You're doing it because of the games, not because it is the best platform. Microsoft takes massive losses to push forward their loss leader (the XBOX 360).
In my case, I'm the only one of my 3 close friends (and 1 relative) that have an XBOX 360, but I also have a PS3 which gets used more often, though I'm not a console gamer, per se.
Gaming titles will ultimately be available on both platforms simultaneously. That's when the power and flexibility of the console itself comes into play. Microsoft is lucky that they didn't have their RROD massive failure after that. They'd have lost it all. Frankly, it is easier today for those suffering the RROD to buy a new console for a couple hundred bucks than to repurchase all those games (if they are available) for another platform.
If it weren't for the lack of games on the PS3 there'd be no XBOX 360, IMHO.
Your problem is that you don't commit. Your second problem is that you tend to only see things from the side of the street you are facing. Go to the other side and look at the same arguments.
Linux has about 5% market share. That's just on the desktop and has nothing to do with servers, embedded devices such as routers, phones, recording devices, etc. But to prove my point, Macintosh didn't have 5% market share, even though the Mac OS has been out for over 20 years (I believe it is the 25th anniversary year for Windows 1.0 which was released after the Macintosh was first sold to the public). In the past 10 years Macintosh OSX hasn't had 5% market penetration.
Does that mean that the Macintosh is not ready for prime time/the desktop?
That's the point of saying you are selectively choosing your arguments without being studious toward the opposing sides points.
Linux is ready for prime time and has been for some time. Your's is just the view that never looks over the window sill to see what's outside. Let's hope you don't get passed by the parade.
Sheesh, looking at embedded penetration for things such as phones you can see that Android (which is Linux) has significantly greater penetration than Microsoft's WinPho7 and earlier products. Does that make Microsoft not ready for prime time?
And, the not ready for prime time players, what do you have to say about them?
Ubuntu is trying to get away from synaptic. That's why there's so much effort being put into the software center. They also have a software store for applications which will grow with time. On top of that Ubuntu also provides Ubuntu One which provides a nice place to purchase music and to back up and manage files in the cloud. It is also very well integrated into the Desktop.
He was making a point that people are complaining without taking the time to look first. Hell, the first cars you had to hand crank. I wonder how, if you brought someone in from that time-frame and had them talk to you about the problems with cars what would people's responses today be?
It's pretty sad to read most of the silly claims people make here. What I read in this thread is that these people haven't looked at Linux in a long time or didn't take the time to learn it, instead they gave up without much effort.
One guy in this thread that claimed he's used his Linux install for 18 months, and is thinking about switching back to Windows because he thinks the grass is greener on the other side, is the type of commentary I want to read, because at least he tried. He was totally off base in many of the points he made, and he was misleading in others, but at least he tried.
The example of the guy that tried to make Linux look incompetent due to it's alleged inability to work with encrypted wireless is what the GP (grand parent) and I are talking about.
That guy claimed that Linux doesn't work with encrypted wireless, yet that's blatantly not the case, and the guy making that claim completely fails to realize that Linux (at least Ubuntu) undergoes a pretty sizable change every 6 months. The wireless issues have long been worked out. With Broadcom announcing they will be releasing their drivers to open source it is probably the last possible issue that could exist for wireless, and that release of the code for those drivers probably ends most wireless issue claims forever.
I don't know what to say. Changing your wallpaper is ridiculously simple. Right click on the desktop and click the option pertaining to changing your wallpaper. Or you could download and install Wally the wallpaper changer. It is available for Windows and Linux. It works the same for both.
Of course Firefox imports bookmarks. But any issue you speak about is a Mozilla issue not a Linux issue.
As for playing videos you can download and install VLC player. In Ubuntu you can just go to the Software center and install it, along with flash, and adobe, and java, and bunch of other codecs. You can also simply add the medibuntu repository and install libdvcss2 for dvd playback or you can BUY a video player from the software center's store. You do know that prior to Vista everyone paid for a codec to play back DVDs? Yes, you did. It was included in the price of either the DVD player you bought or it was provided by the OEM and that cost was included in the price of the computer itself. Starting with Vista did Microsoft license the DVD codec for everyone--hence the first 20 years of DOS/Windows did you have to pay for your ability to play videos.
VLC is available on the Macintosh, for Linux, and for Windows. You could also download and install for free any number of media centers even ones that provide free UPNP, such as Boxee or XBMC. I'm not sure but I think VLC for Linux also allows you to operate as a UPNP server so you can play your favorites through them (just like Windows Media Center) through your XBOX 360 or your PS3.
A 500 page book sold for Linux is no different than the 500 page books sold for Windows or OSX. You can't cop out on us now with claims that you need a book to learn a new OS, when if you had known Linux first you would could have a 500 page book to help you learn Windows. Your knowledge of Windows came at a cost, maybe not of a book, but of years of trial and error and/or others teaching you.
viruses can alter permissions of files in the registry making it difficult for even the administrator to make certain changes. Often you'll see an administrator make a change via msconfig and they'll receive a message about access being denied because they don't have permissions. Tools such as Microsoft's windows resource tools can reset the registry permissions, but then again, none of this is knowledge pertaining to those individuals we are talking about as to whether Linux is/should be competing with Windows. Your own support of the registry is proof that Windows is much more difficult and technical than the average user should be assumed to perform.
The registry sucks, frankly and it is one of the major clusterfucks of Microsoft's attempt at getting past DLL hell that we experienced in earlier versions of Windows.
And I've successfully edited more config files than I really wanted to, (often piecing together bits of info from the web because I couldn't find all the relevant info in one place).
Sounds like some tasks I perform at my computer repair shop dealing with editing the registry. It may all be in one program (via 3 to whatever) database files, but searching, editing, rebooting can be just as cumbersome, time-consuming, and annoying. Trying to search to find occurrences via the GUID, whether the option is a user option or a machine option, and then to find every relevant instance is considerably annoying. And when the registry fails, shit, there goes Windows (yes, even through Win7).
The point being that I'm not a technophobe or a dufus. I'm primarily a hardware designer, but I've written some software, I've used computers heavily since DOS 3.0, and I'm a fairly sophisticated user.
And most technophobes won't be performing these tasks either. Just as in Windows they wouldn't be performing them, rather they'd take it to a shop to have it repaired or configured. Your experience with the world of Windows tainted your perception. If you were doing it with Linux from the start and you began to use Windows you'd be making the same complaint(s) about Windows.
But, I really DON'T WANT TO SPEND MY LIFE figuring out why Wine doesn't work any more
Nor should you and most people would not either, they'd take it to a shop, just like they do for Windows issues.
Not to diminishing your issues, but some of them are of your own making. Most people won't use Wine. Most won't need to. And, again, if you started with Linux you'd likely not be looking for ways to run Windows apps under Linux, you'd be using Linux programs. Yes there are apps that are not as mature as the corresponding Windows apps, but those same apps were not as mature as they are in prior releases, just the same. And there are some Windows apps that are not as mature as some Linux apps.
or figuring out a workaround for the fact that the structure of CUPS doesn't allow cups-pdf to give me the opportunity to specify my own filename and destination directory on-the-fly.
I don't think anyone would. You've got me there. But the same thing goes, as apps mature the bugs are worked out. That's the same with any development effort. Frankly though, I don't think that the majority of people would be trying that task either, nor would they conceive of it existing, and in Windows I doubt you have that feature at all.
I don't want to waste my time launching a separate app to search for files because Nautilus doesn't have an integrated search function
In Nautilus (the Gnome file manager), just click the magnifying glass and a search bar will open and you can search. You do something similar in Windows. Microsoft provides Windows Search 4.0 and Google provides Google search via Google Desktop. You can install Google Desktop in Linux via Google's online repository. It has been available for at least 3 years.
only to find that the search program doesn't allow me to change file properties. I don't want to waste time installing Dolphin with all its aesthetic ugliness and K-bloat in order to have a decent file manager, only to discover that Dolphin doesn't do partial filename searches and doesn't TELL me that it can't do them.
KDE is the alternative desktop to Gnome. It can be installed by itself by downloading the Kubuntu ISO, or you can install it into your Gnome install giving you the choice of either desktop manager or by running KDE apps right in Gnome (or Gnome apps in KDE).
Using the search icon on the toolbar of Nautilus you can search for things such as your *.jpg files by just typing jpg. That saves you from having to type shift+8 then a period, then the extension. When it finds your files you can right click and
In the past 1.5 years I have not encountered a wireless install of Linux that fails to operate with encryption. I use it on 4 of my laptops that run Linux.
I have however, in that same time-frame, encountered as many as 10 Windows installs that have had serious issues with wireless connectivity, including some that had encryption issues. Most of those were centered around the Intel wireless choices the vendors made.
You sound like an ass-clown. You need to be introspective so you can see that people's zeal reaches everywhere and everything, from lingerie to toothpicks. Get real. Your introspect would help you understand that your comment evokes the same disdain you have for other's comments.
It wasn't genius, it was illegal. What they did to achieve that is what got them convicted as a criminal predatory monopolist. The problem with the resolution was that it was too little too late. By then most programs were being developed for Windows and most OEMs had already invested billions in getting it working properly. They don't want to go through that again.
I can wholeheartedly say, "then don't". You don't need to customize it. Just use it. Leave it as is. It's that simple. And, please, stop spreading the FUD.
Of those here who are serious about using Linux for their day to day, take a few minutes over the next few months for each person you encounter that might be interested in Linux on the desktop and ask them about their interest. Give them some input as to how well it works, what the desktop environment is like, how it isn't as prone to viruses as Windows, how all the software is free. When you are done ask them to ask you the most important question they can think of about it. If they don't reply with a question about whether it runs Windows software, then ask them about that. I'll bet you can see the issue right there.
I am not promoting the idea of Wine or crossover or any other package. The people you need are the average person just using it, showing it to their family and friends, not someone who is willing to add extra stuff to make it run Windows programs, to make it a Windows clone.
The most important things that holds people back are that it won't run Windows software (all of it) and that it tends to break on updates.
I use Linux and have for many years. I have it installed on about 15 computer in my shop. I have brought customers in and sat them down in front of Linux (without telling them anything) and they just use it. WITHOUT explanation. They pick up the mouse, find the familiar icons, double click, and go. Most have no idea that it isn't Windows and lots ask if this is the new Windows (meaning it is so familiar to them that they think it's just an update to Windows).
The goal should be to cease adding features of features sake and get with making it so that it doesn't break. I'd sell the idea of Linux more often if I didn't have to worry about it breaking every time a new update is downloaded (no I'm not implying that all updates break Linux, but there are enough that will that make my job harder after the fact).
So, once everyday people can use Linux without it breaking and they can understand that it is quality enough to be an environment in and of itself and we don't have to worry about some distro hijacking the direction of Linux (making some major change such as the display server change and the desktop manager change--where inevitably both will lead to major clusterfucks) then Linux will be a more viable home desktop environment where people can feel free of the virus monsters and not worry about having to pay for software junk that barely passes for shareware, and they can get on with their lives and be happy about their choice.
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You're doing it because of the games, not because it is the best platform. Microsoft takes massive losses to push forward their loss leader (the XBOX 360).
In my case, I'm the only one of my 3 close friends (and 1 relative) that have an XBOX 360, but I also have a PS3 which gets used more often, though I'm not a console gamer, per se.
Gaming titles will ultimately be available on both platforms simultaneously. That's when the power and flexibility of the console itself comes into play. Microsoft is lucky that they didn't have their RROD massive failure after that. They'd have lost it all. Frankly, it is easier today for those suffering the RROD to buy a new console for a couple hundred bucks than to repurchase all those games (if they are available) for another platform.
If it weren't for the lack of games on the PS3 there'd be no XBOX 360, IMHO.
You hate, I debate. Kettle meet pot, meet kettle.
I obviously do, as I lived through it and watched/read about it on a daily basis.
Your problem is that you don't commit. Your second problem is that you tend to only see things from the side of the street you are facing. Go to the other side and look at the same arguments.
Linux has about 5% market share. That's just on the desktop and has nothing to do with servers, embedded devices such as routers, phones, recording devices, etc. But to prove my point, Macintosh didn't have 5% market share, even though the Mac OS has been out for over 20 years (I believe it is the 25th anniversary year for Windows 1.0 which was released after the Macintosh was first sold to the public). In the past 10 years Macintosh OSX hasn't had 5% market penetration.
Does that mean that the Macintosh is not ready for prime time/the desktop?
That's the point of saying you are selectively choosing your arguments without being studious toward the opposing sides points.
Linux is ready for prime time and has been for some time. Your's is just the view that never looks over the window sill to see what's outside. Let's hope you don't get passed by the parade.
Sheesh, looking at embedded penetration for things such as phones you can see that Android (which is Linux) has significantly greater penetration than Microsoft's WinPho7 and earlier products. Does that make Microsoft not ready for prime time?
And, the not ready for prime time players, what do you have to say about them?
I meant, viruses can alter permissions to entries in the registry.
Ubuntu is trying to get away from synaptic. That's why there's so much effort being put into the software center. They also have a software store for applications which will grow with time. On top of that Ubuntu also provides Ubuntu One which provides a nice place to purchase music and to back up and manage files in the cloud. It is also very well integrated into the Desktop.
Your comment is facetious.
He was making a point that people are complaining without taking the time to look first. Hell, the first cars you had to hand crank. I wonder how, if you brought someone in from that time-frame and had them talk to you about the problems with cars what would people's responses today be?
It's pretty sad to read most of the silly claims people make here. What I read in this thread is that these people haven't looked at Linux in a long time or didn't take the time to learn it, instead they gave up without much effort.
One guy in this thread that claimed he's used his Linux install for 18 months, and is thinking about switching back to Windows because he thinks the grass is greener on the other side, is the type of commentary I want to read, because at least he tried. He was totally off base in many of the points he made, and he was misleading in others, but at least he tried.
The example of the guy that tried to make Linux look incompetent due to it's alleged inability to work with encrypted wireless is what the GP (grand parent) and I are talking about.
That guy claimed that Linux doesn't work with encrypted wireless, yet that's blatantly not the case, and the guy making that claim completely fails to realize that Linux (at least Ubuntu) undergoes a pretty sizable change every 6 months. The wireless issues have long been worked out. With Broadcom announcing they will be releasing their drivers to open source it is probably the last possible issue that could exist for wireless, and that release of the code for those drivers probably ends most wireless issue claims forever.
I don't know what to say. Changing your wallpaper is ridiculously simple. Right click on the desktop and click the option pertaining to changing your wallpaper. Or you could download and install Wally the wallpaper changer. It is available for Windows and Linux. It works the same for both.
Of course Firefox imports bookmarks. But any issue you speak about is a Mozilla issue not a Linux issue.
As for playing videos you can download and install VLC player. In Ubuntu you can just go to the Software center and install it, along with flash, and adobe, and java, and bunch of other codecs. You can also simply add the medibuntu repository and install libdvcss2 for dvd playback or you can BUY a video player from the software center's store. You do know that prior to Vista everyone paid for a codec to play back DVDs? Yes, you did. It was included in the price of either the DVD player you bought or it was provided by the OEM and that cost was included in the price of the computer itself. Starting with Vista did Microsoft license the DVD codec for everyone--hence the first 20 years of DOS/Windows did you have to pay for your ability to play videos.
VLC is available on the Macintosh, for Linux, and for Windows. You could also download and install for free any number of media centers even ones that provide free UPNP, such as Boxee or XBMC. I'm not sure but I think VLC for Linux also allows you to operate as a UPNP server so you can play your favorites through them (just like Windows Media Center) through your XBOX 360 or your PS3.
A 500 page book sold for Linux is no different than the 500 page books sold for Windows or OSX. You can't cop out on us now with claims that you need a book to learn a new OS, when if you had known Linux first you would could have a 500 page book to help you learn Windows. Your knowledge of Windows came at a cost, maybe not of a book, but of years of trial and error and/or others teaching you.
I could say that about you. I agree with the GP and that comes from 25+ years in this industry.
viruses can alter permissions of files in the registry making it difficult for even the administrator to make certain changes. Often you'll see an administrator make a change via msconfig and they'll receive a message about access being denied because they don't have permissions. Tools such as Microsoft's windows resource tools can reset the registry permissions, but then again, none of this is knowledge pertaining to those individuals we are talking about as to whether Linux is/should be competing with Windows. Your own support of the registry is proof that Windows is much more difficult and technical than the average user should be assumed to perform.
The registry sucks, frankly and it is one of the major clusterfucks of Microsoft's attempt at getting past DLL hell that we experienced in earlier versions of Windows.
And I've successfully edited more config files than I really wanted to, (often piecing together bits of info from the web because I couldn't find all the relevant info in one place).
Sounds like some tasks I perform at my computer repair shop dealing with editing the registry. It may all be in one program (via 3 to whatever) database files, but searching, editing, rebooting can be just as cumbersome, time-consuming, and annoying. Trying to search to find occurrences via the GUID, whether the option is a user option or a machine option, and then to find every relevant instance is considerably annoying. And when the registry fails, shit, there goes Windows (yes, even through Win7).
The point being that I'm not a technophobe or a dufus. I'm primarily a hardware designer, but I've written some software, I've used computers heavily since DOS 3.0, and I'm a fairly sophisticated user.
And most technophobes won't be performing these tasks either. Just as in Windows they wouldn't be performing them, rather they'd take it to a shop to have it repaired or configured. Your experience with the world of Windows tainted your perception. If you were doing it with Linux from the start and you began to use Windows you'd be making the same complaint(s) about Windows.
But, I really DON'T WANT TO SPEND MY LIFE figuring out why Wine doesn't work any more
Nor should you and most people would not either, they'd take it to a shop, just like they do for Windows issues.
Not to diminishing your issues, but some of them are of your own making. Most people won't use Wine. Most won't need to. And, again, if you started with Linux you'd likely not be looking for ways to run Windows apps under Linux, you'd be using Linux programs. Yes there are apps that are not as mature as the corresponding Windows apps, but those same apps were not as mature as they are in prior releases, just the same. And there are some Windows apps that are not as mature as some Linux apps.
or figuring out a workaround for the fact that the structure of CUPS doesn't allow cups-pdf to give me the opportunity to specify my own filename and destination directory on-the-fly.
I don't think anyone would. You've got me there. But the same thing goes, as apps mature the bugs are worked out. That's the same with any development effort. Frankly though, I don't think that the majority of people would be trying that task either, nor would they conceive of it existing, and in Windows I doubt you have that feature at all.
I don't want to waste my time launching a separate app to search for files because Nautilus doesn't have an integrated search function
In Nautilus (the Gnome file manager), just click the magnifying glass and a search bar will open and you can search. You do something similar in Windows. Microsoft provides Windows Search 4.0 and Google provides Google search via Google Desktop. You can install Google Desktop in Linux via Google's online repository. It has been available for at least 3 years.
only to find that the search program doesn't allow me to change file properties. I don't want to waste time installing Dolphin with all its aesthetic ugliness and K-bloat in order to have a decent file manager, only to discover that Dolphin doesn't do partial filename searches and doesn't TELL me that it can't do them.
KDE is the alternative desktop to Gnome. It can be installed by itself by downloading the Kubuntu ISO, or you can install it into your Gnome install giving you the choice of either desktop manager or by running KDE apps right in Gnome (or Gnome apps in KDE).
Using the search icon on the toolbar of Nautilus you can search for things such as your *.jpg files by just typing jpg. That saves you from having to type shift+8 then a period, then the extension. When it finds your files you can right click and
In the past 1.5 years I have not encountered a wireless install of Linux that fails to operate with encryption. I use it on 4 of my laptops that run Linux.
I have however, in that same time-frame, encountered as many as 10 Windows installs that have had serious issues with wireless connectivity, including some that had encryption issues. Most of those were centered around the Intel wireless choices the vendors made.
And others make money removing that crap-ware from all those HPs and Dells.
You could probably get a cheaper netbook if it came without an OS then installed Linux on it.
Linux isn't Windows, period!
And, BTW, lots of vendors supply drivers for the kernel. Many don't because there are competent drivers already available.
You sound like an ass-clown. You need to be introspective so you can see that people's zeal reaches everywhere and everything, from lingerie to toothpicks. Get real. Your introspect would help you understand that your comment evokes the same disdain you have for other's comments.
Of course we do. The vendors also care a lot. Many of us care a lot.
People don't care what they run on their computers (Linux or Windows), as it just a back end. What they care about are the apps.
Ted Kaczynski?
They probably don't use any computer. Doesn't matter, because I'm sure he doesn't know them.
It wasn't genius, it was illegal. What they did to achieve that is what got them convicted as a criminal predatory monopolist. The problem with the resolution was that it was too little too late. By then most programs were being developed for Windows and most OEMs had already invested billions in getting it working properly. They don't want to go through that again.
I can wholeheartedly say, "then don't". You don't need to customize it. Just use it. Leave it as is. It's that simple. And, please, stop spreading the FUD.
Of those here who are serious about using Linux for their day to day, take a few minutes over the next few months for each person you encounter that might be interested in Linux on the desktop and ask them about their interest. Give them some input as to how well it works, what the desktop environment is like, how it isn't as prone to viruses as Windows, how all the software is free. When you are done ask them to ask you the most important question they can think of about it. If they don't reply with a question about whether it runs Windows software, then ask them about that. I'll bet you can see the issue right there.
I am not promoting the idea of Wine or crossover or any other package. The people you need are the average person just using it, showing it to their family and friends, not someone who is willing to add extra stuff to make it run Windows programs, to make it a Windows clone.
The most important things that holds people back are that it won't run Windows software (all of it) and that it tends to break on updates.
I use Linux and have for many years. I have it installed on about 15 computer in my shop. I have brought customers in and sat them down in front of Linux (without telling them anything) and they just use it. WITHOUT explanation. They pick up the mouse, find the familiar icons, double click, and go. Most have no idea that it isn't Windows and lots ask if this is the new Windows (meaning it is so familiar to them that they think it's just an update to Windows).
The goal should be to cease adding features of features sake and get with making it so that it doesn't break. I'd sell the idea of Linux more often if I didn't have to worry about it breaking every time a new update is downloaded (no I'm not implying that all updates break Linux, but there are enough that will that make my job harder after the fact).
So, once everyday people can use Linux without it breaking and they can understand that it is quality enough to be an environment in and of itself and we don't have to worry about some distro hijacking the direction of Linux (making some major change such as the display server change and the desktop manager change--where inevitably both will lead to major clusterfucks) then Linux will be a more viable home desktop environment where people can feel free of the virus monsters and not worry about having to pay for software junk that barely passes for shareware, and they can get on with their lives and be happy about their choice.
One of my main points was that this was a copyright lawsuit not a patent lawsuit.
Actually, he's more precise than you.
There were threats around Windows 1.0 but Microsoft and Apple entered into a license agreement at that time.
When Windows 2.0 came out Sculley claimed that this was a violation of the contract and sued Microsoft.
The lawsuit ended in Microsoft's favor with the Supreme Court refusing to hear Apple's appeal.
Microsoft did infuse cash into Apple to the sum of approximately $150 million. Analysts at the time considered it to be "propping up" Apple.
Apple had also accused Microsoft of pirating QuickTime. That was also settled with Apple and Microsoft in late 1994.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Microsoft_Corporation
That gives a good summary of what the lawsuit was about. I was stating from memory as I was in the industry back then too.