We're Not Close Yet
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| devnet Aug 27, 2006 7:35 AM EDT |
When I think desktop, I automatically think laptop. Why? Because at work, that's my desktop. I'm mobile 75% of the time going out to various offices and locations. When I'm at home, I have a shuttle cube and an IBM laptop. So once again, I think of laptop. I tried out various distros the other day on this IBM and found that they SUCKED on it. 1. SuSe 10.1 - No sound...problem with intel driver. No wireless, they didn't include the package with it. Still don't have the sound problem fixed...wireless was easy for someone with Linux knowledge. Was it new user friendly? Not even close. A new user would have dumped it early on. 2. PCLinuxOS - Kernel problem prevents wireless from working. I downloaded the ipw2200 package and recompiled it and I was up and running. However, a new user would have ditched it right out of the gate. 3. Kubuntu - Sleep/Hibernate didn't work (odd considering it did with all other distros out of the box), Thinkpad buttons didn't work (those all worked out of the box on the other two as well), Suspend to RAM didn't work out of the box like it did with the other two distros. So...I tried the three most new user laptop/desktop distros I could think of. Each one of them failed. Does that mean they all suck? Nope. It means that we need to work on things because a new user would bail when faced with something hard like this. What I mean is...they use Windows and everything is easy and plug and play for them. Then many in the Linux community expect them to swing over and want to compile a wireless driver. WTF is that? How can we expect them to just buy into that? We'll never win over Windows converts that way...you can put money on it. Some say, we don't need those converts then. Whatever. We need all the users we can get...from all walks of life. It's the open source way...people from everywhere adding to the experience/usability/code of all apps/distros. Until we get desktops that can work out of the gate for a variety of people...it's not going to happen. On a side note, if I install .92 for PCLinuxOS and SuSe 10.0, both have all those problems solved and work fine. |
| jdixon Aug 27, 2006 8:02 AM EDT |
devnet: In all fairness, you should probably try SimplyMepis and Freespire too, and see if either of them work out of the box. I doubt Mepis will, but there's a chance Freespire will. |
| herzeleid Aug 27, 2006 9:03 AM EDT |
Apparently you forgot all about the novell distro , SLED 10. I've found everything "just works" on SLED 10, as opposed to the community based distros which are aimed at the linux community, i.e. at people with some technical competence. |
| Rascalson Aug 27, 2006 5:59 PM EDT |
You also neglected to get any of those pre-installed by the oem on your laptop. Ooohh, I see. I seem to have forgotten for a split second that there is a thrice(or more) convicted criminal monopoly still Illegally influencing the market. Shame on me. |
| dinotrac Aug 27, 2006 6:19 PM EDT |
Rascalson : And your point is? Fair matters for crap. What is, is. If somebody goes to the trouble to load up a new OS, and it can't make their computer work, they will not be impressed. |
| devnet Aug 28, 2006 7:20 AM EDT |
dino, that was exactly my point. _I_ can get things to work....but can a new user? Should they be asked to? What will they do when they hit a snag? One can argue all day long that I shoulda, woulda, coulda tried a different distro. THAT'S NOT THE POINT. The point is that these three are geared toward new users...when someone tries Linux, they're most likely going to try one of these. Is a new user going to be able to find an OEM pre-installed version? Heck no. Not everyone reads Lxer remember...my sister dual boots now. She reads myspace and that's about it. Lxer? She hasn't heard of it. She hasn't even heard of slashdot or digg. What about those users? Are they going to be able to find an OEM preinstalled and know what the hell they're doing? Should they be left out because they can't? Should we let them fend for themselves in a proprietary world because they must be "(you must be) this knowledgeable to ride" the open source and Linux train? I don't think we should. Open Source isn't a club for the knowledgeable. Neither is Linux. If everyone can look at the source, everyone should be able to use it as well...especially if we want widespread adoption (which is what Ubuntu, SuSe, PCLOS, MEPIS, Freespire, and Xandros are all gearing toward). Quoting:thrice(or more) convicted criminal monopoly still Illegally influencing the market. Shame on me. That monopoly you speak of doesn't influence my computing decisions...I've been an advocate for over ten years and a solid user for the same. |
| jdixon Aug 28, 2006 7:54 AM EDT |
> ...Xandros... Speaking of, it looks like they're still stuck on version 3 for their "Open Circulation" edition. I wonder if they'll ever bother releasing any later versions? |
| helios Aug 28, 2006 1:52 PM EDT |
The Xandros Version 4 is slick, I'll give it that but will it pass the laptop test? Couldn't tell ya. I struggled with pclos and wireless for 5 days and did it for a reason...I could have went out and spent 12 bucks on a new piece of slide-in hardware and it would have worked find. The point that Devnet made is accurate, the pclos kernel just won't work with many wireless cards. What I get from that community alot is, "well it worked for me fine." Lord, I cant tell you how annoying that is... It looks like some headway has been made on the pclos wireless front. It is getting better. I have spent over a year beating the pclos drum, and will continue to do so. Never for the reason that the distro at any given time is the very best out there...at times it is not always the best. However the developers and the community cannot be touched when it comes to support and "fulfilling the dream". For that reason, I stand on freeway feeder road lights and give away disks. Besides, you meet such a diverse bunch of people that way. Food ain't bad either. I did try freespire and I am impressed. Derrick, give it a look and see what you think from a LT perspective. I will need to know sooner or later anyway. And Mepis with the Ubuntu "hack"..? Folks are gonna be talking about this one. Even with the troubles I have had with Warren, I cannot take away from the fact that this distro, once "dresssed" to suit the user, is superb. It's the default presentation that takes my breath away...the trouble is, is getting it back. I've seen ugly, but that one takes the cake. Thank Heaven for the KDE look and feel section. |
| jdixon Aug 28, 2006 1:56 PM EDT |
> I've seen ugly, but that one takes the cake. I don't think Warren's taste has even been a matter of significant debate. :) |
| jimf Aug 28, 2006 2:02 PM EDT |
> I've seen ugly, but that one takes the cake. Ya think they should have kept our services huh ;-)... I still try to avoid triangular or pyramidal designs :( |
| jimf Aug 28, 2006 2:07 PM EDT |
> I don't think Warren's taste has even been a matter of significant debate. :) It was always an afterthought, and, like pulling teeth to even get him to look at anything new... to the point where anyone with any talent finally packed up and left. |
| scrawler Aug 29, 2006 1:01 PM EDT |
I...feel...a...strange...compulsion to chime in with my
favorite distro. Try Arch Linux. You'll have to
configure stuff, but nothing too gnarly, and you wind
up with a nice customized system when you're finished. I'm me, and no one else, and I approve this message. :-) |
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