How else would you know to press the big red lever down, turn the crank handle one-and-a-third rotations counter-clockwise and kick the side of the box while chanting the Macarena backwards to get it started?
And let's talk about the vendor-consumer relationship.
I regularly consume my vendors. But I don't quite think that's what you meant.
If you're a programmer, your job is to deliver what the users want, _not_ to make them have to take a 5 year course in CS to be able to use your stuff.
Thank god I'm a high priest instead. This ... programmer ... sounds like an eternity of suffering.
And what the users _want_ is an appliance that's as easy and safe to use as their TV or microwave oven. That's it.
What a dull existence these users must lead.
The current screw-up where computers are a fragile unstable contraption, and needs arcane rituals to keep it working, is _not_ what the users want.
But WHERE IS THE EXCITEMENT?!
Sorry. Forgot myself... (that happens quite a lot actually).
Just some food for thought.
Aaahhhh. Foooood. Haven't had any of that for a while. Well, there was that vendor a few years back before the fall..
Cheers,
Toby
Dammit. Was I supposed to post this anonymously?! B'g'rit.
Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
This is a huge milestone. The media at this end of the globe is traditionaly scared to piss off Redmond. Even the virus alerts have a positive spin. I think of all the Wet Coasters out here who's faces go blank when I mention Linux (usually during a 'pop-up' or 'computer virus' discussion). To have this kind of mention, let alone positive endorsement, out of a major West Coast publication stuns me. Typically, what happens next is that once the other media organizations see that the Seattle Times does not burst into flames they pick up the story themselves.
Linux is a bit easier, I'll give you that. I'll also say that WTS (Terminal Services/RDP) under Windows requires no special hardware and is dirt simple. It does require appropriate licensing of course.
The real value: your end users can actually run those thousands of vertical applcications that only ship for Windows. Until Linux cracks the vertical markets (health care, financial, etc.) we won't see it hitting many desktops. In those markets it has tapped it is on the desktops. The application drives what OS you choose.
However XP and Win2000 can be made more secure than 9x even if it isn't out of the box. That is to say it is much easier to harden XP and 2000 than it is 9x. I suspect that the reason why default installs aren't as hardened as they could be is that it makes the OS less convienient for non-techies. I'll be interested in the difference XP Service Pack 2 makes.
The main problem with MS newer OSes is that they are more network capable than 9x but the built-in security capabilities aren't well used in default installs.
I was immediately impressed with the availability of open source software. A year later, I installed Xandros 2.0. It's even better. I haven't missed Windows at all (no surprise, I hated ever Windows version I ever used). I do wish there was a Linux version of QuickBooks accounting software. The Win version runs in Crossover, but it's a bit ugly. All other applications I need for my small engineering business are native Linux aps.
Xandros demonstrates that Linux is ready for the average desktop user now. The few remaining hassles of Linux seem less important to me than the Outlook worms and crashes most Windows users suffer. And the issues with Linux are disappearing rapidly. It has the potential to be almost as low hassle as a Mac in a year or two, while running on low cost generic PC hardware. I don't see what Microsoft can do to stop Linux. Even with the FUD campaign, SCO, etc., Linux marches on relentlessly. It's the nature of open source software to continuously improve.
I have a few issues with Xandros.
I wasted last weekend watching the five DVD set of Stargate season six. Xine worked reliably, but only after I shut down most other applications. Xine's user interface is slow on my PC. But playback is smooth and of good quality.
I used a couple of different CD burning applications in Xandros 1.0. They worked well, but there wasn't one application that was good for audio and data CDs. I was glad when Xandros 2.0 integrated CD burning into the excellent Xandros File Manager. Unfortunately, my first attempts to copy audio CDs resulted in one good CD and five coasters. Maybe I need to learn how to use the CD burning features. Or maybe I need to install K3B until Xandros refines their CD burner.
Unlike the article, I have no trouble playing Quicktime videos. Mozilla handles them automatically too. Even crappy Realplayer seems tamed in the Linux world where it is prevented from taking over my PC, although it's probably still spyware.
Putting aside glitches in multimedia that most operating systems experience to some extent, I'd have to say that Xandros is an excellent platform for businesses, where the main uses will be word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, email, and internet browsing. Xandros has always done all of these things very well, and will only get better as OpenOffice matures and Firefox makes it's way into Xandros.
The biggest item left on the To-Do list is repealing the Microsoft tax. I resent the fact that I can't buy a name brand notebook PC without being forced to give $80 to Microsoft for an OS I do not want and will not use. Just think how bad it would be if the US Department of Justice had LOST their antitrust lawsuit.
>> My ultraviolent Linux switch video.
When I was visiting Bainbridge (near Seattle) and hoping to get a Linux PC from the local Walmart, I was told that they didn't carry any and never planned to. Wonder if there's some proximity pressure.
Good article for the completely uninformed. For me: I don't pay for a Linux Distro; ever.
Boo Hoo!
CLI is spooky stuff.
No, not really. I'm a newbie on Linux and i think CLI is just fine. Works perfecly, it is'nt as hard as you want it to be.
This actually appeared in a newspaper:
Commenting on a complaint from a Mr Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West gas said, "We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It's possible Mr Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house." (The Daily Telegraph).
Mandrake is a nice (and cutting edge) distro. Mandrake markets itself to Linux users who buy software for Linux reasons. By contrast, Lindows.com and Xandros market *directly* at people who would otherwise buy MS.
Criticizing LindowsOS/Xandros Desktop for not matching up to other Linux distros is missing the point. They are not intended to match up to other Linux distros. If you want to run Linux, forget LindowsOS/Xandros Desktop: install stock Debian (or Mandrake, Gentoo, etc.).
LindowsOS aims at people who want a cheaper alternative to Microsoft Windows. It is cheaper than MS Windows (that "high yearly fee" of $50 is cheap compared to paying $100 to update Windows and another $300 to update Office; it also gives discounts on various third party software).
Xandros Desktop is aimed at business users with an existing Microsoft network. It is designed to allow install piecemeal (buy one new Xandros machine at a time) by *MS Windows* admins (as opposed to more expensive Linux admins).
There are a variety of reasons to choose other distros over LindowsOS/Xandros Desktop. When reviewing Linux distros, this should be noted. The purpose of this article is not to review Linux distros -- it's to review alternatives to MS Windows. Lindows.com and Xandros have positioned their products in that light (largely because it is more profitable to compete against commercial software than shareware) and are reaping the benefits in terms of publicity.
For whom would you expect them to write articles? 3% of their readers? Or 90+% of their readers? Isn't it obvious?
From the article: Don't you wish some days you could just toss that Windows computer out the, er, window and try something else? Something where viruses and worms weren't everyday occurrences, where you didn't have to suffer through lockups and crashes every few days? Where the screen wasn't cluttered with pop-up ads and strange spyware programs, snooping on your every move?
OK, I just have to get this off my chest... every time I see one of these "average Joe" reviews of Linux they ALL seem to include the same stupid cliches: "Windows crashes a lot." "Oooh, BSOD!" "Scary viruses and spyware everywhere." The thing is, I run some Windows boxes and some Linux boxes and OS X and FreeBSD, and while I love the configurability, extensability and power of Linux (I wouldn't think of running my file server on Windows), I have to say that I don't ever have any of the problems mentioned with my Windows boxes either. I use decent, stable hardware, I don't run untrusted executables, all my Windows boxes are NT codebase and are thoroughly patched, unnecessary services and ports are shut down, and I keep all the boxen behind a router/firewall. These are measures I take regardless of the OS. The only people I know who have major stability/security issues with Windows are people who, to be quite blunt, could fsck up any computer they touched. Before the Linux community blindly advocates that everyone must move over to Linux/BSD/whatever, we should probably ask ourselves if we are actually ready for an influx of clueless users and whether we are making promises that should really be qualified with: "in the hands of a competent user..."
</rant>
you can play the sims on linux
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
I like your car analogy, and actually use it a lot with the people who refuse to learn anything about computers, but I don't use it the same way you do.
Can every car driver troubleshoot a problem with their car?
Of course not, they have a mechanic for that. Just like computer users need a "computer-mechanic" for periodic maintenance, upgrades, etc.
But car owners do know many things about their cars: they know there is an engine which needs gas, oil, and water for cooling. They know the pressure in the tires is something to watch, and the oil needs to be changed every 10 or 15'000 kilometers. If they drive a manual car, they also have at least a vague notion about what the clutch is.
(They also (hopefully) have a driver license, which would also be something nice on the "information highway", but let us forget about this for now).
Well, my point is that if people were willing to learn as little about their computer as they know about their car, things would be much better, and so would be their computer experience.
Of course, that's about driving the car, not servicing it. I'm not sure how many drivers even know to get the thing in to Jiffy Lube every 3 months (assuming no vendor lock-in requiring the dealer's service dept.), but I know of far too many who don't begin to know what various dashboard lights mean, and will operate the auto under conditions that cause permanent damage as a result.
I checked out Cheapbytes to see if I could purchase a $1.99 version, but couldn't find any.
comapared to Windows, according to the reviewer.
This is actually quite a good article, and the observations about Xandros are in line with my own experience. (I don't intend to try Lindows any time soon, Xandros and SuSE do everything I want right now. No time....)
The one awful problem with Xandros, SuSE, the Fedora rubbish, and every other distro I have tried so far, is that updating large packages on a dial-up 56k with a 2 hour timeout (as most of the world has at the moment) simply does not work. I can't update kernel source in either SuSE or Xandros. Now technology to resume interrupted downloads exists, I suspect it even was invented in the Linux/BSD world rather than M$, but it is simply not implemented, or is broken, or not implemented on the servers, or something on all three of my Linux machines (different hardware!) stops it. I have mentioned this before, if they (meaning all distros) fix this, it will be a very big step forward. There is a lot of dis-information about, I read on a web site that SuSE uses wget, and of course wget can resume interrupted downloads, so I tried..... Guess what, a ps ax during the download showed no trace of wget! So, it is down to hacking into umpteen dense and inadequately commented perl or python scripts, etc, to try to find what is going on. Life is too short....
Why can't the authors of these broken programs, who are the best people to tackle the problem because they know the code, fix them, and get the update process up to the same (generally good) standard as the rest of the distro? The same goes for configuring an Nvidia card, I had a fight with SuSE again last night. (Xandros has a Matrox card IIRC so I can't compare yet). The instructions tell you specifically to download and run the Nvidia installer (works OK), and then tell you to run Sax to configure the card for the accelerated driver etc. That is guaranteed to blow away any useful settings in XF86Config, and often leave you with an unusable, unbootable PC (if set to boot into X). Now I can fix that in a jiffy, but why should I have to, and what about all the inexperienced users who will be put off Linux for ever by something like this?
I seriously say to all developers, distro configurers, and anyone else who will listen: Please fix the installation and configuration bugs, these are the only things holding back Linux from making substantial inroads on the desktop.
Its OK to play around with as a reviewer. Its fine for the odd letter and report. Yes, it probably will see a student through college (just about). For professional use, its a joke. Programmers are the worst people to assess this; a text editor with a little bit of formatting is all they usually need. But they make the mistake of thinking thats all the rest of us get out of Wordprocessor and its simply not the case (the argument for fully featured spreadsheets is even stronger). OO.org is simply not stable enough and still lacks full compatibility with MS Office. In the real world its not good enough to have those issues affecting your business. Close but no cigar.
Those PCs are availible online only. You won't find them in any brick and mortar Wal-Mart. Kindly remove the hat and step AWAY fromt he tin-foil sir.....
why do you keep talking to that guy? look at his webpage, hes a self-declared lsoer! no education? check! works at a direct marketing company? double=check! nobody loves him? check! bah, why bother with such trash
One company that is right here in Seattle that publishes a Linux oriented magazing is Specialized System Consultants (SSC) that publishes Linux Journal.
SSC Website
Just remember to set rules for yourself
:)
when dealing with them and then stick by them.
I do just fine as long as I stick to my rules.
Everytime I bend them for someone I end up being
the bad guy. *shrug*
Take it or leave it
Really, you came, you saw, you gave your opinion,
:)
now leave. Unless.... You had something constructive
to say hidden in your skull somewhere???
No????
Thought not.
*sigh* Another day in paradise
You can burn CD using Windows Media Player?!?
I tried Nero and it's a pain in the ass
I wouldn't use anything else than Easy CD Creator!
Do you need to be an electronics expert to use your TV?
No, but you're expected to be an electronics exper to fix your TV, if it breaks.
Do you even need to understand microwave physics to use your microwave oven?
No, but (again) you should have some background if you're going to attempt to repair one.
Do you need to be an expert in lasers to operate your DVD player?
Again, if you're gonna repair the laser unit, then yes, you should have some expertise in that area.
Well, then why the heck would an end user need to be a computer expert to use a computer?
They don't. YOU MADE THIS UP
Here's what you replied to:
there's a massive amount of Joe Average users who can't troubleshoot their way out of a paper bag
(emphasis mine.)
You are confusing using a computer with administering one. The two are vastly different things.
Most average users don't know how to troubleshoot, and they shouldn't have to. However, if they start performing administrative tasks, then they need to learn - just like with all of your examples.
I have an easy and 'fool-proof' way to judge Linux distros. Although no one should use Linux and fool-proof in the same sentence.
The best Linux distro is the one that goes the longest period of time without presenting the user with a word not found in any spoken language on earth and not not having an explanation or a link to an explanation for what that word means.
I just so sick of Linux distros that assume unconsciously that everyone who plugs that CD into their computer is a UNIX/Linux expert. So they freely use terms like 'ls' , 'rn', 'ping',
'xmms' or a million other bizarre and incomprehensible acronyms and collections of alphanumeric symbols without any lingustic connection. Sure, you know what it means, but that doesn't everyone else needs to take the time and energy to memorize this archane techno-babble.
This is a serious problem that not only permanently limits acceptance of Linux by the general population but is also completely invisible to the techno-geek Linux/UNIX computer community.
This mentality was necessary thirty or forty years ago but it is unjustifiable in the twenty-first century. Computers that cost more than a house forty years ago now sell for less than a doorknob. (I'm thinking microcontrollers, like PICs and AVRs here)
It's time to update the software mentality too!
They are available online only, but their shipping is just $15 so its not too bad of a deal.
"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it." -Albert Einstein
Other than that you've got it right.
The author mentions that Linux is not free - i.e. $60 for Lindows. He is seemingly oblivious to the numerous free distributions out there, some of which are just as easy to use for the average user as Lindows.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d Capitalization really works: i helped my uncle jack off a horse
It's called APWU (Another Pathetic Windows User). The pandemic is winding down. Slowly, but surely. We believe it will eventually die, and Windows itself will no longer be offered.
I wish stupidity hurt. As most understand it, revenue is the best indicator as to how "big" a company is. Let's take a look at Microsoft vs. Georgia Pacific, and Boeing:
Revenue:
Boeing(BA): 50.48B
Georgia Pacific(GP): 20.26B
Microsoft Corp(MSFT): 25.91B
Do I need to add for you, or, can you see that Boeing + Georgia Pacific sees and deals with a lot more money than Microsoft does?
Installing Windows 2000 etc can be much faster if you slipstream the service pack and patches into the initial install CD, combined with an unattended install diskette:
http://www.geocities.com/ziyadhosein/
Then you carry around one more CD with all the programs ready to install, instead of downloading them off the net in situ.
I can have a naked(!) machine up and running with all programs and Win2k in about 2 hours.
Building is extra of course but that's a different kettle of fish.
Visceral Psyche Films
I've never had a problem with Xandros burning audio cd's. So I don't understand why the author had a problem doing so.