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List of Major Linux Desktop Problems Updated For 2016 (narod.ru)
An anonymous reader writes: Phoronix reports that Artem S. Tashkinov's Major Linux Problems on the Desktop has been updated for 2016. It is a comprehensive list of various papercut issues and other inconveniences of Linux on the PC desktop. Among the issues cited for Linux not being ready for the desktop include graphics driver issues, audio problems, hardware compatibility problems, X11 troubles, a few issues with Wayland, and font problems. At the project management side, there is also cited a lack of cooperation among open source developers and fragmentation of desktops. Let's discuss.
SystemD will fix all of this.
I think it's funny how people here on my office also work like that, they bring me those big list of problems that MUST be solved. In the end, you spend a lot of resources doing what will not bring you closer to your objectives. Even if we solve all of those the Linux Desktop still wouldn't have a meaningfull market share.
...back in 2001, the year of Linux on the Desktop. Seriously, getting a desktop "right" is hard... Apple certainly hasn't figured it out yet, none of the Linux camps have figured it out... it's hard. The only one that may have come close to perfecting it was Microsoft with Windows 7, and then they went and screwed it all up after they had it.
editorial authority: guise linux its...its just not ready for the desktop. its got graphics driver issues...
community: the ones preventing nearly 200 steam games from running on it?
editorial authority nonono guys its worse than that see theres audio problems too, the audio has problems
community: you mean with the countless instructibles articles on home theater via the pi?
editorial authority: guys i wish it were that simple but you see X has the issues too, its wayland isnt ready.
community: you...you know those two things are completely different right? xorgs been stable for a decade....
editorial authority: the font is ugly.
community:...pick...another one?
editorial authority: its fragmented...the desktops....theyre all fragmented.
community:....what?
editorial authority: and i heard linux torval yelling at people too.
Good people go to bed earlier.
... to other OSes.
For example:
It should be possible to configure pretty much everything via GUI (in the end Windows and Mac OS allow this) which is still not a case for some situations and operations.
If "Configurable via GUI" in Windows means you "add some arcane registry key via the registry editor", then *maybe*.
Look before you click! If you see .ru and you're interested in English language content, you're usually in the wrong place. ;)
And as one of the users, why should it? It already does what users want. Why would doing what non-users want make it better?
There are non-users who became or remained non-users because Linux didn't do what they wanted, specifically interoperate with a particular application or piece of hardware.
As open source, how would it benefit existing users to have additional non-technical users?
A larger user base means developers and publishers of applications and hardware are more likely to consider making their products compatible in order to reach that user base.
Canonical has deals with Amazon
Ubuntu Unity is no longer defaulting to Amazon integration. Furthermore, Xubuntu avoids all this and is only a sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop away.
For one thing, that's a hole GRUB, not Linux. For another, it requires already having physical access to a machine during its boot process. And if you have physical access to a booting machine, its owner may already be f#cked.
My absolute #1 complaint about Linux on the desktop has always been the lack of Common Dialogs. This is a standard DLL that ships with all versions of Windows dating back to at least 3.1. This DLL handles basic dialogs like File Open, File Save, and Printing. Having this DLL available and with a very simple interface solves multiple problems at once.
First, it is extremely easy for developers to use the API.
Secondly, due to the ease of use, developers can focus on their core application instead of writing their own UI for browsing the file system just to open a file or their own printing dialog to enumerate and list printers.
Third, this ensures a clean and consistent UI across all applications that use the Common Dialogs making the OS and applications as a whole easier to use for the end users.
Lastly, the Common Dialogs DLL is upgraded with every version of Windows. Take an application written in 1995 and run it on Windows 10. It still works. It uses the Windows 10 UI for opening/saving files, instead of the old clunky Common Dialog UI for 1995.
This upgrading of the DLL has been another huge advantage too. It has seen several major iterations. The ability to resize the window. The ability to have multiple navigation methods. The ability to drag-n-drop. The ability to copy-paste. Can't remember where you saved that last document? Just open the save dialog again and it'll default to that folder, and you can just copy-paste that folder path into other applications as needed.
Laptop screen brightness adjustment goes multiple steps with one keypress in Ubuntu and Mint. I still can't believe how such a basic feature is broken, release after release. Yes, I know that there are hacks to fix it, but I should not need to manually fix something silly like that.
Seriously, getting a desktop "right" is hard... Apple certainly hasn't figured it out yet, none of the Linux camps have figured it out... it's hard. The only one that may have come close to perfecting it was Microsoft with Windows 7, and then they went and screwed it all up after they had it.
Umm, I'm guessing this is a troll because I doubt you'll find many people agreeing with you that Windows 7 was "close to perfect". It might have been close to YOUR personal preferences but please don't pretend to speak for the rest of us. Personally I prefer Apple's desktop interface slightly to Microsoft's though I'm fine with both. I haven't yet seen a linux desktop that even came close to suiting my work flow preferences though I continue to hold out hope. None of them are perfect and what might be perfect for me will likely be annoying for you.
But Window 7 "close to perfect"? ....No. Just No...
Between this, and Microsoft's ongoing "UWP" debacle, is there any OS out there now that doesn't suck ass?
There never has been. One sysadmin maxim is that all OSes suck, and your job is to pick wisely and reduce suckiness.
Incidentally, I've spent some of the spare time during the holidays to convert some of my servers from Enterprise Linux 6 to Gentoo. The suckiness factor for EL7 is simply too high.
If "Configurable via GUI" in Windows means you "add some arcane registry key via the registry editor", then *maybe*.
From a Windows fan's point of view, one key difference between the Windows Registry on the one hand and text configuration files (/etc and dotfiles) on the other hand is that the Registry is a database. This means it's more likely to be resilient to data entry errors. With text files, a syntax error usually invalidates the entire file, and there's nothing preventing the user from typing in a string where an integer is expected. Sure, the Registry's implementation is technically dubious, but switching to a more robust back-end like SQLite might fix that.
Many of reasons that exist for Linux are largely a catch-22 (eg, not many people use Linux because most developers don't target that platform, and developers don't tend to target Linux beacuse there aren't enough users to justify the effort).
Certainly also Linux is not ready for the desktop of anyone who simply wants to copy what everybody else is doing (playing the latest AAA title that is only available for Windows, for example).
From a commercial standpoint, I could even see that it isn't ready for the desktop of someone who must essentially work with other people who for the sake of compatibility, dictate that everybody in the company using the exact same version of all of their software and running the exact same operating system, where their operating system is not Linux.
Where I work there are precisely zero Windows computers... reception has a mac, but all of the developers have Linux on their desktop.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
My complaint with my Ubuntu desktop is that it doesn't go into sleep mode. My complaint about my Windows laptop is it doesn't come OUT of sleep mode.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Wooahhh... on my GS5 and when i went to the first link, it loaded A LOT nasty looking popup pages... never had that happen from a \. article. FYI... its not that easy to see the real link url when using chrome for mobile.
Suffice it to say that Windows 7 is the most well-polished turd that Microsoft has released. It's a garbage can with a lot of expensive rockets taped on it. However, at the end of the day, it does the job. Best PC operating system.
The article makes a big deal about the fact that getting nVidia and AMD cards to work under Linux isn't easy, and he's right. However, he's blaming the wrong person. Neither company is willing to provide either proper OSS drivers or the technical specifications needed for somebody else to write them. All they give us are binary blobs. And, in the case of nVidia, the install process is insane. First you have to boot into a CLI only environment to install them and second you have to do it again every single time there's a kernel update. Fedora, at least, has developed a way around this by using an akmod that checks at boot if there's a proper driver (kmod-nvidia) for the running kernel, and if there isn't, it builds one. Ubuntu still uses the insane version, but at least it automates it so that when there's a kernel update, it prompts you at boot to install the new drivers, doing all of the messy stuff on it's own after getting permission.
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The people here are GREY-BEARDS you millennial twat. Grey-beards are the wise and the experienced, of which you are neither. Rejecting 'The UNIX way' is folly, not enlightenment.
Good-bye
It should be possible to configure pretty much everything via GUI (in the end Windows and Mac OS allow this)
I'm not a Mac user, so maybe I'm mistaken on this, but isn't OS X (and Apple in general) rather infamous for not letting users configure things very much?
My parents have an old PC that came with windows XP that they have been running for a long time. The hardware itself is perfectly fine but windows XP has gotten cruddy and slow over the years as windows XP tends to do. I'd sure like something fresh to put on it that's free and will run decently on their hardware and runs some up to date applications.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Naw, no trolling... not much anyway. When I say "close to perfect," I mean something closer to "the best desktop OS UI that's been created yet, by anyone, where most things 'just work.'" And I say that writing this from a Mac that I've been using as my primary daily laptop for two years - and I STILL hate the UI. The multi-monitor/projector support is TERRIBLE, Finder has one of the worst file explorer layouts I've seen, it's about a 10-step process to switch from normal headphones to USB or back, my task bar or whatever it's called in MacLand shrinks to where I can hardly see what I'm clicking if I open too many things at once, the network settings are disjointed, and it's not even possible to use a shortcut key to lock the desktop when I'm walking away from my desk! (And no, a "hot corner" is NOT THE SAME, even though that's the dirty cheap hack I have in place as a substitute).
So, compared to that hot steaming mess in the road, Windows 7 is pretty close to perfect.
I pick my hardware to run my LInux apps properly, including printer/scanner. All that whining the author does about specific hardware types. If you really are hard core gamer pick the right OS for your games, Linux may not be it.
Sound issues: yes there are some for specific use cases, valid point
Printer/scanner blah blah - pick the right hardware for your OS and quit whining.
X11 issues - yes X is dated, insecure, single threaded for important things,
Wayland - not done yet so who cares
Kernel - yes it can crash on driver failure, so can Windows or Mac OSX. Done it on all three myself, do I get a prize?
Distribution non-standards for settings, etc. - no this is a strength, and there are only a handful of really popular distros anyway. I want the choice
Wine whining - use a VM you putz and run windows for windows apps
No equivalent for hardcore CADD/Photo - use a VM you putz and run windows for windows apps
grub update problems - no honestly haven't run into them
no security update lists - wrong, you can cron a query to the package manager and email it. even list required, security, etc.
major recent security problems - shell shock, openssl - actually openssl a problem where private interests led to rubber-stamping crap. shellshock - yes bash is a very complicated bloated shell, smarter people (like *BSD) run services under much simpler shell.
look at all the security vulns found in package x, more eyes doesn't mean less vulns - no the eyes are one means for finding them. another might be fuzzers. hey at least your 134 gtk+thingy were fixed
windows more secure because updates mandatory - wrong, some of those auto updates break things and so serious places have to vet each one and withhold...dang same as linux or any other OS! sysadmin is hard and painful to do correctly!
systemd woes with freezing, crashes, undefined state - yes, it's badly designed bloated trash. don't use it for serious servers. Poettering is a disease.
samba is hard - yes sysadmin is hard
GNOME and KDE woes and no enough manpower - some of us use better desktops
steep learning curve, have to use CLI sometimes - yeah just like windows registry editing and powershell
no antiviruses or similar - yes there are, and they're free and even will spot other things like .jars with vulnerable java in them. clamav bitch
forward and backward compatible kernel problems - yes, kernel version change means specific drivers. again pick your hardware for linux, use standard things, you want bleeding edge hardware maybe you should change OS, Linux isn't for you. reality bites
GNOME/KDE change things move things - yes, the major desktops suck, use one that listens to user needs and isn't trying to be star trek command and control
oh noes linux devs don't care because they broke Loki installer - more game related whines. seriously kid, if you want a game machine buy windows unless you're into minecraft or steam linux or similar
character limits in linux - yup 255 for filename and 4096 for path. be nice if it was longer
case sensitivity in file names, no rational basis - wrong, very rational basis for POSIX system to require that. that will never be changed
file creation times - indeed many issues with the other timestamps in linux depending on filesystem type, that should be fixed
Linux security a mess because this or that vuln just found - no, they were fixed so quit your whining, and any other general purpose OS on planet earth has similar, windows included
whining about binary api/abi between distros and binaries for specific distros needed - yes, each distro is a different OS. get that into your head. there is no problem.
No CIFS/AD level replacement/equivalent because samba doesn't count? yes samba 4 plus nis++ does count. oh you have to think and administer things differently than a microsoft cert wank? yes, yes you do. Remember kiddies, if you're a microso
This is a very high quality list and I fully recommend it for anyone that is currently working on FLOSS software or is looking to get involved in a high-impact project.
-- I was raised on the command line, bitch
I think a few people are ok with it as long as they use that UI shell thing called... uhm.. Android? Yeah, that's the name, Android. Seems to work fine for a Billion users.
Waiting for an amusing sig.
Well unless your computer is inside a secure cabinet preventing access to its internal components and any firewire ports, you DO need to have an armed guard at your computer 24/7 if you don't trust everyone who could have physical access to it. A bootloader password is of no use on a physically unsecured computer.
A person standing in front of a computer without proper credentials could also access the boot selection menu (immediately before the bootloader menu), boot from a USB drive/CD/floppy/network device, and mount your hard drive for the purpose of stealing files and/or planting malware.
A bootloader password could only be useful on a computer inside a secure cabinet with a BIOS password that also protects boot device selection - and even then, full-disk encryption seems like a safer bet if you want to keep unauthorized users from booting your computer.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
The problem is when Windows users try to configure something as they know how to in Windows, this fails. I would say that on the surface, some things appear not to be as customizable. If the GUI does not offer an option, there is a command that does it. Under the hood, people still forget that OS X is Unix and commands still work.
Speaking of Windows, I have Windows 8. After years of having the ability to tweak a lot of things in previous version, MS decided to bury almost everything from the user. It seems to me I have to wade through at least one more menu or screen for every little thing than before. I've heard that Windows 10 gets worse at this.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
I've bypassed fully-secured bootloaders by shorting the CLCM pin (deletes the bios password by removing power from NVRAM), going into bios, enabling USB boot, putting in a USB drive with grub, poking at the hard drive for 20 seconds, and then manually loading a kernel and initrd with init=/bin/bash. Added a secondary root account (uber, uid=0) and rebooted, got root. Failing that, I can boot a small Linux distribution and mount the root partition, then type a new entry into passwd and shadow using vi.
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I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but the open-source community's sometimes fanatical opposition to DRM of all types is a hindrance to desktop adoption. Until it is possible for Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime to "just work" in any browser on Linux the same way they do on Windows or Mac OS, desktop Linux is not going to be competitive for average users.
I started at a new company which included a stock Ubuntu (I came from Fedora previously). I hate their stock UI so I switched to Xubuntu.
1. Lots of configuration necessary since -my- XFCE looks more akin to Gnome 2 (My axe to grind but I'd love to have XFCE pre-canned layouts with the ability to save customized layouts afterwards through a GUI)
2. The graphical package manager worked maybe 60% of the time, so I immediately abandoned it and went to apt-get
3. I regularly get 'this and that' crashed errors even though nothing seems broken.. very strange. My ps list has a million copies of "indicator-bluetooth-service", "indicator-sound-service" so I'm assuming indicators has issues (see below)
4. There's no elegant way of telling the desktop to inherit screen orientation changes to the login screen. You can copy a cfg file over, but that's garbage. Include a prompt or have some sort of backend sudo for 'blessed' users
5. NV Graphics / Audio / All hardware worked out of the box and great! 0 complaints.
6. The whole 'indicators' thing between Ubuntu's skin and XFCE is functional, but a little ham fisted. I guess I should be happy that there's a widget for them at all but I'd wish someone put some more love into it.
All in all, things are certainly moving in the right direction, and a big thanks to everyone who contributes regularly in making my workhorse better and better!
Bye!
Yeah, with physical access you could just pull the drives and hook them to another computer, why is a Grub exploit really an issue anyways?
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
You do realize that a single character wrong in the data field will cause you issues in Windows too right?
You can also put a string into an integer field in regedit, as you tell it what type the key is, not the other way around.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
If "Configurable via GUI" in Windows means you "add some arcane registry key via the registry editor", then *maybe*.
Yes, that case actually counts.
In Windows, you actually can do all sorts of user-unfriendly configuration-tweaking without having to open a command prompt or hand-edit a text file.
This is a big part of why Windows is far more accessible to a certain level of "power user" who isn't quite comfortable with hacking their way across configuration files, but can manage the rest of it.
I keep saying the Linux community focuses far too much on two extreme user stereotypes:
A notional "grandparent" who is afraid of any options and can use a simplistic already-configured-for-her system
and
The uber-geek who isn't scared of compiling their own kernel.
They keep forgetting about the notional "grandchild" who is "good with computers" but not to our level. This under-served segment is who actually acts as tech support for the notional "grandparent," and who probably makes the majority of the actual tech decisions.
In 2003/2004 I used Linux desktop at my job. I used Redhat 8 and 9 with KDE. It was usable. Ten years later, default KDE on Ubuntu 14.04 is barely usable - too many annoying things. Plasma 5.3 looked promising, but "not there yet". Unity is at least stable, but completely unconfigurable and I *hate* window buttons being on right. Also, selecting a window from the panel is completely annoying as you have to click on the panel, and then to move mouse to select screen - complete waste of time. I now use Cinnamon, and it is ok, except that I had to tweak UI via changing CSS file, and that power off window does not show "ok" button, only "cancel". And I have problem setting Alt-Shift for changing keyboards. And probably many more things but I did not have a chance to notice them yet.
From my perspective it looks as if Linux desktop is going backwards. I believe that problem is that there is no big companies behind it, like it was Redhat it its days. Yes, there is Cannonical, but it seems more interesting in pushing their political agenda than in desktop itself.
No sig today.
the Registry is a database. This means it's more likely to be resilient to data entry errors.
...no it doesn't. ID10T errors are no different no matter where the keystrokes go. It also doesn't prevent the registry itself from corrupting, which Windows is rather legendary at doing.
With text files, a syntax error usually invalidates the entire file...
...assuming you mean 'a bad configuration entry breaks the application', yes. It means you only have the application/service that relies on it going south. Just like borking a registry entry will bork the application/service that relies on the now-broken registry entry. Not seeing much difference there, unless you're referring to the registry's backup copy (which amazingly enough, you yourself can do before you edit a config file in *nix.)
Now if you meant that the file is completely useless from that point onwards, then you'd be wrong; the typoed/mistyped portion of said file can be edited back to normal and everything is hunky-dory again. By comparison, sometimes you cannot do that with a broken registry (that is, if you broke it badly enough and was dumb enough to reboot in-between... a not too outlandish scenario).
Finally, a config file can do something that a registry entry cannot: properly carry its own documentation within the file itself.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Control-Shift-Eject ? Slightly more annoying than Windows-L.
"Why do you consent to live in ignorance and fear?" - Bad Religion
I'm not a Mac user, so maybe I'm mistaken on this, but isn't OS X (and Apple in general) rather infamous for not letting users configure things very much?
A typical user, yeah - the options are plentiful, but not all-encompassing.
However, if you have admin rights on the box, changing any aspect of OSX' behavior is just a text editor and the right .plist file away.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
The lack of virtual desktops is a huge, glaring blot.
If you're the kind of person who mainly uses windows, and thus doesn't notice the weaknesses, then you will really like Windows 7. If you are aware of the full potential of the desktop, then you will see plenty of holes in it.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I use Linux on the desktop and 90% of this stuff does not affect me. But.. what really gets on my nerves... remote desktop support.
Sure there is VNC but VNC has no sound! I guess Pulse can do it... That's what I keep reading but I can't make it work no matter how hard I try. Even if Pulse actually can provide remote sound.. (which I am begining to thing requires a visit from the friendly ghost of Leonert Poettering himself) it should be seamless with the remote desktop app to be considered good enough for 2001 (let alone 2016). Look how easy it is in Windows! Check the fucking box and it works. That's what I want to see in Linux.
Yes, there have been other sound servers over the years, eSound, aRts. I remember eSound even having a java client so I could hear my Linux Desktop from someone's Mac or Windows box. So what... they still were not (click a box) integrated AND they were only supported in certain applications.
Once upon a time, when I was first switching to Linux I was super impressed by remote X display. Windows had no native remote desktop back then, you had to pay a bunch of money to PC Anywhere to get that. Linux was light years ahead in my eyes in that it ran over the network natively.
What the hell happened? All those years, Windows gets Remote Desktop which seamlessly incorporates sound AND on terminal servers even separates the sounds by login session. I can log in to Windows remotely while a buddy does the same and we can listen to separate sounds on our respective terminals.
Linux has what? VNC plus PulseAudio? WTF?
I could rant about VNC not having built in encryption too. I guess RealVNC has it.. for a price. I think TightVNC can do SSL but you have to use the Java client. That sucks. At least SSH tunneling gives me a solution to that though. Still waiting for such a simple sound solution.
Alas... Linux seems to be finally changing on this front. IN THE WRONG FUCKING DIRECTION! Now we are supposed to be switching to Wayland and relying on each respective desktop environment to independantly invent and implement a remote protocol for us to use?
I think the Linux Desktop is in the process of self destructing. Where to now?
Someone with physical access can remove the hard drive from your computer, make a copy of it, then use the copy without ever booting from it. Physical access needs to be prevented by physical means.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
And if you have physical access to a booting machine, its owner may already be f#cked.
Using that logic, nobody should ever be required to type a password when physically present at the console.
Using that logic then we should never implement security features that deter passersby but will not stop a determined attacker.
We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
-- Anais Nin
Finally, a config file can do something that a registry entry cannot: properly carry its own documentation within the file itself.
Including a comment stating when you made a change, and the original line transformed into a comment so that it's easy to undo. If there's a way to do that kind of thing with the Windows Registry, I've never heard of it.
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Umm... Eject? I've never seen an Eject key on a keyboard, certainly not on my Macbook (which is also missing "Home" and "End" keys, because Apple).
I'm not a Mac user, so maybe I'm mistaken on this, but isn't OS X (and Apple in general) rather infamous for not letting users configure things very much?
A typical user, yeah - the options are plentiful, but not all-encompassing.
However, if you have admin rights on the box, changing any aspect of OSX' behavior is just a text editor and the right .plist file away.
Also with the right commands or hackware a bunch of normally invisible files and folders become visible and ready for your miscreance.
My eject key is to the right of F12 and above delete.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
Every Windows user I've met likes 7 and prefers staying w/ it over 8 or even 10. Only thing - I got a laptop w/ 8.1 preloaded, didn't wanted to fork out extra for 7 Pro, and so moved to 10 at the earliest opportunity. Had I been on 7, I'd have stayed there, but the fact that Microsoft is undermining support for 7 and will end it in 2020 makes it time to look at alternatives. I have 10 as well as PC-BSD.
When you say 'rest of us', it's highly presumptive to imply that the 'rest of us' are Linux users. Linux is still an asterisk in the market, no matter how many slashdotters use it. Even Apple - it's only users are those Apple fans willing to spend >$1k on a laptop: anyone who pays b/w $200-$1000 has to settle for Windows, and there, everybody I've met to date prefers 7 to either 8 or 10.
On this PC-BSD laptop, I sometimes use multiple workspaces, and it has been useful at times. Yet, I don't miss it in Windows 7, and I don't use it at all in Windows 10. I can see how it would be useful if I had multiple displays.
I can see Workspaces becoming a resource hog if one has different wallpapers for different virtual desktops. Lumina however doesn't allow that.
AC's post said "Linux". Had it said "Desktop Linux", "GNU/Linux", or "X11/Linux", I would have read it as the whole thing.
...assuming you mean 'a bad configuration entry breaks the application', yes. It means you only have the application/service that relies on it going south. Just like borking a registry entry will bork the application/service that relies on the now-broken registry entry. Not seeing much difference there, unless you're referring to the registry's backup copy (which amazingly enough, you yourself can do before you edit a config file in *nix.)
At least in a database, you can change one entry in-place without rewriting everything. In a text file, if you rewrite a single line to be shorter or longer, you have to rewrite the whole rest of the file. And it's easier for an error early in the file to affect the interpretation of lines later in the file because even though '\n' is often a synchronization point, it isn't always.
The lack of virtual desktops is a huge, glaring blot.
Just update to Windows 10 then. You get all the benefits of virtual desktops ... yeah you get virtual desktops. Hurrah!
If "Configurable via GUI" in Windows means you "add some arcane registry key via the registry editor", then *maybe*.
I'm pretty sure no one I know outside of the serious tech heads know what the registry is let alone have added a key to it. Compare that to pretty much no one I know has ever managed to get a working Linux system fully up and running and setup the way they like it WITHOUT resorting to the command line or Google at some point.
Comparing the two is silly.
That said I don't mind the CLI and it at least keeps the support calls for Linux away as there's a minimum proficiency that it seems to require which includes the ability for the users to Google problems themselves.
Some of the things listed are valid, some not (like updates breaking the boot process - i experienced that once in the last 15 years of continuous linux use. OTOH I use debian (based) distributions for stability.
Good thing that only applies to very specific versions of a particular bootloader, that you may or may not be running (I'm not using GRUB 2 anyway...).
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
Hey, guess what? Learn how a computer works, then we'll talk. Seriously. Don't they teach you guys anything in school anymore?
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
I know it's a troll, and a pretty dated one at that, but...
If you're a VB developer, you have no business being a sysadmin.
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
Finder is replaceable, mac ships with a system scripting language and has for decades, the setting for icons on the taskbar is a set by you to shrink mine and most everyone else's expand when you mouse over....
You really shouldn't be doing reviews.
You aren't. From the console you can bypass passwords to boot into a runlevel 1.
I'm not even sure that /. is majority Linux users any more. I'm not entirely sure what happened. Oddly, when it was majority Linux users - I was still using Unix at work (mostly) and Windows at home. Recently, I got tired of having Linux on a partition and never bothering to boot to it to do much more than poke around or update so I got rid of all my Windows installed, let my MSDN lapse, and am just using Linux. Now they've all gone to Windows 7 or 10.
The fickle hands of fate have weaved their skein and a reading of the the loom has determined that I am destined to remain a minority. Well, not quite the minority you are. You use PC-BSD. I've found a few other Lubuntu/LXDE users here. Actually, I should like to see Slashdot's user data and find out what percentage are actually using what OS.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
I have to disagree, I am running a perfectly usable Linux Desktop here, and have been for years. Multimedia, Video/Audio editing, Vover IP, Instant Messaging, Browsing, Emailing, Word processing. All on a bog-standard desktop PC.
Like you make a daily inspection and will notice the hardware keyloggers that one can buy for very little money.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Export the key as a .reg before editing it. Save it with a name that you can remember or something that's detailed. The file date and time will tell you the rest. Backup the registry before you edit it. Keep good, multiple, backups of said registry.
It's not the same but the end result is the same.
And no, I'm sending this from Lubuntu.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
What a beautiful 3D desktop (11:43) Feb 2006
Ubuntu 3D Desktop(2:41) - Sep 2010
Ubuntu Linux 10.10 3-D Desktop Demo (3:27) Mar 2011
KDE Plasma 5 (30.08) May 2015
3D Desktop+Linux Mint 17.2+Runescape Demo (3:36) Oct 2015
Interesting you picked that: it was the only one in the list I disagreed with.
I installed Linux in 1999 and never looked back. Ok, I've tried various BSDs, but always came back to Linux. Been through a dozen distros, settled on Ubuntu. I am not a developer (just some hobby-dev'ing) or a sysadmin. Linux does the job perfectly for me - I have been running various businesses, have lots of clients (99% running Windows) - and I close to never experience any issues - on the desktop or with compatibilities. Running i3-wm (no KDE/GTK desktop), qutebrowser, LibreOffice when I have to, mutt, weechat... and write just about everything in VIM. I am jolly happy. Linux gives me exactly what I want.
If you miss mess up the syntax in a text configuration file (misplace a quote or brace, etc) at best, the items after the error will be ignored. At worst (and more likely) the entire config file will be either ignored and go with defaults, all just not load the module that depends on it altogether. If you make an error in a registry key (text when it expects an integer, etc) the rest of the registry is fine.
The main issue w/ Windows 8 was that it was neither fully tiled nor fully desktop. Like you could be in the desktop, but if you clicked the Windows key, you'd automatically get back the Metro screen. Yet, from the Metro screen, if you wanted to run an app, unless it was one of the readymade Microsoft apps like News or Food or Travel or one of those, it would take you back to the desktop. Even things like Classic Shell weren't a solution, since they would not give you the cascading menus, nor would they get rid of the hot corners. And I'd have the Charms bar pop up everytime my cursor came anywhere near the east of the screen.
Windows 10 has this right. I have a Winbook, which I use all the time in tablet mode. I have a laptop, which I always use in laptop mode. Each is fine in its own way. Only beef I still have is getting those huge tiles when I pull up the menu, and HERE, classic shell has been great. I've installed it, and use it just like I used to for Windows 7.
I dunno about Linux, but I haven't had any crashes w/ PC-BSD. Lumina has now matured a bit and is quite flexible, despite still being 0.8.7. Only problem so far is WiFi and lack of a proper sleep mode, but other than that, I just love it.
The worst key omission on Apple laptops is the delete key. I'm not talking about the backspace key marked "delete". I want a real delete key I can delete stuff with.
Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
It's spelled out explicitly on the website itself:
"I want to make one thing crystal clear - Windows, in some regards, is even worse than Linux and it's definitely not ready for the desktop either."
triggers a forged alert in my browser!!!
Ah, the wonders of the intertubes... sigh.
Just hit Fn+Delete (backspace) to have traditional delete functionality.
Been that way for a long time now - even my old PowerBook had that feature.
The Eject key only exists on Macs that have internal optical drives.
Knoppix is a good start since you can try it out from CDROM without it doing a thing to the installed system.
Well that sounds like something serious... LOL
Who else has a browser warning when trying to click the link?
Atari rules... ermm... ruled.
Like, not at all. Still cannot manage standby/sleep issues. Just crashes.
https://twitter.com/GunstickUL...
Atari rules... ermm... ruled.
I have only just learned, to my complete chock, after using Linux for my desktop system for something like 20 years, that Linux Is Not Ready For The Desktop. I'll have to stop using it, then..... *sigh*
I am using FreeBSD, it's support for USB drives, and NTFS, is abysmal.
Linux has no place anymore.
If you are going to support systemd, you might as well use Microsoft. Systemd ruins everything Linux used to stand for. Red Hat is the new Microsoft.
Windows sucks in many ways, but it runs the apps that business, and government, use. If you are going to be a financial analyst, you need to use Excel. Real pros use Photoshop, or AutoCAD, or other Windows apps.
If a desktop OS does not run the apps you need, it's just a curiosity.
Desktop Linux only fills a very tiny niche, and that is all it will ever do. FreeBSD is better for servers.
That's not the same thing, though, as having it right there in the file. An (almost) real-life example from a past job had something like this in it.
#For the last time, "useful_feature" isn't compatible with $database. The next one of you scrubs that "helpfully" turns this on will be killed.
#Remember, I have access to the sudo logs and to the personnel database. You can't hide. -- Local BOFH
#enable_useful_feature=1
enable_useful_feature=0
Can't do that with a .reg backup
A lot of distros have a live trial these days. I use Mint with MATE and you can try it off a usb key or CD as well.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Linux does not, natively, run the apps that are used by business, and government, Windows does.
Does not matter how much Windows sucks. An OS that does not run the apps is a non-starter.
> Wine whining - use a VM you putz and run windows for windows apps
Windows will run Windows apps much better than Linux, running a VM, running Windows.
Why buy a laptop with Windows installed, format the drive, install Linux, install a VM, the re-install Windows in the VM? Why not just use Windows in the first place?
What is the use-case for virtual desktops? They're a part of Windows 10, and have been available on Linux for a while now, but I've never felt the need to use them.
I consider myself to be a power user... often have dozens of programs open at a time -- including a browser with dozens of tabs open. I even have a 3 monitor setup. I've just never had the thought "fark this, I need to completely hide all of this and start another program in a different virtual desktop because reasons. Then switch back to this later."
Clearly, there are people like yourself who laud the capability, so there must be a use-case... I just can't imagine what it is.
What is the use-case for virtual desktops?
Do you ever use dual monitors? It's basically like dual monitors, except a little cheaper (and not quite as good).
I've seen a lot of people who use Windows by making every program full screen and switching between them using the task bar (or alt-tab). If you're one of the people who does that, then I would guess virtual desktops are not very useful for you.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
You could add a key immediately below to hold your comment. There's no requirement that registry keys actually DO anything.
Also, if a line in a .reg file begins with a semicolon (;), it is considered a comment. I haven't tested how that gets imported into the registry itself.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
. I even have a 3 monitor setup.
Oh, I guess you do lol. Sorry, I just woke up and didn't read that clearly.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Thank you. I'd been wondering if that would work, but it's been well over a decade since I last worked with Windows, so if I'd ever known, I'd forgotten.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Welcome. I still prefer Windows, tho there's starting to be hope of a linux I could live with for everyday (PCLinuxOS full-monty with KDE4 is close, tho if it goes to KDE5, I'm outta there).
Now that I think of it, .reg files usually have the first line commented out with the semicolon: " ;REGEDIT5 " or some such, and that never appears in the Registry, so seems they're just ignored.
But I've seen keys that evidently didn't do anything but hold a name for reference -- no value set -- and since you can name a key however you like, that name could be instructions for the adjacent key.
Back a decade and more, I used RegEdit routinely because I found it an easy way to paw through Windows' guts -- but haven't had the need since XP came along. I recently used it to check something on my "new" XP64 box** -- and suddenly realised it had been a good ten years since I used Regedit to *alter* the Registry.
** 'New" because I've tried Win7 and 8, and ran away screaming.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
You're right - that's why I said it wasn't the same but that it amounted to the same thing. (Name the .reg key something you'll understand at a later date.) If you *really* wanted then you could probably just make a .reg and a .txt with the same name and put your comments in there but that seems like a lot of work.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
And worst of all, a lot of these bugs have NOT been fixed for AGES. Some of the bugs you have listed on there have been around for a good 10 years with no fix in sight. This is linux in general. Some of them more glaringly obvious than others. You can submit these bugs on the bug reporting, but it always ends up with a big discussion and ends up being marked down as not important or my favorite, "won't fix". Thus, we end up with a kind of half-assed desktop.
The worst thing I hate doing is having to look through all these posts all over the net to find solutions to a lot of these problems. So linux desktop takes me less than 5 minutes to install, but it takes me a whole week to get setup properly because I'm scouring the net for solutions to issues. Or when I update, it breaks half my fixes and I end up spending another week to find solutions due to the update breaking the previous solutions.
Diss Microsoft Windows 10 all you want, but that was the smoothest upgrade I ever did in my life for anything Microsoft. It was also the easiest install I ever did for a new PC. The desktop works, everything works. Granted I don't like all the telemetry crap and I have to literally firewall all outgoing communications now, but come on, you know Microsoft did a good thing here and it's something linux needs to strive for or we'll continue to have everything held up with glue. Linux Desktop is now the Windows 98 SE, everyone laughs at it.
Hmm, tell Linus that about a kernel bug... that "well this bug will only kernel panic in a very specific set of circumstances" and watch the flame war commence.
A bug is a bug. You have a trivial to exploit root hole in a common configuration of an OS. Deal with it at that level.
There are 3rd party apps available to give windows such functionality, but they aren't in high demand.
That's because they don't work very well.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
A bug is a bug. You have a trivial to exploit root hole in a common configuration of an OS. Deal with it at that level.
And it has been dealt with. Yet other attacks on common configurations requiring physical access are just as trivial for an evil maid to exploit.
Glad 10 worked for you. It threw my HP laptop for a loop! Had to reinstall 8 and upgrade all over again... after I think it was 2 weeks I finally had 10 on my laptop working. What a PIA. I'm really glad I backed everything up.
That's not a feature, that's a bug.
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How errors in a text configuration file are handled depend on the programs that use the file. The program can use the file in a robust manner or in a fragile manner, it's up the the programmer.
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Many of us use (only) linux every day and it just works.
It's easier just to use an easy linux distribution than to compile such an list of "oh, when i search deep enough, there may be still a problem" excuses for being lazy.
Go to regedit, create a key, you will notice that you have to define the data type you are creating the key for. The data type is set on the key, but defined the data type of the value.
I am not confused at all, the data type is defined on the key, not on the value.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Yes, I can say Hypocrite, I am replying to one right now. Talk about Technical Blunders...LOL!
"My software is secure, this ONE expert says so, it must be true!"
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Dear Average User,
This person was bitching about linux on the desktop. If you're not using it on the desktop, this conversation simply ends. However, if you decide to take the dive and switch your machine from whatever it's currently running to linux, don't start complaining about things in it that are and have been standards since internet forever.
While you don't know what unix is or care about it's inner workings, your gleeful ignorance saddens me.
Sagan said it best: "We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.