The Cellar - View Single Post

mbpark · 08-26-2010, 08:56 PM

I have been using computers for a very long time.

I've known Bruce almost as long. Seriously.

Linux is a project. Unless you're doing software development or do IRC and IM continually, it's a major project to try and replicate a desktop environment and find equivalents. This is coming from someone who has used almost every major flavor of Linux, has compiled e17 from source, and who runs RHEL at work for mission-critical servers. I've had Linux desktops. I am running Win7 and Snow Leopard for my primary desktops, with a Vista desktop for testing. I do have Ubuntu in a VM somewhere that I haven't started in a while.

About the only thing I ever got working well for users was WINE with multiple versions of IE (4, 5, and 6) under Ubuntu. That took me an afternoon with WINE from CVS to get working correctly.

Even then, many of the good apps just don't plain work in Linux, such as Quickbooks, ERStudio, DBArtisan, Visual Studio, SQL Server Management Studio, and even Flash Player. Wine and DOSBox work very well for old DOS and Win9x-era games, but not for many modern apps. The apps that do work are few and far between, and woe be to the one who tries to use OpenOffice for classwork due to Impress going nuts and not handling the fonts correctly. Java and Flash just don't work well on the desktop there, and the video drivers and X still take alchemy to set up when s*it hits the fan. Sound is a joke and takes a ton of work when it fails. Printing has its issues too, and Mac OS X has many of the same issues due to the same printing subsystem (CUPS) being used. Don't even get me started on the e-mail program in Ubuntu and the world of suck that it is.

Many of the tools I can use to administer Linux work better on Windows, such as mySQL Admin.

Even surfing the web with Firefox takes a lot of work due to the fonts.

Many of the people who evangelize Linux just don't understand the use cases that many people have won't work for it, or the amount of work involved to even get a rough equivalent put in place for basic home or office needs. Those that are truly dedicated to the task will figure it out. Those that want their UNIX tools will run either Mac OS X or Cygwin to get their tools if they can't stand Linux.

Linux is a great server and kiosk OS, and is great for when you need a tightly controlled environment. However, it just isn't there for a general use desktop for home users, no matter how much some try to make it so.

08-26-2010, 08:56 PM	#26
mbpark Lecturer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Carmel, Indiana Posts: 761	Linux I have been using computers for a very long time. I've known Bruce almost as long. Seriously. Linux is a project. Unless you're doing software development or do IRC and IM continually, it's a major project to try and replicate a desktop environment and find equivalents. This is coming from someone who has used almost every major flavor of Linux, has compiled e17 from source, and who runs RHEL at work for mission-critical servers. I've had Linux desktops. I am running Win7 and Snow Leopard for my primary desktops, with a Vista desktop for testing. I do have Ubuntu in a VM somewhere that I haven't started in a while. About the only thing I ever got working well for users was WINE with multiple versions of IE (4, 5, and 6) under Ubuntu. That took me an afternoon with WINE from CVS to get working correctly. Even then, many of the good apps just don't plain work in Linux, such as Quickbooks, ERStudio, DBArtisan, Visual Studio, SQL Server Management Studio, and even Flash Player. Wine and DOSBox work very well for old DOS and Win9x-era games, but not for many modern apps. The apps that do work are few and far between, and woe be to the one who tries to use OpenOffice for classwork due to Impress going nuts and not handling the fonts correctly. Java and Flash just don't work well on the desktop there, and the video drivers and X still take alchemy to set up when s*it hits the fan. Sound is a joke and takes a ton of work when it fails. Printing has its issues too, and Mac OS X has many of the same issues due to the same printing subsystem (CUPS) being used. Don't even get me started on the e-mail program in Ubuntu and the world of suck that it is. Many of the tools I can use to administer Linux work better on Windows, such as mySQL Admin. Even surfing the web with Firefox takes a lot of work due to the fonts. Many of the people who evangelize Linux just don't understand the use cases that many people have won't work for it, or the amount of work involved to even get a rough equivalent put in place for basic home or office needs. Those that are truly dedicated to the task will figure it out. Those that want their UNIX tools will run either Mac OS X or Cygwin to get their tools if they can't stand Linux. Linux is a great server and kiosk OS, and is great for when you need a tightly controlled environment. However, it just isn't there for a general use desktop for home users, no matter how much some try to make it so.