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Getting Past "Ready For the Desktop"

Posted by timothy on from the it's-been-ready-for-mine-for-a-while dept.

Jeremy LaCroix suggests in an editorial at Linux.com that the phrase "ready for the desktop" is ready for retirement. As anyone who's been using Linux for several years (or even a few) for everyday tasks knows, "ready for the desktop" is in the eye of the beholder.

10 of 578 comments (clear)

  1. DOS by bondsbw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Was DOS ready for the desktop? By many definitions, people would say no, but that's exactly what started Microsoft's dominance of the OS market.

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    1. Re:DOS by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think you've touched on the real issue there. Popular Linux builds have themselves been ready for the desktop for years. What is still missing from Linux that Vista has is applications that are ready for typical end users. As long as Linux geeks continue to believe that OpenOffice is as good as Microsoft Office, the GIMP is as good as Photoshop, etc., and as long as Linux doesn't have things like games and business admin software of the same level as those available on Windows, it doesn't matter how funky your window manager effects are. Real people don't use an OS because of its window manager, they use it because it hosts applications they want.

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    2. Re:DOS by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ' ... as good as ... ' is one thing. 'Good enough' is something else. GIMP has more tools and abilities than I ever would use, and I use it on Linux frequently. Do I really need Photoshop? No. I'm not sure what problems you see with OpenOffice, but I use it all the time, and it does everything I need.

      Plus, as more apps become web-deployed, desktop apps become less and less important.

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    3. Re:DOS by Cjstone · · Score: 5, Informative

      Okay, this is one of the things that bugs me. OpenOffice and the GIMP do everything that the average user needs them to. I know of a lot of people that use the 'Microsoft Works' bundle that came with their computer and the so-called 'photo editor' that came with their digital camera or scanner. I'd say that most of the 'average users' I know use such products. OO.o and the GIMP are far better than the kind of low-budget software that usually comes with hardware.

    4. Re:DOS by man_of_mr_e · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Part of the problem with Linux is that you have to "know" which one of the 20,000 programs in your package manager does what you need done.

      So how, precisely, does one know about ndisgtk? What's more, don't you have to even manually configure it to use the restricted extras?

      Sure, Windows has a lot of stuff that doesn't work right either, but it has just as much stuff that installs seamlessly, with complete directions a moron could follow. And, if that fails, they can call Linksys or DLINK and they'll walk them through it over the phone (granted, by some guy in india following a script that the user could have followed, but still.. that works most of the time, unless you're an expert and have a problem not covered by that.. which would be the only reason the expert would call).

      Millions of people buy computers, set them up, and use them, including installing software and devices, with very little technical knowledge and without asking an "expert". You only see the people that are too stupid (or too scared) to do it themselves, so it gives you a skewed view of reality.

      One of Linux's big problems is that it has insufficient end-user technical support and it has limited use-case testing scenarios, so when things go wrong they go spectacularly wrong. The kernel and most kinds of server apps are typically rock-solid, but the GUI end user apps tend to be buggy as hell, poorly designed, and exceedingly complex and cryptic. We like that, end-users don't.

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    5. Re:DOS by sjames · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's a good thing Windows is so friendly and intuitive to use. Why would anyone want to edit text file configs in Linux when they can just locate the key "jknb31r289cjk1289" and change it (obviously) to "9889cfjk12q9fcvfd"

  2. Re:"Ready for my mom's desktop." by soccerisgod · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't think that's true at all. I have installed Ubuntu on a number of computers belonging to friends and family, and everybody (they're all pretty much computer-illiterates) agrees that it's easier to use and more intuitive than Windows. Take the "start" menu: you have an "Applications" menu and the last entry therein is "install/remove". Could it be any simpler?

    IMHO the beauty of Linux and all the software for it is that you can pick what you need and ignore the rest. If you want to do stuff the hard way, you can. If you just want to use a computer, use something like Ubuntu. Linux has the potential to serve all needs, and by now the modern Linux distros are doing a fine job at it.

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  3. Re:Ready for the desktop? by Horatio_Hellpop · · Score: 5, Funny

    //And what's your definition of "any application"?// Probably an application. Like, any of them.

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  4. Windows' ease of use vastly overstated by cptnapalm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If Windows is so easy to use for the computer illiterate, why have I spent untold hours fixing other peoples Windows machines, teaching people how to double click on icons, teaching people not to double click on anything which is not an icon, teaching people how to connect to a wireless hotspot, etc etc etc?

    Who do you think the "No, I will not fix your computer." t-shirts were inspired by? Mac users? Linux users?

  5. !ready for the desktop by Toreo+asesino · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The way I see it, it's ready for YOUR desktop when it can run all YOUR apps seamlessly and without a problem.

    My girlfriend for instance, just browses the net, plays mp3's, checks her emails and occasionally writes documents, prints them, and occasionally uses Skype. Linux is ready for HER desktop.

    Me on the other hand, I'm a .Net dev, play lot's of PC games, work with doc & docx files every day, and actually like iTunes (for the iPod). Linux is not ready for my desktop, nor is it likely to be any time soon.

    To say "Linux is ready for THE desktop" is quite frankly very short-sighted.

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