Documentation is boring. Nobody wants to do it. Most people try to make writing documentation as easy as possible for themselves, instead of making it as easy as possible for the reader.
Copying or creating a few command line instructions is much easier than creating a bunch of screen shots and circling where to click. That's why even when there are multiple easy ways to do something with a nice GUI, almost all documentation is for command line methods.
I don't blame anyone at all, but it really is a shame.
To sell computers with Windows preloaded, you can't sell the same models with and without Windows. That's why Dell has a separate n series. By using different model numbers, they can be sold without Windows.
For me, Kubuntu showed an update icon in the system tray like normal, and after updating, it asked me if I wanted to upgrade to Kubuntu 7.04. I thought that was pretty nice.
I don't know much about Mac OS X, but I have been extremely annoyed that the default package manager in Kubuntu, Adept, ignores my font settings. I use 1600x1200 resolution, so I need large font sizes to read things easily. When programs use my settings, I can read comfortably, but when annoying garbage like Adept just does whatever it wants without any regard for the user, I have to lean forward and squint. For me, Adept lowers the usability of Kubuntu as a whole.
JPEG typically uses lossy compression, which ends up with lots of really noticeable wave-type artifacts in screen shots
JPEG uses discrete cosine transform, not wavelet compression. You might have been referring to how the artifacts look, but to me they look more blocky than wavy. JPEG-2000 uses wavelet compression, and it's compression artifacts just looks like blurriness.
Apparently Apple thinks their Mac customers would become confused by mice with more than 1 button or windows that can be resized from any side/corner. It's like Apple thinks only an idiot would use their products.
Yes, I find that extremely annoying. I haven't been able to get the.torrent I want all day. I knew if I could just get that tiny little file, I'd be set, but I can't get it.
What I found annoying was the loud beeps on TV. The Cue Cat also had some kind of system where your computer would listen for beeps and go to websites when it hears them. For weeks NBC had a beep played with every preview, so that commercial breaks were filled with annoying loud beeps. I didn't want anything to do with such a stupid idea, but I still had to endure all that beeping on TV.
Debian isn't a "beginner" Linux dist and doesn't try to be.
I wish that was true, but it's not. Recently, many people high up in the Debian community have expressed that they want Debian to change in order to win over the people who have instead chosen Ubuntu. I absolutely hate that. I wish Debian would stay Debian and not try to become Ubuntu.
Now, no one is saying that you have to use Debian.
But there are people in the Debian community who want to get more people using it. I'm pointing out that without completely changing everything Debian stands for, that just isn't going to happen. I for one don't think Debian should completely change itself just to win a popularity contest.
The reason we have a lot of linux dists is exactly because people have different levels of technical aptitude, different levels of patience, and different expectations of their operating systems.
I totally agree! That's why I hate that Debian is changing!
Users have to learn about those repositories, enable them, find out what packages they need to get, and install them. Debian doesn't try to help in the slightest.
When I (double) click on a file to open it, if it's possible to determine what software is needed to open it and I don't have that installed, the operating system should ask me if I want to install the necessary software, even if it nags me about legality and freedom and whatnot.
That would be giving me an option. An operating system should try to help users do whatever they want to do. Since it's obvious that many users want to enable such stuff, the operating system should try to help them do it.
What about the freedom to enable support for evil proprietary formats via evil binary-only drivers? Giving me the option isn't going to take away my freedom.
It's good to have unusual names, but "Pidgin" sounds awful, at least the way I would pronounce it. Names can be unique and sound pretty, too.
Names for FOSS software are often chosen by a small number people without public input. I think we'd have nicer names if the naming process was more open.
Ubuntu is actually easier to install and manage than Windows
Not if you have hardware that is only supported on Windows. If all my hardware had freely available specs, you'd probably be right, but unfortunately that isn't the case.
It even trumps Vista in the eye candy department when you install Beryl.
Vista comes preloaded with eye candy while Beryl has to be added and setup separately. Hopefully Feisty+1 will enable Beryl+Compiz automatically, but that hasn't happened yet.
The only advantage Windows has at this point is availability of various popular applications and games, and that gap is steadily narrowing.
Unfortunately, that gap is still extremely huge. Many people have already learned many Windows-only programs and don't want to suddenly have to give them all up and learn new programs.
The truth is, most users have no loyalty to Windows; their loyalty is to applications. As the Linux application market matures (and it is, rapidly), arguments against migration dissolve.
Migration is still a bitch. Until there's a from-Windows installer (like Wubi) than can automatically install the same programs that were on Windows and configure all programs and the desktop just like they were on Windows, it's going to be unpleasant for the average user to switch.
The Common Language Infrastructure (.NET) is a great idea, and can be used for FOSS and/or cross-platform projects if you're careful. Yet it's usage is still pretty low. I think Microsoft's ability to popularize new technologies has been diminishing, whether they're proprietary or not. Take a look at Vista.
It wouldn't matter if NT ran on a ball of mud if it isn't available to you. An alternative to x86 would have to become very popular before Microsoft would support it, while Linux would support it before most people ever heard of it. If Linux was dominating, it would be much easier for people to use a different architecture.
The only place I find annoying is in the shell thingy where I have to do this obscure SHIFT+INSERT to paste.
That's part of the reason I gave up on Kubuntu 6.04 and went back to Windows. It's one thing to not be able to just do an update to get everything setup like I was able to do with Windows, but if I have to go into the shell again and again, I expect it to be easy to get to and use. At least the command line in Windows has a menu option to paste.
You don't have to hack up an intersexed infants' genitalia to allow them to look and act like one sex or the other. Until puberty, boys and girls look enough alike to appear like either one, and by then they will have decided for themselves what they want to do about their bodies.
What you're recommending sounds too much like tellings gays that they should just stay in the closet so they'll fit in and nobody has to deal with them. "You might be miserable, but at least I don treat you like shit."
My computer is over 3 years old. It was just a regular midrange Dell. At the time, 512MB was standard and I got 1GB due to a special offer. For people whose computers weren't found in a dumpster, it is definitely worth the hundreds of megs of ram to get a slightly faster back button.
Intimidating/forcing people into changing their behavior doesn't change how they feel. Even if he was electrocuted to near death every time and he stopped doing it, he would still want to. If you want to change how people feel, your best bet is to provide a convincing argument.
I detect sarcasm. I suppose you're one of those people who don't believe I was able to play a PlayStation 3 game from my computer's CD drive. Have some faith in people!
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Documentation is boring. Nobody wants to do it. Most people try to make writing documentation as easy as possible for themselves, instead of making it as easy as possible for the reader.
Copying or creating a few command line instructions is much easier than creating a bunch of screen shots and circling where to click. That's why even when there are multiple easy ways to do something with a nice GUI, almost all documentation is for command line methods.
I don't blame anyone at all, but it really is a shame.
To sell computers with Windows preloaded, you can't sell the same models with and without Windows. That's why Dell has a separate n series. By using different model numbers, they can be sold without Windows.
I'm gay and I hereby officially approve of your stereotyping gays as having good taste.
For me, Kubuntu showed an update icon in the system tray like normal, and after updating, it asked me if I wanted to upgrade to Kubuntu 7.04. I thought that was pretty nice.
I don't know much about Mac OS X, but I have been extremely annoyed that the default package manager in Kubuntu, Adept, ignores my font settings. I use 1600x1200 resolution, so I need large font sizes to read things easily. When programs use my settings, I can read comfortably, but when annoying garbage like Adept just does whatever it wants without any regard for the user, I have to lean forward and squint. For me, Adept lowers the usability of Kubuntu as a whole.
Apparently Apple thinks their Mac customers would become confused by mice with more than 1 button or windows that can be resized from any side/corner. It's like Apple thinks only an idiot would use their products.
Yes, I find that extremely annoying. I haven't been able to get the .torrent I want all day. I knew if I could just get that tiny little file, I'd be set, but I can't get it.
What I found annoying was the loud beeps on TV. The Cue Cat also had some kind of system where your computer would listen for beeps and go to websites when it hears them. For weeks NBC had a beep played with every preview, so that commercial breaks were filled with annoying loud beeps. I didn't want anything to do with such a stupid idea, but I still had to endure all that beeping on TV.
That's excellent news. Kubuntu Edgy is the first Linux distribution that I decided I could actually switch to from Windows.
Users have to learn about those repositories, enable them, find out what packages they need to get, and install them. Debian doesn't try to help in the slightest.
When I (double) click on a file to open it, if it's possible to determine what software is needed to open it and I don't have that installed, the operating system should ask me if I want to install the necessary software, even if it nags me about legality and freedom and whatnot.
That would be giving me an option. An operating system should try to help users do whatever they want to do. Since it's obvious that many users want to enable such stuff, the operating system should try to help them do it.
What about the freedom to enable support for evil proprietary formats via evil binary-only drivers? Giving me the option isn't going to take away my freedom.
It's good to have unusual names, but "Pidgin" sounds awful, at least the way I would pronounce it. Names can be unique and sound pretty, too.
Names for FOSS software are often chosen by a small number people without public input. I think we'd have nicer names if the naming process was more open.
The Common Language Infrastructure (.NET) is a great idea, and can be used for FOSS and/or cross-platform projects if you're careful. Yet it's usage is still pretty low. I think Microsoft's ability to popularize new technologies has been diminishing, whether they're proprietary or not. Take a look at Vista.
What I'm really tired of is all the bad names in the FOSS world. "Pidgin" sounds terrible.
It wouldn't matter if NT ran on a ball of mud if it isn't available to you. An alternative to x86 would have to become very popular before Microsoft would support it, while Linux would support it before most people ever heard of it. If Linux was dominating, it would be much easier for people to use a different architecture.
You don't have to hack up an intersexed infants' genitalia to allow them to look and act like one sex or the other. Until puberty, boys and girls look enough alike to appear like either one, and by then they will have decided for themselves what they want to do about their bodies.
What you're recommending sounds too much like tellings gays that they should just stay in the closet so they'll fit in and nobody has to deal with them. "You might be miserable, but at least I don treat you like shit."
See https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1857
Read some of the comments from Stuart Parmenter, the guy who wrote the APNG spec:
My computer is over 3 years old. It was just a regular midrange Dell. At the time, 512MB was standard and I got 1GB due to a special offer. For people whose computers weren't found in a dumpster, it is definitely worth the hundreds of megs of ram to get a slightly faster back button.
Intimidating/forcing people into changing their behavior doesn't change how they feel. Even if he was electrocuted to near death every time and he stopped doing it, he would still want to. If you want to change how people feel, your best bet is to provide a convincing argument.
I detect sarcasm. I suppose you're one of those people who don't believe I was able to play a PlayStation 3 game from my computer's CD drive. Have some faith in people!