Why Linux Is Not Yet Ready For the Desktop

An anonymous reader writes "Every now and then a new- or old-media journalist tries to explain to everyone why Linux is not yet ready for the desktop. However all those men who graduated from their engineering universities years ago have only superficial knowledge about operating systems and their inner works. An unknown author from Russia has decided to draw up a list of technical reasons and limitations hampering Linux domination on the desktop." Some of the gripes listed here really resonate with me, having just moved to an early version of Ubuntu 9.10 on my main testing-stuff laptop; it's frustrating especially that while many seemingly more esoteric things work perfectly, sound now works only in part, and even that partial success took some fiddling.

Comments

Of course Linux is ready for the desktop

[naich]

I've been using it for 6 years now. Whether it's ready for YOUR desktop or not depends on you. Is Windows ready for the desktop? I would say "no" because it has a list of flaws that stop me using it. Being closed source is a pretty serious one for starters. There's no central software repository, you need driver disks for hardware, scripting is poor, it's got that registry thing, is suffers from bit-rot, viruses, spyware, adware... I could go on but as I'm about to say, it's pointless.

Lists of faults, blanket statements and generalising about which OS is ready or not is utterly pointless. They all have their faults and strong points. They are all desktop-ready for some people and they are all not desktop-ready for others.

Want to see if Linux is ready for your desktop? Try it out. You only have the cost of a blank CD to lose.

Re:Games

[agrounds]

You posit that Linux has better driver support than Windows? I am sorry... but this is just laughable. Seriously. What flavor is the Kool-Aid you are drowning in?

I can only assume you refuse to accept any Windows OS since XP since your assertion is so ludicrous I had to read it three times to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Those kinds of blanket bullshit claims may work on non-technical users, but this is Slashdot and we damn well know better. Are you just foaming for karma, or are you really that deluded?

Ubuntu and Debian are both epic failures on both of my desktop systems out of the box. No ethernet. Refusal to understand multiple displays (which Vista handled perfectly with 3 clicks of a mouse). Printer woes. OH, and let's not forget that it had no freaking clue what to do with my GTS-260.

Please don't make absolutely ridiculous claims where the preponderance of evidence is against you.

Re:Games

[Bigjeff5]

1. Multiple desktops. Stop the clutter at the bottom of the screen. Organising your work is as easy as pressing Ctrl-Alt-E (IIRC) or just Ctrl-(Alt)-.

You can do this in Windows too, with an add-on. And before you say "yeah, but it's with an add-on", well, everything in Linux is an add-on already. Not all distros come with multiple desktops in the GUI.

2. Mouse wheel works on item however, not item focused. Want to scroll that document in a background window? Just move the mouse there and scroll away! You can also use the scrollwheel to cycle between desktops, tabs, windows, comboboxes and more.

You realise this is just an option that can be enabled/disabled in both Linux AND Windows, right? I have my Windows laptop setup this way, but other machines I don't bother because it's not all that incredibly amazing.

3. An 'always on top' item in the window menu. If you need to copy data from app A to app B put app B at the top with two clicks (or a right mouse drag). No external bloatware required.

Again, it's a Linux add-on that doesn't exist on many distros. You can get this in Windows as well, it just is not a default function.

4. Middle click pasting. Now that app B is on top, select stuff normally from app A and middle click on the destination in app B. Voila': copy paste with the mouse only. And your Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V buffer (aka clipboard) stays untouched!

Again, another add-on that you can also get in Windows. While not default, most mouse software allows this. I'm not sure I see the point of not having to use the clipboard, it's kinda what it is there for...

5. Notifications that get out of the way. Ubuntu 9.04 doesn't need no frikkin' baloons (and currently the method to bring them back doesn't work for me :D). Message boxes are done the right way -- (almost) no generic yes/no choices.

So, a broken feature on your distro is a bonus? I do like that the baloons can be easily disabled, but honestly the method of removing them in Windows, while difficult for windows, is still significantly simpler than many regular maintenance functions in Ubuntu.

6. If virtualization is good enough for videogames on a Mac (it is), then it is good enough for videogames on a Linux. (Non free; dunno about the free) versions of virtual box are able to use the processors' virtualization extensions and offer inbuilt OpenGL support. DirectX support is in the works. Hell, the (free) Ubuntu supported enterprise virtualization support doesn't even work without it.

This is getting better, I'll grant you, but it is still a workaround that is not nearly as simple as double-clicking the installer for your chosen game. OpenGL is nowhere near DirectX, not by a mile.

7. Dual booting. You don't need to wipe Windows for that app you NEED to run in native Windows. Since you won't use it that much you can even not care on Windows to install all the damn bloatware like firewalls and antiviruses.

Why dual boot when I can just run Windows? Also, if you think a firewall is bloatware, I don't want you near my network, linux or no. That's just foolish. The only reason Linux is safe from viruses/trojans is because it has has no market share. If it had just 10% market share, AV software would be necessary, and you are already foolish not to run a firewall. Other bloatware can be unistalled, and it is indeed a pain. But it's better than software that only works if your system is configured "just so".

8. Installing, uninstalling and updating applications. So long as you keep true to installing EVERYTHING through whatever your distro uses to manage packages, 95% of that stuff is as hard as respectively checking boxes on, checking boxes off and clicking on "Install updates". No, you don't even need to mindlessly pound through wizards on the Ne