And yet the keyboard is one of the focal points in Unity, as well as GNOME 3 for launching applications as well. It works really well - typing quickly is faster than using a mouse.
A GUI doesn't mean ZERO use of a keyboard. I'm sure you use Ctrl + C/Ctrl + V to copy and paste instead of using the mouse all the time. Why? Because it's faster. But you'll also click on radio buttons for example because it's faster than tabbing to their group and selecting up/down for the right one.
That doesn't mean I like Windows 8 though (it's aesthetically crap and boring and takes us back to the early 90's of GUI design). But when I use Linux I also prefer having the ability to summon a means of typing in a few characters of a program I want to run instead of moving the mouse. Particularly if I'm already typing something and think of something else to run.
You can. You can use drivers from almost 2 decade ago that were sources into the kernel. You can't generally with binary drivers because Linux doesn't offer binary compatibility.
But most manufacturers don't WANT to provide sources to their drivers - they'd be quite happy to provide a binary interface, but that's difficult to do in Linux.
You might argue, fuck them then, sources or bust. Well, Linux use on the desktop is so low anyway, what incentive would they have to comply when they can just stick with Windows? Sometimes it's not worth the effort when your end users aren't grateful for the support in the first place.
The kernel developers can stick to their policy as much as they like. But put up barriers between businesses who make the stuff people want to use, and a small price to pay being keeping their source (IP) hidden and providing a binary driver instead, is no way to garner support. Since this policy is never likely to change, I can't see why anyone is surprised Linux has still never made it on the desktop.
I think anyone who's followed Linux development on the desktop has been burnt so many times by the idea that it will make some measurable impact on the desktop SOMEDAY, that no-one except new, young, idealistic users even think this is possible.
It will never happen, because no-one sees the desktop as something to strive to take over anymore. Windows won the desktop, the next frontier is mobile. Even Canonical seems more interested in mobile pursuits because they've failed on the desktop. I have never see anyone use Linux on their personal machines, at least long term once they've played around for a bit then moved back to Windows/OS X.
You don't need to use hyperbole. There's a lot of good in the world, but there's also a lot of bad. News sites have a predisposition to continually pump bad news, even though the NSA stuff is only one element in what's happening in the world. If people get their fix on tech news from sites such as Slashdot, and said sites fixate on all the shit that's happening, then of course people are going to become miserable. Because there's basically nothing we can do to stop it. We have no power.
If you're arguing that it's better to know how the world works because it prevents being taken advantage of - it's good to be educated and informed. It's horrifying when you realize there's nothing you can do and it's only getting worse. Heck a single person has no real power to fight against stuff like this, and if they do, well... people like Snowden, Manning and Assange have their lives ruined for trying to do so - doesn't really motivate anyone into fighting against their respective Governments now does it.
Snowden, Manning and Assange revealed information that shocked everyone. But those in power have all the money, weapons and blind support to ensure nothing changes.
And that's the reason why knowing is something worse than not knowing.
I think their point is that Slashdot (and presumably most tech sites at the time) focused more on tech, developments, hard science and whatnot. Now it's basically more about the politics that goes on in tech, such as data mining, surveillance and patent wars. Sure, the stuff being talked about is serious and worth covering, but it dominates coverage these days and the balance doesn't seem to be there anymore.
Also, if you are a fan of a site, you SHOULD piss and moan about the quality of the articles and discussion. The only reason you'd bother is if it was once great and has devolved, and you're not pleased by it. There seems to be this impression that making noise and complaints about something is a BAD thing. No wonder things are getting worse.
Slashdot Mirror
And yet the keyboard is one of the focal points in Unity, as well as GNOME 3 for launching applications as well. It works really well - typing quickly is faster than using a mouse.
A GUI doesn't mean ZERO use of a keyboard. I'm sure you use Ctrl + C/Ctrl + V to copy and paste instead of using the mouse all the time. Why? Because it's faster. But you'll also click on radio buttons for example because it's faster than tabbing to their group and selecting up/down for the right one.
That doesn't mean I like Windows 8 though (it's aesthetically crap and boring and takes us back to the early 90's of GUI design). But when I use Linux I also prefer having the ability to summon a means of typing in a few characters of a program I want to run instead of moving the mouse. Particularly if I'm already typing something and think of something else to run.
But most manufacturers don't WANT to provide sources to their drivers - they'd be quite happy to provide a binary interface, but that's difficult to do in Linux.
You might argue, fuck them then, sources or bust. Well, Linux use on the desktop is so low anyway, what incentive would they have to comply when they can just stick with Windows? Sometimes it's not worth the effort when your end users aren't grateful for the support in the first place.
The kernel developers can stick to their policy as much as they like. But put up barriers between businesses who make the stuff people want to use, and a small price to pay being keeping their source (IP) hidden and providing a binary driver instead, is no way to garner support. Since this policy is never likely to change, I can't see why anyone is surprised Linux has still never made it on the desktop.
I think anyone who's followed Linux development on the desktop has been burnt so many times by the idea that it will make some measurable impact on the desktop SOMEDAY, that no-one except new, young, idealistic users even think this is possible.
It will never happen, because no-one sees the desktop as something to strive to take over anymore. Windows won the desktop, the next frontier is mobile. Even Canonical seems more interested in mobile pursuits because they've failed on the desktop. I have never see anyone use Linux on their personal machines, at least long term once they've played around for a bit then moved back to Windows/OS X.
You don't need to use hyperbole. There's a lot of good in the world, but there's also a lot of bad. News sites have a predisposition to continually pump bad news, even though the NSA stuff is only one element in what's happening in the world. If people get their fix on tech news from sites such as Slashdot, and said sites fixate on all the shit that's happening, then of course people are going to become miserable. Because there's basically nothing we can do to stop it. We have no power.
If you're arguing that it's better to know how the world works because it prevents being taken advantage of - it's good to be educated and informed. It's horrifying when you realize there's nothing you can do and it's only getting worse. Heck a single person has no real power to fight against stuff like this, and if they do, well... people like Snowden, Manning and Assange have their lives ruined for trying to do so - doesn't really motivate anyone into fighting against their respective Governments now does it.
Snowden, Manning and Assange revealed information that shocked everyone. But those in power have all the money, weapons and blind support to ensure nothing changes.
And that's the reason why knowing is something worse than not knowing.
I think their point is that Slashdot (and presumably most tech sites at the time) focused more on tech, developments, hard science and whatnot. Now it's basically more about the politics that goes on in tech, such as data mining, surveillance and patent wars. Sure, the stuff being talked about is serious and worth covering, but it dominates coverage these days and the balance doesn't seem to be there anymore.
Also, if you are a fan of a site, you SHOULD piss and moan about the quality of the articles and discussion. The only reason you'd bother is if it was once great and has devolved, and you're not pleased by it. There seems to be this impression that making noise and complaints about something is a BAD thing. No wonder things are getting worse.