Microsoft will learn. They have enough money to "fail" every so often, and eventually they keep bouncing back by delivering a gem after fucking up. But right now they seem to want to take the strategies that other companies like Apple are using, and give them a bit of a Microsoft twist but in the wrong direction. So you end up with advertisements for Surface with poppy music, quick edits and people dancing and jumping, as if that's how anyone uses computers. It only works for Apple because they're considered much more cool compared to Microsoft, so when MS tries it, it just comes off as hamfisted and try-hard. Like an old man trying to sprout words he's heard from young folks.
Canonical simply doesn't have the resources or indeed, the attitude to succeed. They haven't had any real successes since they were formed. Sure, Ubuntu is definitely the most popular Linux distro, but they still have yet to return a profit. If it weren't for Shuttleworth's stubborness on funding a white elephant the company would have dissolved years ago.
I'm pessimistic too, but only because it's basically required to remain sane when looking at all the tech companies these days. It's also necessary to be pessimistic when dealing with Linux because of the huge number of failed dreams of success that people have had for Linux, and no-one except the young and ignorant really want to keep dreaming about a Linux dominate future that will never happen.
I think he means marketshare to represent usershare - the actual number of users, well, using it as their daily driver on either desktops or laptops. That's still not increased with any particularly measurable amount since Ubuntu first appeared. There have been more users sure, but there are always more users of everything as people start using computers. It's the slice of the overall pie that's remained disappointing.
Devil's advocate: Maybe Microsoft elaborated on which patents are being infringed (behind closed doors of course), and maybe the companies have decided the patents actually have some basis, hence pay up.
Microsoft don't have to publically reveal the patents just to shut up its detractors.
Wait... where did I suggest I was an Apple fanboy? I hate Apple. I also hate Linux (on the desktop). You're the dumbfuck who's made the wrong assumption.
Absolute bullshit. I know people in real life who prefer Windows to Linux because they've had less problems and more support. Others just don't find Linux offers them much in the way of benefits compared to those they get by sticking with the status quo (i.e. Windows). I strongly doubt they're shills. More likely they, like a lot of people on the net, have juggled the pros and cons between Windows and Linux and have decided any pains in Windows are ultimately less than those experienced in Linux. Only those living in their own reality are unable to accept that this could actually be possible.
You guys seem to be using emotion more than sense.. Do you really think Microsoft will abandon the desktop? Windows 8 still has a fully functional desktop, it's needed due to the massive amount of existing software. There is no walled-garden in Windows 8 because the desktop still exists. Microsoft are NOT going to cut their throats by pissing off developers - it's not worth it.
If you're worried about a "what-if" scenario with Windows fully cutting off Win32 and the desktop and moving everything to metro + walled garden, that's not going to happen for a long time so long as Windows software needs to be run. Congrats on having a desire to make things portable at least, that's to be commended. But I think more people are look at this issue with too much concern over hypotheticals and less about what's actually happening right now. Microsoft aren't that stupid. They have the money to show it.
Why do this? Why jump through hoops to get into the mindset of the one developer who grouped that one feature on a whim. What do you want? Mouse speed? Search "mouse speed".
I just did a search for mouse speed in Windows 7. The first option was "Change the mouse pointer display or speed." So it seems Windows 7 already has the ability to search for keywords to perform various actions (which I've used many times and dearly love). Yet it still has the traditional hierarchical menu for finding things when the search function fails.
Having BOTH options is great, and Windows 7 does this in fine form. Windows 8 focuses primarily on search, and if you require discoverability then it's less capable than what Windows 7 already does. THAT's the problem.
If this is true, that's such a hidden feature it's ridiculous how obscure this fact is. The only reason I question whether it's true or not is because even on Windows fanboy sites like Neowin, I've never seen anyone suggest this as a means for booting to the desktop. You'd think for such a desired feature, this being a very easy method of achieving it would have made the rounds on sites ages ago
I don't think a lot of anti-Facebook people realize just how much Facebook has become integrated into people's lives and their methods of communication. It is EXPECTED that you have a Facebook account by now. Not having one makes you a social pariah apparently, and you miss out on a ton of things in you friends' lives that you probably won't hear unless you have Facebook. People aren't being rude - it's just a reflection of how society expects everyone to communicate these days. Trying to be different just reduces your social interactions and for no good reason.
You don't have to use Facebook much, though. I don't. I barely ever post since I know no-one will likely respond (you can't compete with attention whores who post every 5 minutes and have 500 friends). But, like Windows, it's better to have it around than to not have it at all.
When my mother-in-law purchased a laptop with Windows 8, I wiped it and put on Windows 7 because it's what they're familiar with and ultimately would give them less pain. It uses UEFI and booted to initial Windows 8 splash screen in under 2 seconds. If there were any keys to press to get to a boot menu/config screen, I didn't see any messages. You can to accept the Windows 8 EULA, then go to... some option I forget, and tell it to reboot to the "computer configuration screen" WITHIN FUCKING WINDOWS 8! This then rebooted the computer and showed a familiar BIOS screen. Turn on Legacy BIOS, reboot, then you have a slower startup but with the traditional messages to press keys to do various things, including a boot menu to boot from my Windows 7 USB.
Bullshit. The deck is stacked against Microsoft here. On Slashdot in particular there's very little Microsoft can do without the haters making Score: 4/5 posts about their actions.
Like the OP I'm also no Microsoft fan. I just refuse to be part of the circlejerk of Microsoft hate that only seems to exist on Slashdot these days. Everyone else on the net has a more varied selection of opinions.
It's not uncommon at all. Just that some people on Slashdot live in their own reality and cannot believe this can possibly be a reason.
Shit, I prefer Windows 7 over any Linux distro I've tried so far. Some people can't even COMPREHEND a preference for Windows over Linux. Which is why I hate this place sometimes and it's clearly against what I read on many other sites.
Well if I go by what you said, no-one is using pirated Photoshop on Linux anyway because it doesn't exist.:) Unless you mean Wine, which I don't.
Put it this way - GIMP has no mindshare. When people talk about Photoshopping they have one product in mind. When people discuss artistic design with computers, they're not talking about GIMP. When people present stuff they've made, I've yet to see anyone of any measurable level of quality use anything other than Photoshop. It's the industry standard for a reason.
I'm not saying GIMP is useless. I'm saying that given how much piracy is accepted in society (which is obvious seeing how much TV shows are torrented at the very least), it's hard for a lot of people to justify learning the GIMP as opposed to Photoshop when the end cost is going to effectively be the same. Plus with Photoshop you have a potentially transferrable skill set for those who are interested in a career in digital design. I have yet to see ANYONE use GIMP in a professional setting. You won't see it used in any photo houses that's for sure.
By extenion, Linux doesn't stand a chance in these environments. So much for Windows dying.
I play FPS games and enjoy them because even in "realistic" games with realistically modeled weapons, the actual effect of weapons on the human body is still mostly superficial. Yeah the guy dies and falls down dead, but a headshot is still either not shown on the corpse or at worst is a red splotch applied to the model. The Soldier of Fortune games got a reputation for being very graphically violent, but that was their hook - most FPS games don't bother going for the level of gore SOF had, just the action.
If games become so realistic and immersive that they represent what bullets really do to human flesh, I imagine they'll start to become a bit unpleasant to play. FPS games are still mostly divorced from the realities of death. They're like a cartoon in a way. Make them almost indistinguishable from the real world, and I'll play something else.
With the number of artists on deviantART listing Photoshop as their tool of choice and almost no-one listing GIMP, I doubt Adobe have much to worry about. People are not above pirating Photoshop these days because, for personal use anyway, there's no downsides if you know how to pirate it properly (hint: hosts file). Morally? In my experience having to live with the GIMP and Inkscape just because I was trying to remain "legit" was too damn painful after a while, and I doubt I'm the only one.
It's very easy to argue with free - if the alternative to free is a paid product that's less painful to use, faster to use and has more functionality that you're likely to use as well, people WILL pay good money for it because, well, that's why we have jobs. It's an investment.
As for Inkscape, it's too damn slow once you add even some basic filters. I can't believe after so many years and GSoC-funded developments it still feels so sluggish, compared to Illustrator of course. But I guess GIMP and Inkscape both run under Linux which the Creative Suite does not, and so for anyone stupid enough to rely on Linux for graphics development it's basically the only real option.
Here's the thing though - everyone has their price. If it was IMPOSSIBLE to pirate Photoshop, GIMP would probably be more popular. For what GIMP offers for $0 it's a pretty good deal, but in business and even amature-level stuff, enough people are prepared to pay full price for Photoshop because it's considered a worthwhile investment. There's no argument that it has more features, it's much quicker to perform actions, and it generally takes less steps to achieve something in Photoshop than it does in GIMP due to many, many years of iteration.
GIMP simply does not have the resources to compete with Photoshop no matter how many people say open source is better than closed source. History has made this clear by now. But, if you don't want to pirate AND don't want to pay for the new subscription model AND don't want to pay for an alternative proprietary package that's likely cheaper but still has enough functionality with much pain AND you're only running Linux... then yes, GIMP is probably OK.
I guarantee you the people running the GIMP project do not see their glacial development speed or lack of competing features as a burden or an issue to be addressed. They might complain occasionally, but the lack of them doing anything major to address these issues makes me think they don't take them seriously enough. They just progress at their own pace while more and more people give up and just move to Photoshop once they've lost enough of their patience.
GIMP, in single-window mode, can be made to look quite similar in presentation to Photoshop. I've got the toolbox on the left side with the "small" theme (very important to maximize available working space), panels (or whatever you call the individual boxes for things like layers, history etc) on the right, and everything carefully sized to achieve decent working space. I cannot see anything here that uses anything specific to a Photoshop UI since it just looks similar, not identical, which is all anyone really wants.
The only source of contention with patents would be the algorithms that Adobe uses for certain operations (software patents obviously). GIMP is fucking slow at times and it's really annoying when you've used Photoshop for a while. Doesn't help when all you've heard from FOSS fanatics is that open source is technically better than closed source, and you can clearly see that in many cases it's not.
Do any of them work in Linux though? I don't use Linux on the desktop anymore (really despise it these days), but I know a lot of GIMP fans are fans specifically because it provides at least SOMETHING Photoshop-like in Linux, and not just because it's free.
No-one bothers in the open source world. There's no return on one's investment of effort and time.
Look at this for example: http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Straight_Line/ - old screenshots, a mocking approach to a common question on how to draw lines in GIMP despite the fact you shouldn't even NEED a tutorial for something so basic. If this is how documentation is written for a high-profile FOSS application, then fuck it. I prefer the cold, stale but functional documentation found in more professional applications.
Unfortunately since neither Windows nor Os X has a decent windows manager, GIMP will always feel out of place in those 2 operating systems. The last thing we need is a single window GIMP.
The new single-window option in GIMP is the ONLY reason I started exploring GIMP more than I previously did.
You don't gain much by suggesting the top two operating systems (in terms of usage) are inferior for some reason, since you're arguing from a minority position. People can just ignore you since you prefer to mock the leaders rather than provide something people actually want to use. As for giving power to a corp and regretting it later - such is life. If free and open source software cannot provide the features and functionality people require in professional industry, well then, we deal with the corp.
What does that mean? Should everyone be average, running identical things? What's wrong with not being like regular people?
There's nothing wrong with not being like regular people. HOWEVER, being familiar with the stuff regular people use keeps in the loop so far as how technology is progressing. For example, I would never try to convert my wife to Linux as the software she needs (Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat) doesn't exist in Linux and the alternatives are not satisfactory. So I remain knowledgeable about Windows and find out, hey, Windows ain't that bad after all. Maybe there's more to the world of operating systems than in my sheltered viewpoint.
Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft will learn. They have enough money to "fail" every so often, and eventually they keep bouncing back by delivering a gem after fucking up. But right now they seem to want to take the strategies that other companies like Apple are using, and give them a bit of a Microsoft twist but in the wrong direction. So you end up with advertisements for Surface with poppy music, quick edits and people dancing and jumping, as if that's how anyone uses computers. It only works for Apple because they're considered much more cool compared to Microsoft, so when MS tries it, it just comes off as hamfisted and try-hard. Like an old man trying to sprout words he's heard from young folks.
Canonical simply doesn't have the resources or indeed, the attitude to succeed. They haven't had any real successes since they were formed. Sure, Ubuntu is definitely the most popular Linux distro, but they still have yet to return a profit. If it weren't for Shuttleworth's stubborness on funding a white elephant the company would have dissolved years ago.
I'm pessimistic too, but only because it's basically required to remain sane when looking at all the tech companies these days. It's also necessary to be pessimistic when dealing with Linux because of the huge number of failed dreams of success that people have had for Linux, and no-one except the young and ignorant really want to keep dreaming about a Linux dominate future that will never happen.
I think he means marketshare to represent usershare - the actual number of users, well, using it as their daily driver on either desktops or laptops. That's still not increased with any particularly measurable amount since Ubuntu first appeared. There have been more users sure, but there are always more users of everything as people start using computers. It's the slice of the overall pie that's remained disappointing.
Devil's advocate: Maybe Microsoft elaborated on which patents are being infringed (behind closed doors of course), and maybe the companies have decided the patents actually have some basis, hence pay up.
Microsoft don't have to publically reveal the patents just to shut up its detractors.
I think you should find a new hobby. This behavior is not healthy.
Wait... where did I suggest I was an Apple fanboy? I hate Apple. I also hate Linux (on the desktop). You're the dumbfuck who's made the wrong assumption.
Absolute bullshit. I know people in real life who prefer Windows to Linux because they've had less problems and more support. Others just don't find Linux offers them much in the way of benefits compared to those they get by sticking with the status quo (i.e. Windows). I strongly doubt they're shills. More likely they, like a lot of people on the net, have juggled the pros and cons between Windows and Linux and have decided any pains in Windows are ultimately less than those experienced in Linux. Only those living in their own reality are unable to accept that this could actually be possible.
You guys seem to be using emotion more than sense.. Do you really think Microsoft will abandon the desktop? Windows 8 still has a fully functional desktop, it's needed due to the massive amount of existing software. There is no walled-garden in Windows 8 because the desktop still exists. Microsoft are NOT going to cut their throats by pissing off developers - it's not worth it.
If you're worried about a "what-if" scenario with Windows fully cutting off Win32 and the desktop and moving everything to metro + walled garden, that's not going to happen for a long time so long as Windows software needs to be run. Congrats on having a desire to make things portable at least, that's to be commended. But I think more people are look at this issue with too much concern over hypotheticals and less about what's actually happening right now. Microsoft aren't that stupid. They have the money to show it.
I just did a search for mouse speed in Windows 7. The first option was "Change the mouse pointer display or speed." So it seems Windows 7 already has the ability to search for keywords to perform various actions (which I've used many times and dearly love). Yet it still has the traditional hierarchical menu for finding things when the search function fails.
Having BOTH options is great, and Windows 7 does this in fine form. Windows 8 focuses primarily on search, and if you require discoverability then it's less capable than what Windows 7 already does. THAT's the problem.
If this is true, that's such a hidden feature it's ridiculous how obscure this fact is. The only reason I question whether it's true or not is because even on Windows fanboy sites like Neowin, I've never seen anyone suggest this as a means for booting to the desktop. You'd think for such a desired feature, this being a very easy method of achieving it would have made the rounds on sites ages ago
Bullshit.
I don't think a lot of anti-Facebook people realize just how much Facebook has become integrated into people's lives and their methods of communication. It is EXPECTED that you have a Facebook account by now. Not having one makes you a social pariah apparently, and you miss out on a ton of things in you friends' lives that you probably won't hear unless you have Facebook. People aren't being rude - it's just a reflection of how society expects everyone to communicate these days. Trying to be different just reduces your social interactions and for no good reason.
You don't have to use Facebook much, though. I don't. I barely ever post since I know no-one will likely respond (you can't compete with attention whores who post every 5 minutes and have 500 friends). But, like Windows, it's better to have it around than to not have it at all.
When my mother-in-law purchased a laptop with Windows 8, I wiped it and put on Windows 7 because it's what they're familiar with and ultimately would give them less pain. It uses UEFI and booted to initial Windows 8 splash screen in under 2 seconds. If there were any keys to press to get to a boot menu/config screen, I didn't see any messages. You can to accept the Windows 8 EULA, then go to... some option I forget, and tell it to reboot to the "computer configuration screen" WITHIN FUCKING WINDOWS 8! This then rebooted the computer and showed a familiar BIOS screen. Turn on Legacy BIOS, reboot, then you have a slower startup but with the traditional messages to press keys to do various things, including a boot menu to boot from my Windows 7 USB.
Bullshit. The deck is stacked against Microsoft here. On Slashdot in particular there's very little Microsoft can do without the haters making Score: 4/5 posts about their actions.
Like the OP I'm also no Microsoft fan. I just refuse to be part of the circlejerk of Microsoft hate that only seems to exist on Slashdot these days. Everyone else on the net has a more varied selection of opinions.
It's not uncommon at all. Just that some people on Slashdot live in their own reality and cannot believe this can possibly be a reason.
Shit, I prefer Windows 7 over any Linux distro I've tried so far. Some people can't even COMPREHEND a preference for Windows over Linux. Which is why I hate this place sometimes and it's clearly against what I read on many other sites.
Well if I go by what you said, no-one is using pirated Photoshop on Linux anyway because it doesn't exist. :) Unless you mean Wine, which I don't.
Put it this way - GIMP has no mindshare. When people talk about Photoshopping they have one product in mind. When people discuss artistic design with computers, they're not talking about GIMP. When people present stuff they've made, I've yet to see anyone of any measurable level of quality use anything other than Photoshop. It's the industry standard for a reason.
I'm not saying GIMP is useless. I'm saying that given how much piracy is accepted in society (which is obvious seeing how much TV shows are torrented at the very least), it's hard for a lot of people to justify learning the GIMP as opposed to Photoshop when the end cost is going to effectively be the same. Plus with Photoshop you have a potentially transferrable skill set for those who are interested in a career in digital design. I have yet to see ANYONE use GIMP in a professional setting. You won't see it used in any photo houses that's for sure.
By extenion, Linux doesn't stand a chance in these environments. So much for Windows dying.
I play FPS games and enjoy them because even in "realistic" games with realistically modeled weapons, the actual effect of weapons on the human body is still mostly superficial. Yeah the guy dies and falls down dead, but a headshot is still either not shown on the corpse or at worst is a red splotch applied to the model. The Soldier of Fortune games got a reputation for being very graphically violent, but that was their hook - most FPS games don't bother going for the level of gore SOF had, just the action.
If games become so realistic and immersive that they represent what bullets really do to human flesh, I imagine they'll start to become a bit unpleasant to play. FPS games are still mostly divorced from the realities of death. They're like a cartoon in a way. Make them almost indistinguishable from the real world, and I'll play something else.
With the number of artists on deviantART listing Photoshop as their tool of choice and almost no-one listing GIMP, I doubt Adobe have much to worry about. People are not above pirating Photoshop these days because, for personal use anyway, there's no downsides if you know how to pirate it properly (hint: hosts file). Morally? In my experience having to live with the GIMP and Inkscape just because I was trying to remain "legit" was too damn painful after a while, and I doubt I'm the only one.
It's very easy to argue with free - if the alternative to free is a paid product that's less painful to use, faster to use and has more functionality that you're likely to use as well, people WILL pay good money for it because, well, that's why we have jobs. It's an investment.
As for Inkscape, it's too damn slow once you add even some basic filters. I can't believe after so many years and GSoC-funded developments it still feels so sluggish, compared to Illustrator of course. But I guess GIMP and Inkscape both run under Linux which the Creative Suite does not, and so for anyone stupid enough to rely on Linux for graphics development it's basically the only real option.
Here's the thing though - everyone has their price. If it was IMPOSSIBLE to pirate Photoshop, GIMP would probably be more popular. For what GIMP offers for $0 it's a pretty good deal, but in business and even amature-level stuff, enough people are prepared to pay full price for Photoshop because it's considered a worthwhile investment. There's no argument that it has more features, it's much quicker to perform actions, and it generally takes less steps to achieve something in Photoshop than it does in GIMP due to many, many years of iteration.
GIMP simply does not have the resources to compete with Photoshop no matter how many people say open source is better than closed source. History has made this clear by now. But, if you don't want to pirate AND don't want to pay for the new subscription model AND don't want to pay for an alternative proprietary package that's likely cheaper but still has enough functionality with much pain AND you're only running Linux... then yes, GIMP is probably OK.
I guarantee you the people running the GIMP project do not see their glacial development speed or lack of competing features as a burden or an issue to be addressed. They might complain occasionally, but the lack of them doing anything major to address these issues makes me think they don't take them seriously enough. They just progress at their own pace while more and more people give up and just move to Photoshop once they've lost enough of their patience.
GIMP, in single-window mode, can be made to look quite similar in presentation to Photoshop. I've got the toolbox on the left side with the "small" theme (very important to maximize available working space), panels (or whatever you call the individual boxes for things like layers, history etc) on the right, and everything carefully sized to achieve decent working space. I cannot see anything here that uses anything specific to a Photoshop UI since it just looks similar, not identical, which is all anyone really wants.
The only source of contention with patents would be the algorithms that Adobe uses for certain operations (software patents obviously). GIMP is fucking slow at times and it's really annoying when you've used Photoshop for a while. Doesn't help when all you've heard from FOSS fanatics is that open source is technically better than closed source, and you can clearly see that in many cases it's not.
Do any of them work in Linux though? I don't use Linux on the desktop anymore (really despise it these days), but I know a lot of GIMP fans are fans specifically because it provides at least SOMETHING Photoshop-like in Linux, and not just because it's free.
No-one bothers in the open source world. There's no return on one's investment of effort and time.
Look at this for example: http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Straight_Line/ - old screenshots, a mocking approach to a common question on how to draw lines in GIMP despite the fact you shouldn't even NEED a tutorial for something so basic. If this is how documentation is written for a high-profile FOSS application, then fuck it. I prefer the cold, stale but functional documentation found in more professional applications.
The new single-window option in GIMP is the ONLY reason I started exploring GIMP more than I previously did.
You don't gain much by suggesting the top two operating systems (in terms of usage) are inferior for some reason, since you're arguing from a minority position. People can just ignore you since you prefer to mock the leaders rather than provide something people actually want to use. As for giving power to a corp and regretting it later - such is life. If free and open source software cannot provide the features and functionality people require in professional industry, well then, we deal with the corp.
There's nothing wrong with not being like regular people. HOWEVER, being familiar with the stuff regular people use keeps in the loop so far as how technology is progressing. For example, I would never try to convert my wife to Linux as the software she needs (Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat) doesn't exist in Linux and the alternatives are not satisfactory. So I remain knowledgeable about Windows and find out, hey, Windows ain't that bad after all. Maybe there's more to the world of operating systems than in my sheltered viewpoint.