There's a blueprint just for what your asking. I agree that you should be able to customize it more than you can now, but I guess that's in conflict with the Gnome philosophy. Personally I think it would be better to have an "off", "on", and "custom". If you set it to custom a bunch of checkboxes appear in the window for you to choose what you do or do not want enabled. Off would obviously be off, and On would be things like the expose emulator, genie minimize effect, graphically showing virtual desktop switches, and other similar simple effects.
This whole post is a horrible mess. Instead of taking his opinion as constructive criticism, you put words in his mouth and attack him. You completely overlook the major issues presented in usability of linux.
This column is written for mainstream, nontechie users of digital technology. These folks aren't necessarily novices, and they aren't afraid of computers. They also aren't stupid. They simply want their digital products to operate as promised, with as little maintenance and hassle as possible.
Isn't this a contradiction?
No. It means they want their stuff to work with no maintenance and hassle. What's so hard to understand about that?
So, I have steered away from recommending Linux, the free computer operating system that is the darling of many techies and IT managers, and a challenger to Microsoft's dominant Windows and Apple's resurgent Macintosh operating system, OS X. Linux, which runs on the same hardware as Windows, has always required much more technical expertise and a yen for tinkering than average users possess.
Isn't this biased and patronizing? And is there proof of the last claim? I can set up most Linux distros such that a user needs no knowledge at all of Unix. How is that different from OS X?
No. It is the darling of many techies and IT managers because it does its job for people who know how to work it. It does require either a more technical expertise or a like of tinkering, because otherwise you can't get things to work. To get Ubuntu working on my santa rosa macbook pro I need to boot to the terminal, edit a config file, download and install video and power management drivers, then download, compile, and install sound drivers from source. If you truly want Linux to be better, make it so that people don't need to do this. Someone in the Ubuntu forums has started getting wifi info from the community so that auto-detection of wifi can be done, but that is only one aspect of installing Linux. People arn't going to switch from something familiar (Windows) to something foreign (Linux) without that foreign being much better. You may have to download a bunch of exe's and install to get the same thing working in XP, but thats what people are familiar with, so they put up with it.
Lately, however, I've received a steady stream of emails from readers urging me to take a look at a variant of Linux called Ubuntu, which, these folks claimed, is finally polished enough for a mainstream user to handle. My interest increased when Dell began to sell a few computer models preloaded with Ubuntu instead of Windows.
Translation: I'm going to stomp all over you so stop bugging me
No. Thats you putting words in his mouth.
I've been testing one of those Dell Ubuntu computers, a laptop called the Inspiron 1420N. I evaluated it strictly from the point of view of an average user, someone who wouldn't want to enter text commands, hunt the Web for drivers and enabling software, or learn a whole new user interface. I focused on Ubuntu and the software programs that come bundled with it, not on the hardware, which is a pretty typical Dell laptop.
How can he claim to be something he's not?
He's not claiming to be an average user. He's evaluating it from the point of view of an average user.
My verdict: Even in the relatively slick Ubuntu variation, Linux is still too rough around the edges for the vast majority of computer users. While Ubuntu looks a lot like Windows or Mac OS X, it is full of little complications and hassles that will quickly frustrate most people who just want to use their computers, not maintain or tweak them.
Again, lets enumerate what those are[.] Walt? We'll get to those later.
There won't be a "year of linux". Probably not ever. Either the current trend in marketshare will continue until MS comes out with something worthwhile, or there will be a "year of alternative OS".
Of all OS's, OS X probably has the most to gain from Vista or Vista+1 failing. Apple has a buzz around it like no other tech company/product does except for maybe Linux, but Linux's buzz is mainly only in the technologically inclined. Everyone knows about Apple, and that effect means that they will grow the most should there be some massive uprising against Windows.
However, that doesn't mean that Linux will not grow should there be a big migration away. It just means that if both OS X marketshare and Linux marketshare quadruple over a given period of time, OS X's marketshare will grow like 15% compared to Linux's 4% growth.*
*I pulled those marketshare estimates numbers out of thin air.
have more money than people younger than 17. Kids 14, 15, and early 16 probably only have an income of allowance or an income of nothing. Kids younger than that probably only get games when their parents buy games for them. People aged late 16, 17 and 18 are starting their first jobs, but their still young enough not to have responsibility like paying for food, so they spend it on what they like.
Regardless of whether religion of any sort has truth or not, I could care less. Mythology of any given religion is irrelevant.
Though an argument could be made otherwise (crusades, inquisition, etc.), for the most part (IMO) religion has benefited mankind as a whole.
The main points (in major summation) to most religions are: Be nice, and worship X deity. Only the former really matters.
I like the way Douglas Adams puts it:
And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, one girl sitting on her own in a small cafe in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything. Though I don't agree with any given religion's beliefs, I do agree that being nice to yourself and others is a good thing. If a religion says that it does such and practices doing so, I'm cool with that religion.
I'm fairly certain the death of the two related major/minor characters was to create a parallel between Harry and his godson (two parents die and the godfather lives, to later become an influence in the childs life).
The iMac has always used laptop parts, and thats how it gets it's charming physique.
Thats also why people are always begging for a "mid-range tower" from apple, because they don't need/want the power/price of a Mac Pro, but would rather have a desktop with a decent desktop CPU and a good/great desktop GPU.
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There's a blueprint just for what your asking. I agree that you should be able to customize it more than you can now, but I guess that's in conflict with the Gnome philosophy. Personally I think it would be better to have an "off", "on", and "custom". If you set it to custom a bunch of checkboxes appear in the window for you to choose what you do or do not want enabled. Off would obviously be off, and On would be things like the expose emulator, genie minimize effect, graphically showing virtual desktop switches, and other similar simple effects.
No. It means they want their stuff to work with no maintenance and hassle. What's so hard to understand about that?
No. It is the darling of many techies and IT managers because it does its job for people who know how to work it. It does require either a more technical expertise or a like of tinkering, because otherwise you can't get things to work. To get Ubuntu working on my santa rosa macbook pro I need to boot to the terminal, edit a config file, download and install video and power management drivers, then download, compile, and install sound drivers from source. If you truly want Linux to be better, make it so that people don't need to do this. Someone in the Ubuntu forums has started getting wifi info from the community so that auto-detection of wifi can be done, but that is only one aspect of installing Linux. People arn't going to switch from something familiar (Windows) to something foreign (Linux) without that foreign being much better. You may have to download a bunch of exe's and install to get the same thing working in XP, but thats what people are familiar with, so they put up with it.
No. Thats you putting words in his mouth.
He's not claiming to be an average user. He's evaluating it from the point of view of an average user.
Which he does. Almost immediately ac
There won't be a "year of linux". Probably not ever. Either the current trend in marketshare will continue until MS comes out with something worthwhile, or there will be a "year of alternative OS".
Of all OS's, OS X probably has the most to gain from Vista or Vista+1 failing. Apple has a buzz around it like no other tech company/product does except for maybe Linux, but Linux's buzz is mainly only in the technologically inclined. Everyone knows about Apple, and that effect means that they will grow the most should there be some massive uprising against Windows.
However, that doesn't mean that Linux will not grow should there be a big migration away. It just means that if both OS X marketshare and Linux marketshare quadruple over a given period of time, OS X's marketshare will grow like 15% compared to Linux's 4% growth.*
*I pulled those marketshare estimates numbers out of thin air.
have more money than people younger than 17. Kids 14, 15, and early 16 probably only have an income of allowance or an income of nothing. Kids younger than that probably only get games when their parents buy games for them. People aged late 16, 17 and 18 are starting their first jobs, but their still young enough not to have responsibility like paying for food, so they spend it on what they like.
If you have a phone that supports bluetooth transfering, then hook yourself up.
g tone-with-itunes/
http://wateronlydries.com/2005/11/make-a-razr-rin
People pay $2 just for ringtones on their phone.
At least with this you get to listen to the whole song whenever you want, in addition to having it as your ringtone.
Though an argument could be made otherwise (crusades, inquisition, etc.), for the most part (IMO) religion has benefited mankind as a whole.
The main points (in major summation) to most religions are: Be nice, and worship X deity. Only the former really matters.
I like the way Douglas Adams puts it: And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, one girl sitting on her own in a small cafe in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything. Though I don't agree with any given religion's beliefs, I do agree that being nice to yourself and others is a good thing. If a religion says that it does such and practices doing so, I'm cool with that religion.
I'm fairly certain the death of the two related major/minor characters was to create a parallel between Harry and his godson (two parents die and the godfather lives, to later become an influence in the childs life).
The iMac has always used laptop parts, and thats how it gets it's charming physique.
Thats also why people are always begging for a "mid-range tower" from apple, because they don't need/want the power/price of a Mac Pro, but would rather have a desktop with a decent desktop CPU and a good/great desktop GPU.
news at 11.