Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Linux desktop 'mess'
TechRepublic ^ | 8 April 2013 | Jack Wallen

Posted on 04/10/2013 5:50:05 AM PDT by ShadowAce

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-59 next last
To: hoosierham

Well said. Especially the car example.

And let’s not forget the cell phones that want to make you think they are computers and are so jazzed up you can’t even make a dam call!
Or the computers that want to convince you they are movie theatres or recording studios!


21 posted on 04/10/2013 9:34:23 AM PDT by djf (Rich widows: My Bitcoin address is... 1ETDmR4GDjwmc9rUEQnfB1gAnk6WLmd3n6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: roamer_1

The majority of people who use computers are not technical, AND THEY DON’T WANT TO BE!

They want their computer to be like the old TV’s.

Those TV’s had:
An on/off button
A rotary dial for the channels.

People these days still want much the same.
An on/off button.
One channel to get/send email
One channel to see pics of the grandkids
One channel to show them the weather
One channel to show highlights of last nights Lakers game

They don’t want to know about SUDO’s and program fixes and hacker attacks!!

And NO MATTER WHAT they do, when they turn their machine off and then turn it back on, it should GO BACK TO THE STATE IT WAS IN when they first turned it on.They can still see their emails (maybe out on the Cloud), but Javascript or Flash or some other bastid didn’t come along and wipe out their hard drive or hijack their internet connection.

It’s very poor design, whether it be Windows or Linux, to let some application tweak the registry or modify functionality without thorough testing and acceptance. Any decent SDLC (software development life cycle) person can tell you that.


22 posted on 04/10/2013 9:52:57 AM PDT by djf (Rich widows: My Bitcoin address is... 1ETDmR4GDjwmc9rUEQnfB1gAnk6WLmd3n6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce
and create a desktop every member of the Linux community would be proud to use.

Not possible.

The beauty of Linux, is that you can do things your way. One desktop may suit one way of working, while another suits something else.

i use XFCE at work because I need a more minimalist environment there, while at home I'm generally happy with KDE and like the way it works. I love KIOSlaves

I like the fact that you have at least 2, (some would argue 3 or more), major desktops that work in different ways. Competition is what works, and makes things better in the end.

 

23 posted on 04/10/2013 10:06:28 AM PDT by zeugma (Those of us who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce
Here's the message that computer and OS makers have never gotten through their retarded noggins:

Most companies do not, cannot, and never intended to try to make a profit with 99% of their workforce dinking around with the operating system kinks and barbs for 99% of their time.

Businesses need STABLE desktop and laptop operating systems and applications to conduct THEIR BUSINESS, to read and write business stuff, to send and receive email, to move files from one system to another (usually across multiple platforms), to design stuff, buy stuff, sell stuff, etc., etc.; none of which is enhanced by having everyone tinkering with the operating system all day, every day.

Many of us have wasted days, nights, and weekends playing techie since the days of DOS 0.00001, and it doesn't move the economy forward. It eventually puts us 17 Trillion in debt.

24 posted on 04/10/2013 10:26:44 AM PDT by meadsjn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: meadsjn

Believe it or not, I still have a faded, old 6 inch floppy that says... “IBM DOS 1.2” on the label. Single sided, 160KB.

>DEBUG

Them was the daze!!


25 posted on 04/10/2013 10:44:40 AM PDT by djf (Rich widows: My Bitcoin address is... 1ETDmR4GDjwmc9rUEQnfB1gAnk6WLmd3n6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: meadsjn

I hardly think OSes put this country into debt.


26 posted on 04/10/2013 10:45:53 AM PDT by CodeToad (Liberals are bloodsucking ticks. We need to light the matchstick to burn them off.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: molson209

PCLinuxOS LXDE version runs super fast on my ancient T40 laptop. The KDE version runs extremely well on my ten-year-old Dell desktop. And if I — a non-geek — can do Linux, anybody can do Linux. You don’t have to be a command-line guru anymore.


27 posted on 04/10/2013 11:05:40 AM PDT by kevao (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: CodeToad
I hardly think OSes put this country into debt.

Well, that, plus jack-leg coders masquerading as programmers, analysts, DBAs, and managers.

28 posted on 04/10/2013 12:08:00 PM PDT by meadsjn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: SgtHooper
I would quarrel with that test.

Lets go back to when windows 3.0 was introduced ...I can remeber lots of folks that just could not handle.....IT,

If a user can handle the Firefox browser,....there is practically nothing to learn.

29 posted on 04/10/2013 12:50:39 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: djf
Mainframe System Engineer (IBM Type) since 1965....been thru all of the different OS there from 8K DOS to MVS and VM/370.

Now there were some real messes getting customers moved from one to the other.

Massive amount of planning and trouble shooting.

30 posted on 04/10/2013 12:57:09 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce
I have a question on Fedora...Gnome(running Korora,...Fedora based) What is the name of the component that allows the multiple windows or workspaces on the right sie?.

LuninuX also has it.

I really like how it works for me.

31 posted on 04/10/2013 1:11:20 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

The Window Manager for Gnome3 is Mutter - is that your question?


32 posted on 04/10/2013 1:16:36 PM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
Hmmm...

I am not sure whether it is a window manager or a workspace manager.

But that might give me a clue.

Prior to trying Korora I was running Mint with the Compiz rotating cube and Mint was not interested in keeping it as a basic default,...so I went looking.

I will do some checking now that I have a name.

33 posted on 04/10/2013 1:38:48 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Good. I stand corrected, and pleased actually, since linux used to be tough to setup and deal with. It needs to be seamless to install and use for the average user, is all I’m saying.


34 posted on 04/10/2013 1:40:03 PM PDT by SgtHooper (The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: djf
Linux is a dam mess.

Agreed; I always get the feeling that the operating system (and tools) are working against me when I use Linux.

You do not get productivity out of changing (or ENHANCING) user interfaces.

Windows 8 should be just another point proving that.

mainframe systems engineer since 1985!!!

Nice; I hear mainframes have extremely stable software-stacks, many using COBOL.. and having uptime for services measured in years. That's a world of difference from Desktop Application development... though it would be mitigated/alleviated somewhat if "the industry" were concerned with correctness [& maintainability].

35 posted on 04/10/2013 1:43:33 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark

They can’t maintain this kind of cross-platform workability.

Cell phones are schizophrenic, they don’t know if they are supposed to be phones, computers, Facebook interfaces, GPS devices, or toasters!

Same with much if not most of the new hardware coming out.

Hey, a single approach over all these types of devices is a great idea, but it’s just not going to work! They are functionally different.

And I don’t give a rats rear end if Java runs on all those things. Java has been junk since the word go. Another good idea that had bad implementation.


36 posted on 04/10/2013 1:52:20 PM PDT by djf (Rich widows: My Bitcoin address is... 1ETDmR4GDjwmc9rUEQnfB1gAnk6WLmd3n6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: SgtHooper
There have been some real improvements in installation of Many ( Not all ) Distros,...

Partitioning is the most complex ( it seems to me ) but Ubuntu has it worked out pretty well....and a lot of Distros are using the same scheme.

Viewing the use of Linux as a 90% web browser.

Driving printers ( I haven't gotten my HP photosmart AIO printer to work for me.)But I have little use for it and I do have a windows laptop that handles it.

There is an interesting Beta project that may be a real answer when they get it further along.

Check out :

Qubes OS

Qubes OS is a security-oriented, Fedora-based desktop Linux distribution whose main concept is "security by isolation" by using domains implemented as lightweight Xen virtual machines. It attempts to combine two contradictory goals: how to make the isolation between domains as strong as possible, mainly due to clever architecture that minimises the amount of trusted code, and how to make this isolation as seamless and easy as possible.

*********************************************************

To get it installed ,,,,it is not much different,....to really set up....well I am looking at it.

If you install it on a Hard Drive,...make sure that is the onld drive in your system,...

I think it messed up the mbr when I put it up on mine without disconnecting the other drives....

But it is a Beta.

Not yet ready ....although I fire it up to access my online banking with the included Firefox Browser.

37 posted on 04/10/2013 2:04:30 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark

The machines that run the web...the servers have a very high percentage of Linux as the operating systems and nearly all of the top 500 supercomputers run Linux or some Unix OS.


38 posted on 04/10/2013 2:15:54 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

HP printer drivers are weird.

I went through the gates of hell trying to get my Officejet V40 running under Windows XP.

But it ran fine under Windows 2000 SP4!

Didn’t make sense to me then, and still doesn’t but it works and I got enough other stuff to wonder about so I ain’t gonna sweat it...


39 posted on 04/10/2013 2:18:27 PM PDT by djf (Rich widows: My Bitcoin address is... 1ETDmR4GDjwmc9rUEQnfB1gAnk6WLmd3n6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: djf
They can’t maintain this kind of cross-platform workability.

Nope.

Cell phones are schizophrenic, they don’t know if they are supposed to be phones, computers, Facebook interfaces, GPS devices, or toasters!

This is true; though I think there was similar situations w/ early PCs [and nonstandard-that-became-standard] hardware.
Interesting how some of the software was set-up for hardware that never became popular; example: DOS INT 10, AH = $04 VIDEO - READ LIGHT PEN POSITION

Same with much if not most of the new hardware coming out.

This is true; and what's kind of sad is there've been some very interesting hardware -- the Rekursiv processor (OOP in the chip, basically), the Symbolics LISP Machine (custom hardware, the OS in LISP, with the ability to do real-time patching of the OS while in-use), the R-1000 (a custom-built minicomputer for Ada programming)

Hey, a single approach over all these types of devices is a great idea, but it’s just not going to work! They are functionally different.

A single approach is feasible [in a sense] with something like Ada, which was designed for large software projects (packages/generics play nicely together for making SW components) and the language spec allows construction of compilers that reject the source-code if it is unable to compiler it (e.g. trying to use Type K is Range 0..2**32-1 on an 8-bit processor). [The formals of a generic package can require another package -- so if you made your photography subsystem dependent on the camera package (device driver) you could build a whole cell-phone framework.]

That level of design is, quite frankly, not really even considered in most SW development these days. (Unsurprising given how much is done on Desktop Applications or *shudder* javascript or PHP*.)

And I don’t give a rats rear end if Java runs on all those things. Java has been junk since the word go. Another good idea that had bad implementation.

I tend to agree... though the JVM is separate from the language which means you can have other languages compile to the JVM, so it might not be quite as bad as it would otherwise be -- though in-practice you'd be hardpressed to find a company using a non-Java language targeting the JVM {Much like C# & .NET}.

* How can you expect a program to work when you you're assigning "random-shit" to variables? -- John Carmack, QuakeCon 2011@~15:45

40 posted on 04/10/2013 3:02:16 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-59 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson