The single biggest problem stopping greater linux penetration? "Why are there so many versions". Focus the linux open source community on one or two distros max, then i really believe everything else will fall into place.
How do you relate this to the different needs of different users? Having one or two distro's attracts a niche market, but scares all other user away. Heck, even Microsoft (one single vendor) releases several versions/distributions of their OS. Somehow the difference between Windows 2000, professional, advanced server, exterprise never confused business because they get themselved informed. The same applies to Linux distributions IMHO.
And there are just a few really good distributions for the enterprise (think SuSE/Mandrake/Redhat/Debian/Ubuntu).. the other 100-200 distributions mostly serve Open Source fans.
Re:Well, not to defend an evil empire or anything,
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Mandriva Linux 2006 Review
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· Score: 0, Redundant
but what is so unfriendly about the Windows XP install, in particular?
The installation starts in DOS mode; the basic system configuration (like partitioning) are done in a blue/white DOS-based screen. Most users don't even know what partitions are, let alone how to step through those screens. Only the last parts of the installation happen in a real GUI.
KDE is simply is not going to happen as a mainstream commercial desktop as long as Qt is available only under the GPL and a commercial license.
Have you seen the customer list of Trolltech?
Commercial support can be a big plus for companies.. They have one company to contact for support questions, instead of developers somewhere on the net.
The whole community thing means free support, but also also scares companies away. Companies who feel commercial partners are more reliable.
As far as I can tell, what they are calling "bottles" is simply storing a "per application" Windows environment. Hopefully this will be implemented in Wine too, because it has tremendous possibilities.
Actually, this is in Wine already. It's called $WINEPREFIX, and can be used like:
WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.ies4linux/ie5 wine "C:\\Program\ Files\\Internet\ Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE" $@
I've never understood what "just works" means. From my experience, every operating system (Windows, Mac, *nix) always has some problem/missing feature that needs a workaround.
You've got a good point here. Something can't be truely "just works" for every situation, but it can get really close to it.
I also advocate SuSE as "just works". I've installed it recently for a friend. All hardware was detected, the correct frontend software was installed to use the hardware (including wireless), browser plugins (including java/flash) are all working properly.
When you plug a scanner you get the option to install a scanner application. When you have bluetooth, the bluetooth software will be installed, etc..
IMHO, this is a huge contract from distributions like Fedora, where the support forums give instructions about compiling a new module against your kernel source to get wireless support.
/usr initially stood for 'user', separating the system disk from the user disk. Eventually it's role changed,/home was introduced and/usr got the acronym "Unix System Resources".
It's sad he doesn't give any quality examples. Saying "they block linux" 10 times doesn't make it true.
So I did RTFA and tried to find the arguments. Just don't give me the crap like "you must be new here".;-)
Traditionally, Wikipedia supporters have responded to criticism in one of several ways. The commonest is: If you don't like an entry, you can fix it yourself. Which is rather like going to a restaurant for a date, being served terrible food, and then being told by the waiter where to find the kitchen. But you didn't come out to cook a meal - you could have done that at home! No matter, roll up your sleeves.
Thirdly, and here you can see that the defense is beginning to run out of steam, one's attention is drawn to process issues: such as the speed with which errors are fixed, or the fact that looking up a Wikipedia is faster than using an alternative. This line of argument is even weaker than the first: it's like going to a restaurant for a date - and being pelted with rotten food, thrown at you at high velocity by the waiters.
IMHO, the above are just poor arguments, comparing apples and oranges. TFA has a point, but the arguments of the Register are spreading FUD. Maybe someone could tell them about words to avoid and the meaning of weasel terms?
If you took them yourself, you'd know it was not some mystical "force" creating the power of those styles. Even in Asia, very few people believe in chi these days.
Perhaps the following arguments don't hold water, but saying there isn't anything like Chi doesn't hold water either. Basides, not every martial art has a strong adherence to things like Chi.
Your assumption does not explain why something like Reiki can have such a powerful impact on the human well-being. Strange at it may seam at first sight, but energy just appears to flow by laying down your hands. This energy can be felt by people sensitive to it. Even stranger, it appears animals also notice it, respond to it, ask for their share. It can sure give one a lot to think about.
Things like Reiki have been measured with scientific equipment, and significant results have been noticed/observed by professional doctors. Perhaps there is indeed some scientific explanation behind this. You could interpretit this as something that binds all living things, or try to find an answer in quantum-mechanics/Einsteins vacuum equations. Those scientific models state things like "particles respond to each other without having a connection", "energy/particles pop-up, dissolve and form energy keeping the universe temperature above the absolute zero".
I don't know why else i can't write accented words on anything using qt.
Try the "Compose" key of your X-Windows system. It's usually Shift+RWin, but it can be changed in your kbd section of xorg.conf using Option "XkbOptions" "compose:rwin" for example.
Use Compose ' e to get é, Compose s s to get ß, Compose / o to get ø, etc.
you can press each key separately, you don't have to hold each one down. It's much easier then remembing ALT+ASCII code combinations.
alphablending on something where EVERYTHING is software is a pain, it requires read-modify-write for every pixel you write.
You should try running "time ls -lR" in a large folder, like $HOME. Try running it a few times so all folders are cached in the memory. You'll likely discover that a fullscreen transparent konsole still draws "ls -lR" two times faster then a small single-color xterm window!!
Yay for KDE.:-)..and sorry to spoil your assumtion.
Sorry for being ignorant, but I don't see how a makefile makes my application portable. The reality is, I just can't give someone a package, and say "hey, if you install this it works".
It's an KDE application, and KDE has a solid API I can code against. For some weird reason KDE can be in/opt/kde3/,/usr/kde/3.3/ or/usr/.
Even those basic things are not standarized, making it a pain in the *** to provide our users with a simple package they can install.
Well, considering that it was a Mac user who did this, and then a Linux user ported it, I think the question should be: why aren't Windows users bothering to port it themselves?
Because they
a) are not aware Gimp is Open Source, or
b) don't know Open Source allows to you contribute, or
c) only think of "free" as "I don't need a keygen"
...and because Windows is a commerial platform, and most users only look at Windows from that perspective.
The mentality of most Windows-users made me convince never to write Open Source software for Windows. Just look at the PearPC or Miranda rip-offs; I believe they represent the general mindset of the Windows user-base. A lot of them only rip or take what suits them.
You've never upgrades SuSE, have you? Every time I upgrade SuSE, some config files are changed, and there are some packages that I'm using that aren't in the new system, have been renamed, etc. The big thing with RPM-based distros is the config file management. Sometimes you get a new one in.rpmnew, sometimes your config file gets moved to.rpmbak.
You have a valid point here. I have most of my/etc stored in subversion, in case YaST breaks something I don't want (or I'm not careful enough). Guess that was a very good choice afterall.
Because it's very ironic, I've moved from Gentoo because my system broke too often, and upgrading took too much time. (having a machine compiling all day doesn't make your system fast). The argument "packages get moved" also apply to Gentoo unfortunately.
BTW, SuSE by default is an open relay if you allow external SMTP connections. So don't run a default configuration on your public SuSE mail server.:)
Thanks for mentioning. I didn't notice this before, because I changed my postfix config imediately. I'll keep this in mind when helping new setups.
That's fine for a dedicated machine, but for a general purpose desktop it's a nightmare. I honestly think Gentoo is best suited to hobbyists.
I agree on this. Having used Gentoo for one year, SuSE is a refreshing experience for me. First I fell in love with Gentoo's continious stream of package upgrades, but I realize that SuSE's releases scheme has it's advantages.
Each new SuSE release I have a fully tested and integrated system. No longer do I have to worry about some upgrade breaking something else. And worth mentioning, I have have Xorg 6.8, KDE 3.4, gcc 3.4, udev, and awsome hardware support, all for free from FTP. and without any nightly compiles.
(in the time I need to compile KDE 3.4RC1, SuSE had their packages released!)
The wobbly windows thing looks completely unnecessary [..], and it's hard to see how it can actually improve usability.
Humans visualize a lot of 3D, so why not your windows?
I can image computer-illiterates don't see "windows", just a bunch of 2D buttons and mess at a computer screen.
Using subtile animation and shadow effects could make computing a lot easier and accessable. It allows users to distinguish between front and back windows much easier.
I would certainly welcome these features if they're stable!
The IE7.js is a great attempt to fix IE's behavour, but it has great disadvantages. It makes pages render very slow. Definitely not what you want.
Much rather, try making IE hacks in your CSS code with stuff like "* html.class { \width: 200px; }". It takes some effort, but makes your site IE compatible without slowing down the rendering.
Re:gentoo users already have it
on
KDE 3.4 Released
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· Score: 1
Re:gentoo users already have it
So do SuSE users, but without the cpu cycles required to compile the beast.:-) Compiling KDE tool 1 full day on my AMB1800, now it's installed in 10 minutes.
but I do like to hit Ctrl-E every now and then to show coworkers the underlying table structure of a page. It's just a handy visual tool. Especially when I'm doing webdev.
You really should check out the web-developer extension toolbar in Firefox! It has that feature, and a lot more.
the source is open, why dont you submit the changes that you want?
having an *open* source doesn't mean it's developers have *open* minds. If they refuse to include your patch, it's a complete waste of your time to write it.
besides, I'm getting a little sick of people saying "why don't you do it yourself?". Before you know it, you're talking to a developer who already has a few projects under his belt.
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How do you relate this to the different needs of different users? Having one or two distro's attracts a niche market, but scares all other user away. Heck, even Microsoft (one single vendor) releases several versions/distributions of their OS. Somehow the difference between Windows 2000, professional, advanced server, exterprise never confused business because they get themselved informed. The same applies to Linux distributions IMHO.
And there are just a few really good distributions for the enterprise (think SuSE/Mandrake/Redhat/Debian/Ubuntu).. the other 100-200 distributions mostly serve Open Source fans.
The installation starts in DOS mode; the basic system configuration (like partitioning) are done in a blue/white DOS-based screen. Most users don't even know what partitions are, let alone how to step through those screens. Only the last parts of the installation happen in a real GUI.
Have you seen the customer list of Trolltech? Commercial support can be a big plus for companies.. They have one company to contact for support questions, instead of developers somewhere on the net.
The whole community thing means free support, but also also scares companies away. Companies who feel commercial partners are more reliable.
Actually, this is in Wine already. It's called $WINEPREFIX, and can be used like: WINEPREFIX=$HOME/.ies4linux/ie5 wine "C:\\Program\ Files\\Internet\ Explorer\\IEXPLORE.EXE" $@
You've got a good point here. Something can't be truely "just works" for every situation, but it can get really close to it.
I also advocate SuSE as "just works". I've installed it recently for a friend. All hardware was detected, the correct frontend software was installed to use the hardware (including wireless), browser plugins (including java/flash) are all working properly.
When you plug a scanner you get the option to install a scanner application. When you have bluetooth, the bluetooth software will be installed, etc..
IMHO, this is a huge contract from distributions like Fedora, where the support forums give instructions about compiling a new module against your kernel source to get wireless support.
/usr initially stood for 'user', separating the system disk from the user disk. Eventually it's role changed, /home was introduced and /usr got the acronym "Unix System Resources".
It's not going to work with the OSS drivers. The OSS drivers only support the r200, the r300 driver is being worked on at http://r300.sourceforge.net/
If you want 3D support for your Radeon 9700, you need the ATI proprietary drivers.
Wow, this guy is a genius for his insight.
It's sad he doesn't give any quality examples. Saying "they block linux" 10 times doesn't make it true. So I did RTFA and tried to find the arguments. Just don't give me the crap like "you must be new here". ;-)
from TFA:
Traditionally, Wikipedia supporters have responded to criticism in one of several ways. The commonest is: If you don't like an entry, you can fix it yourself. Which is rather like going to a restaurant for a date, being served terrible food, and then being told by the waiter where to find the kitchen. But you didn't come out to cook a meal - you could have done that at home! No matter, roll up your sleeves.
Thirdly, and here you can see that the defense is beginning to run out of steam, one's attention is drawn to process issues: such as the speed with which errors are fixed, or the fact that looking up a Wikipedia is faster than using an alternative. This line of argument is even weaker than the first: it's like going to a restaurant for a date - and being pelted with rotten food, thrown at you at high velocity by the waiters.
IMHO, the above are just poor arguments, comparing apples and oranges. TFA has a point, but the arguments of the Register are spreading FUD. Maybe someone could tell them about words to avoid and the meaning of weasel terms?
Not only that.. try running "" in a xterm twice.. now run it on Konsole twice.. A semi-transparent konsole just beats a blank xterm in drawing speed..!
Perhaps the following arguments don't hold water, but saying there isn't anything like Chi doesn't hold water either. Basides, not every martial art has a strong adherence to things like Chi.
Your assumption does not explain why something like Reiki can have such a powerful impact on the human well-being. Strange at it may seam at first sight, but energy just appears to flow by laying down your hands. This energy can be felt by people sensitive to it. Even stranger, it appears animals also notice it, respond to it, ask for their share. It can sure give one a lot to think about.
Things like Reiki have been measured with scientific equipment, and significant results have been noticed/observed by professional doctors. Perhaps there is indeed some scientific explanation behind this. You could interpretit this as something that binds all living things, or try to find an answer in quantum-mechanics/Einsteins vacuum equations. Those scientific models state things like "particles respond to each other without having a connection", "energy/particles pop-up, dissolve and form energy keeping the universe temperature above the absolute zero".
Try the "Compose" key of your X-Windows system. It's usually Shift+RWin, but it can be changed in your kbd section of xorg.conf using Option "XkbOptions" "compose:rwin" for example.
Use Compose ' e to get é, Compose s s to get ß, Compose / o to get ø, etc.
you can press each key separately, you don't have to hold each one down. It's much easier then remembing ALT+ASCII code combinations.
You should try running "time ls -lR" in a large folder, like $HOME. Try running it a few times so all folders are cached in the memory. You'll likely discover that a fullscreen transparent konsole still draws "ls -lR" two times faster then a small single-color xterm window!!
Yay for KDE. :-) ..and sorry to spoil your assumtion.
To be precise: strace -e trace=open /usr/bin/the-app-you-run
displays all files being opened by the application.
Sorry for being ignorant, but I don't see how a makefile makes my application portable. The reality is, I just can't give someone a package, and say "hey, if you install this it works".
It's an KDE application, and KDE has a solid API I can code against. For some weird reason KDE can be in /opt/kde3/, /usr/kde/3.3/ or /usr/.
Even those basic things are not standarized, making it a pain in the *** to provide our users with a simple package they can install.
Because they
a) are not aware Gimp is Open Source, or
b) don't know Open Source allows to you contribute, or
c) only think of "free" as "I don't need a keygen"
The mentality of most Windows-users made me convince never to write Open Source software for Windows. Just look at the PearPC or Miranda rip-offs; I believe they represent the general mindset of the Windows user-base. A lot of them only rip or take what suits them.
You have a valid point here. I have most of my /etc stored in subversion, in case YaST breaks something I don't want (or I'm not careful enough). Guess that was a very good choice afterall.
Because it's very ironic, I've moved from Gentoo because my system broke too often, and upgrading took too much time. (having a machine compiling all day doesn't make your system fast). The argument "packages get moved" also apply to Gentoo unfortunately.
BTW, SuSE by default is an open relay if you allow external SMTP connections. So don't run a default configuration on your public SuSE mail server. :)
Thanks for mentioning. I didn't notice this before, because I changed my postfix config imediately. I'll keep this in mind when helping new setups.
I agree on this. Having used Gentoo for one year, SuSE is a refreshing experience for me. First I fell in love with Gentoo's continious stream of package upgrades, but I realize that SuSE's releases scheme has it's advantages.
Each new SuSE release I have a fully tested and integrated system. No longer do I have to worry about some upgrade breaking something else. And worth mentioning, I have have Xorg 6.8, KDE 3.4, gcc 3.4, udev, and awsome hardware support, all for free from FTP. and without any nightly compiles.
(in the time I need to compile KDE 3.4RC1, SuSE had their packages released!)
We have SuSE installed at all workplaces here, and Kaffeine (xine based, defaultly installed) played the movie just fine.
So I don't quite see how your computer can't play these movies. :-)
Humans visualize a lot of 3D, so why not your windows? I can image computer-illiterates don't see "windows", just a bunch of 2D buttons and mess at a computer screen.
Using subtile animation and shadow effects could make computing a lot easier and accessable. It allows users to distinguish between front and back windows much easier. I would certainly welcome these features if they're stable!
The IE7.js is a great attempt to fix IE's behavour, but it has great disadvantages. It makes pages render very slow. Definitely not what you want.
Much rather, try making IE hacks in your CSS code with stuff like "* html .class { \width: 200px; }". It takes some effort, but makes your site IE compatible without slowing down the rendering.
So do SuSE users, but without the cpu cycles required to compile the beast. :-) Compiling KDE tool 1 full day on my AMB1800, now it's installed in 10 minutes.
So I've installed SuSE 9.2 on a pentium 266 with 160 MB ram and I can still use the machine up to an acceptable level.
(and it doesn't differ much from the previous windows 98 install)
You really should check out the web-developer extension toolbar in Firefox! It has that feature, and a lot more.
having an *open* source doesn't mean it's developers have *open* minds. If they refuse to include your patch, it's a complete waste of your time to write it.
besides, I'm getting a little sick of people saying "why don't you do it yourself?". Before you know it, you're talking to a developer who already has a few projects under his belt.