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Lucy Linux, Dressed to Kill
An anonymous reader sent us a fairly positive article
about Linux but
written primarily from the perspective of a Mac advocate. Talks
a lot about KDE, the usability issues and similiarities between
Mac and Linux advocacy.
No offense to Tux of course, but she's not too bad to have on a sticker plastered to every computer...
> the unix GUI's are still less intuitive, consistent, and useful than either Windows or the Mac OS.
Because of the lack of consistency, I don't think the other two are valid generalizations to make. Because it's customizable, I can (and do) set X up to whatever configuration I feel is most intuitive and useful for me. It's also quite easy to set it up to be an unmanagable bear, if that's what you're into.
And, while the Mac's UI is nice, though not entirely to my tastes, I find even the worst X setups to be more intuitive, consistent, and useful than Windows has ever been.
I'll have to disagree with you there. Normally I prefer brunettes, but Miss Mac has that wide-eyed, innocent, helpless look to her. I prefer a woman who can take care of herself... and I'm sure Ms. Linux knows how to use that gun... she's certainly capable of SIGKILLing any process that messes with her...
The author found a good metaphor for his comparison to relate it to normal people and events, and he ran with it. The pictures were of popular figures in our culture, which you might see on any entertainment web site, and aren't inherently sexist. (I've seen the movie La Femme Nikita in French with subtitles, and it deals with a lot of issues. I don't think they're objectifying that particular woman there. :)
.jpg's of pretty women to prove a point was sexist, then so be it. However, I think that many people would see it as a nice pictoral explanation to the dry descriptive text here. This article wasn't completely dry either, so you could also consider the addition somewhat whimsical and humorous. (like Linux having genital herpes... :)
The content wasn't bad. It wasn't what I'd call a technical article, but telling people to be informed before they start spouting arguments is always good. Judging from the ranting about how "X doesn't support cut-and-paste", I'd like to see articles like this more often...
If you somehow thought linking two
Also, if this somehow misled you, there were also links to other Linux sites, which should correct any misinformation for the avid reader. Also an example of getting informed before you rant.
Anyhow, I found the article to be remarkably informative and well-written, and that didn't offend me either.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
Software is usually about making my life better: more productive, more fun, more interesting.
:) I've never owned a Mac before, though I've used them and my next computer WILL be a G3, because it offers me what I want: power, style, speed at a decent price. I will be running Linux because I enjoy the OS and I enjoy the freedom it gives me, but I probably also will run MacOS X because it will be convenient to do so (i.e. powerful, elegent and usable, and has the dev tools I want).
For that reason, freedom is only one way to make my life better - it's not the only way. I disagree fundamentally with your postulation that "everybody loses" when software is not free. It is, and always will be a *choice* as to whether software is free, as the freedom to *choose* about what you do with your property is a more fundamental freedom than to have the freedom to have widespread modification/redistribution rights to someone else's property, intellectual or otherwise.
The mainstream is not going to all of a sudden awaken from their slumber and realize magically that our personal freedoms are being trounced upon by proprietary software. This is based on the fundamentally flawed assumption that intellectual property rights don't exist from a moral/ethical perspective. The jury's still out on that one because history & economics have shown the power of "property-driven" societies.
As RMS says, the one threat to software freedom is to use proprietary software when it is "convenient to do so". Do you really think the herd is going to move to free software unless it IS MORE CONVENIENT than proprietary? That IS the reason Linux & Apache are so successful. Will the GIMP replace Photoshop any time soon? I doubt it. Will vi/emacs+gcc replace the major IDE environments out there? Very, very, doubtful.
As for your domestic violence analogy: I'm a recent Mac convert - I guess I must be a masochist, is that it?
Mac users do 'get it', after living in there self-enforced bubble over the last 10 years, they're starting to venture out of it and realize there's a big, complex world out there. Perhaps some Slashdot users will do the same some day....
-Stu
You didn't say, but nothing fits THAT bill. Just listen to Red Hat, who says Linux/Alpha "isn't worth it".
Are you even RUNNING Linux on one of those non-Intel platforms, and would you reccoment it to others?
And doesn't "completely open" mean you're using an open sourced CPU (sputter!), or at least avoiding Intel and their evil Slot One?
Hypocrite.
You're 100% right... there is NO [good] reason we can't have multiple platforms, like during the HEALTHY computer wars of the 1980's. I like to think the 80's were the Golden Age of home.. I mean PERSONAL computers.
:)
From an American perspective at least, if you weren't scared off by FUD and wanted GOOD graphics and an easy to program system.. you got an 8-bit Atari. If you wanted to run "all the latest software"... you got a Commodore 64 (with a pathetic disk i/o system marginally faster than an Atari 1010 tape drive..). Later the roles were somewhat reversed with the Atari ST and the Amiga. The Atari ST was the first Macintosh clone... just buy the Magic Sack, some Apple ROMS and you've got a faster, cheaper Mac.
Porting software between OS's was relatively easy, although the ports sometimes offended advocates (ST users will remember being insulted by that dickhead who now runs 3DO... RIP), like Marble Madness for the ST not eving having a title screen. Programming was easy using BUNDLED TOOLS that came with the computer. I used to type in all the code from Antic, and A.N.A.L.O.G., and port non-Atari stuff from COMPUTE!
These days some people argue against multiple platforms, and this saddens me. Why is it people will bitch about their local cable monopoly by think it would be better for just one software platform? The point of all this is to highlight just one point, which you touched:
It's NOT difficult to port software xplatform, and to a lesser extent but still true it's NOT difficult to support it either.
1st, the LACK of diversity is the #1 reason why Windows sucks so bad... nobody is a real threat so Microsoft won't change. Say goodbye to the last piece of "Open" code in Windows... DOS goes bye-bye in Win2K. Some Windows users say "we need Apple for competition and to make Windows better", but few of these people give serious consideration to Windows "alternatives", so what's the point of lip talk?
2nd, MOST porting difficulty can be attributed to using Microsoft tools in the first place. If you didn't build your freakin app using black boxes like Direct3D and ActiveX you wouldn't be dumbfounded when your app won't port.
That's all. I have work to do.. end rant.
You're 100% right... there is NO [good] reason we can't have multiple platforms, like during the HEALTHY computer wars of the 1980's. I like to think the 80's were the Golden Age of home.. I mean PERSONAL computers.
:)
From an American perspective at least, if you weren't scared off by FUD and wanted GOOD graphics and an easy to program system.. you got an 8-bit Atari. If you wanted to run "all the latest software"... you got a Commodore 64 (with a pathetic disk i/o system marginally faster than an Atari 1010 tape drive..). Later the roles were somewhat reversed with the Atari ST and the Amiga. The Atari ST was the first Macintosh clone... just buy the Magic Sack, some Apple ROMS and you've got a faster, cheaper Mac.
Porting software between OS's was relatively easy, although the ports sometimes offended advocates (ST users will remember being insulted by that dickhead who now runs 3DO... RIP), like Marble Madness for the ST not eving having a title screen. Programming was easy using BUNDLED TOOLS that came with the computer. I used to type in all the code from Antic, and A.N.A.L.O.G., and port non-Atari stuff from COMPUTE!
These days some people argue against multiple platforms, and this saddens me. Why is it people will bitch about their local cable monopoly by think it would be better for just one software platform? The point of all this is to highlight just one point, which you touched:
It's NOT difficult to port software xplatform, and to a lesser extent but still true it's NOT difficult to support it either.
1st, the LACK of diversity is the #1 reason why Windows sucks so bad... nobody is a real threat so Microsoft won't change. Say goodbye to the last piece of "Open" code in Windows... DOS goes bye-bye in Win2K. Some Windows users say "we need Apple for competition and to make Windows better", but few of these people give serious consideration to Windows "alternatives", so what's the point of lip talk?
2nd, MOST porting difficulty can be attributed to using Microsoft tools in the first place. If you didn't build your freakin app using black boxes like Direct3D and ActiveX you wouldn't be dumbfounded when your app won't port.
That's all. I have work to do.. end rant.
Actually, xterm will do both, with one exception.
You probably don't want the terminal to scroll on page up/page down. Those are perfectly valid keys to the programs running inside the terminal.
xterm will scroll the buffer using Shift-Page-up and Shift-Page Down.
No, Nikita is cooler.
>On the other hand, I wish Mac had a less opaque
>way of handling file types.
Eh? What's wrong with the way Macs handle filetypes?
Having a 'type' and 'creator' code associated with each file makes for a great deal of flexibility. Why should opening a text file directly always open a certain text editor? What if I want for than one text editor, for use with different kinds of text files?
For one thing, the way the Mac handles type/creator codes allows me to have multiple files of the same kind associated with different apps. What if I want some HTML files to open in Netscape, some in BBEdit, some in Simpletext, and some in Dreamweaver? The Mac keeps track of this, and it (normally) works quite well.
Also, it rids us of the concept of file type extensions - a relic that would have been gone long ago if things went right. A filename shouldn't have to function as a holder for metadata such as a file's type. The only reason Mac files have file extensions is due to convention (so you know what they are when they're stored on a 'foreign' file system).
The only thing Apple should do is make it a bit easier to manipulate type/creator information without having to open an app. Something in 'Get Info' and/or a contextual menu would be fine.
I just hope they don't go backwards with MacOS X. Putting extensions in the MacOS will go over like a Windows installation for most Mac people.
The BeOS has a pretty decent system set up for file types as well, although there is some room for improvement. Using MIME types is a very good idea, but the community hasn't really standardized enough for my tastes. Lots of bogus MIME types out there.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
- Jeff
This was an outstanding article, one that is rare to find among the Mac advocacy sites. I also think that this is just a precursor of things to come mainly because of MacOSX. Kind of tough to bash an OS (Linux) that is a kissing cousin of your future OS.
Now for the silly stuff. Some of the previous posters have expressed their preference for lucy over miss mac. I would like to point out that miss mac's picture is in b/w. Hence it is obvious that it must be the "before" picture taken prior to 1987 (i.e., pre-MacII). I'm positive that the "after" picture would, uh, kick your socks off.
(I don't know how many years I'd been using X11 before someone showed me that one.)
BY THE WAY, I'm not sure of the original author's intent, but he may have been speaking of more than just text cut-n-paste. Unix has been able to do this with text for years, but cutting and pasting formatting, images, diagrams and other sorts of data is more recent. I remember when Motif first implemented drag-n-drop. Can I drag an icon for an image file into a word processor and have it integrate the image into the document I'm working on? Maybe yes. Maybe no.
Your Servant, B. Baggins
No, Macintosh users(I think what he really
means here is The Mac Faithful) are like the
girlfriend who's a victim of ``domestic
violence''.
She's been with him for so long because he
tells her ``without me, you'd be nothing''(a
`PeeCee' user) and explains away the bruises to
her friends and family(David K. Every).
She needs him to justify her self worth.
She goes out of her way to please him(goes to
CompUSA and tidies up the iMacs when no one is
looking), all the while hoping that someday,
somehow he'll notice the devoted look in her
eyes...oh, yes...if he would only look at her...
But he never does.
Microsoft tells its users to bend over too; the
difference is they usually do not end up saying
``More...please,sir..I want more.''
*sigh*
The poor fools who write articles like this DO
NOT GET IT. It is not about marketshare, or
desktop applications, ``enterprise support'',
etcetera. When software is not libre, everybody
loses.
---------------------------------
"The Internet interprets censorship as damage,
That was one of the best articles on the Mac or Linux that I've read recently. I am disappointed, however, that the author failed to mention the availability of Linux for the PowerPc platform (even in the links section.) :)
:P)
I've been a Mac user for slightly over ten years, but I've also been using Linux on my Powermac for about 3 years. I'm really excited about the future of the Linux OS and GNU software, but more and more feel like an outsider it was once a friendly and open community. Simply because I don't like Intel hardware. One of the greatest strengths for Linux is that it runs on so many different types of processors, with the same behavior. And with the POSIX and other movements most software runs the same across them all. I just compiled the latest version of Windowmaker the other day right out of the tarball. So easy a chimp could do it.
As more and more "commercial" interest have begun developing shrink-wrapped software the ability of those of us who chose to use non-Intel processors are getting left out in the cold. Although often overlooked, this is in fact one of the main strengths of Open Source: if the code is open users can adapt the software for other platforms without your company having to spend the extra development costs.
Oh well, I am happy that so many of the rest of you in the Linux community will get to play the next Civilization or Quake. Just wish I couls join in all the excitement.
(This reply was written just after I've renetworked the SPARC network I administer for Soalris 2.6. Let's hope it sends!
Witchblade
PC people followed the wrong articles of 2~3 years ago. And the mood they made speed up destroying
Mac platform.
But, unlike them, the Mac person who wrote the
article is fair about the Linux.
It's more pleasant than being a Mac person 2~3
years ago.
I'm a Linux/Windows/Mac person.
I agree with the article.
Genital Herpes?? Eeewwwww!!!!!
And here I thought that Linux was immune, or at least resistant, to viruses.
But then again, geeks all over the world have had their fingers in it. ANYBODY can get their hands on it. Likes a big hard disk, but comes on a floppy as well. Likes lots of RAM. As far as hardware goes, the faster the better. Can keep going non-stop for months, without ever going down on you. Is, by default, multi-user. You can share it with your friends. If you get it on the street, the shrinkwrap comes off without a fight. Gladly gives you an intimate look at the source.
Linux is a slut!
Was that Nikita?? Hmmm..
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
I hope everyone reads it and enjoys a well-written viewpoint from another side of the fence.
Enjoy, and don't let it degerate into G3 vs. Pentium or Mac vs. Linux or KDE vs. Gnome flamewars.
Am I hoping for too much?
Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
It is beyond me why so many people think that OS's cannot or should not coexist. I am currently using both LinuxPPC and MacOS 8.5.1, and I could not be happier.
I totally agree that Macintosh advocates should become very aware about linux. It would be benefitial for the future of MacOS in general, with discovering features that should be included with any OS, one of the more obvious being the virtual desktops. Any mac user can see the functionality of many of the of the KDE, Gnome, etc. features, and maybe would be interested in having them in their already friendly OS
In short, Mac users need to know what's available in order to possibly request needed features for future MacOS versions.
That's my two cents.
"But we'd never spread lies about the competition. We have too much class."
GNU/Linux does.
I've been with OS/2 long enough that I consider myself a `battered-spouse' OS/2 user. Like anyone in a codependent relationship, I continue to use OS/2, and it doesn't seem to know that I'm seeing another operating system (and a freed one at that).
I feel empowered. I'm in control. My computer is MINE!
(I do not mean to make light of domestic violence, as that is a terrible thing (as I should well now, being a survivor of some moderate violence myself in the past). I am simply drawing an analogy.)
Cheers,
Joshua.
--jon. Postel is dead. May we all mourn his, and our, loss.
You might want to take a look at the xclipboard(1) program. It does exactly what you want. Just mark the text in your xterm or whatever, go to xclipboard, and click both the left and right mouse button simultaneously in the blank area (or middle mouse button if you have one). Voìla! xclipboard also has the cool `Next' and `Prev' buttons to go back and forth between texts. (You can use Alt+C and Alt+V to copy and paste in Netscape and most other Motif programs.)
--jon. Postel is dead. May we all mourn his, and our, loss.
That's a quote from one of the section headers of the article.
The author also states: "it is not sufficient for us to simply bad mouth Linux and dismiss it. (Let Microsoft do that.) To do so makes us just as ignorant and stupid as the Best Buy salesmen who keep repeating the litany that Apple is dead or the PC idiots who seem to get everything wrong when they write about the iMac."
Have you noticed that one and only one software maker consitantly spreads FUD, lies and misinformation about the competetion?
Damnit there are hundreds and hundreds of different automobile models to choose from, yet they all are profitable and they all share enough traits and characteristics in common so that once you learn how to drive, you can drive any model.
There's no reason why several OS's can't simultaneously be successfull. There's also no reason why standards can't be open enough for several OS's to co-exist and transparently talk to one another and share data.
The biggest problem in the entire world of software is that one company, Microsoft, cannot tolerate the idea of anyone on the face of planet earth producing software except them.
If Microsoft would compete on an honest and decent level and on the merits of their own product, without using dishonest and sleezy tactics to try to undermine honest competition, I would have nothing against them.
Yet, it is these sleezy tactics that undermine and stifle innovation in the software world.
The author of this article shows a very mature and well reasoned position on the coexistance of platforms.
He has elevated my opinion of the Mac community.
Here's a Friday afternoon beer bottle toast to John Martellaro, Lucy Linux, and Miss Mac!
I've been a Mac user and programmer for 15 years. I recently got an Intel box and put Red Hat Linux on it. I didn't originally think I'd need to bother with X-windows, but when it comes to administering the system, it's nice to have a GUI.
Just getting my video card (i740) and keyboard (backspace key!) to work right in X was a long and painful adventure.
Things that Mac users take for granted, like copy and paste, and consistent key shortccuts across applications, are non-existant.
KDE feels clunky somehow; I can't describe it because I didn't like it and installed GNOME instead. GNOME feels better, but the Midnight Commander crashes, and has some really obvious bugs. KDE's filesystem-browser is pretty nice.
I'll stick to my Mac for most things, for now. But I'm reading slashdot and typing this reply while chasing a bug in my Mac program that's causing me to reboot every five minutes.
DOug