Linux for Deskflops
Amy Wohl‘s always excellent — and free — newsletter reports on a Linux for Desktops conference:
Nat Friedman of Ximian (another Novell acquisition), offered a lively presentation, pointing out that the Linux desktop is ready now and that most of the problem is that of a mismatch between what’s there and user expectations, rather than of something being wrong. … Nat notes that users turn to the Linux desktop for control and choice first, and lower cost, second. Barriers remain application availability, interoperability (file formats, network protocols, device drivers), and the cost of support (mainly because of the need for better usability and more manageability tools).
Usability? Hah! If you want to see the barrier to desktop Linux’s acceptance, watch over my shoulder one day as I try to use KDE or Gnome to do ordinary tasks such as keeping my MP3 player running if any other sound is emitted (oh yeah, guessing which processes are audio ones so that I can then manually Kill them hoping that I got the right one is reaaaal user friendly) or downloading and installing a new application. Fabulous end user experiences.
Lord love Linux and godspeed to it, but desktop Linux is so Windows 3.0.
Categories: Uncategorized dw
Ok that’s it.
I think have to ask Mom to un-invite you for thanksgiving.
But isn’t Thanksgiving a celebration of Linux as a Server? I love Linux as a server.
Are you actually coming to TG, Greg?
Yep
Wed – Wed
We will have to put your invitation to a family vote on a bunch of windows touch screens.
Which I of course will rig.
I am not sure which way . . .
Huh? GNOME (and possibly KDE) have had multi-app audio support since as far back as 1999, *before* Microsoft introduced it in Windows 2000.
If you are using XMMS to play audio in GNOME, make sure you’ve set the output driver to eSound. The default, IIRC, is OSS, which is restricted to one process at a time.
Kiran, thank you for the help.
My point wasn’t that GNOME and KDE don’t support multi-app audio. My point was that a reasonably intelligent user (me) couldn’t figure out how to do it. The fact that desktop Linux defaults to OSS, which is restricted to one process at a time, is the problem.
That I don’t know how to set output drivers in linux is my next problem … all part of the joy of desktop linux.
That strangers are willing to help is one of the very best things about desktop linux.
Dave,
I’ll grant you that poorly configured defaults and inconsistent configuration systems make a serious usability problem, but I’m also inclined to believe that this is changing very rapidly, thanks to, on one hand, user focussed distributions like Mandrake and Red Hat (8 and 9), and on the other, new developments in desktop environments like GNOME and KDE.
For example, GNOME 2 introduced GConf last year, which emulates the Windows Registry, but does storage in XML files, in a format similar to the Mac OS X Preferences files. What GConf also provides, unlike the Windows Registry, is live updating. Changing a registry key will instantly reflect in the related application (most visible when switching desktop themes). This means that a third-party configuration tweaking program can reconfigure a running application. With the Windows registry, an application needs to be restarted, or needs a proprietary “refresh” API.
Existing applications like XMMS will of course take a long time to migrate to new configuration systems, but there is a whole new generation of applications like Rhythmbox (an iTunes rip-off) that are fast maturing.
The unfortunate part is that all of the good work that was done last year still cannot be used this year because some critical components of the entire desktop experience will not be complete until next year. What will be interesting is that as these components near completion, large pieces of previously unusable functionality will suddenly turn up, fully mature.
PS: I use Mac OS X currently, but I’m looking forward to switching back to GNOME in about a year, as my PowerBook reaches the end of its useful life.
Linux Desktop?
Joho points to and analyzes an Amy Whol article about linux for the desktop. As Joho says, Usability? Hah! If you want to see the barrier to desktop Linux’s acceptance, watch over my shoulder one day as I try to…
David’s absolutely right. I *really* want to like linux, but it’s not ready for primetime desktop status yet. I spent last year with linux as my primary OS, and some weeks I spent more time chasing down dependency issues, kernel panics, and other issues than I spent working on “real” things (teaching, research, writing).
I’m not a CS person or a programmer, but that’s exactly the point: I do have an extensive amount of computing experience (including a lot of programming and scripting–my undergrad minor was computer science). But I also have an extensive amount of experience in usability and communication. And more than twenty years of experience working with systems ranging from Sperry-Univac 100s, PDP-11s, Windows and Mac OSs dating from the 1980s to today, and several years of dabbling with linux.
So if *I’m* running into the same sorts of problems that David’s hitting, and being stumped by them, then what’s an “average” user going to do?
David,
I still don’t understand how you can have so many problems with Linux especially Mandrake. After installing Mandrake 9.1 I proceeded to supermount a windows partition, browse it ,point the cursor at an mp-3 and to my surprise it started playing instantly. I also have 3 diffrent players installed and I could play three diffrent songs at the same time. Getting the same player for every file type seems to be my problem. Now installing a non-open source wifi driver on it can be tricky, I have a situation where the keyboard locks up, and installing software is a little harder, but that is what secure means. No web site can install any software on your machine without you first typing in your root password. Yes GNU/Linux is not for everyone yet, of course neither is windows.
How did you supermount your windows partition? I’ve mounted mine but it took a lot of command line typing.
My problem overall may be simply that I’m cursed. My hardware problems are evidence for that view.
David,
Linux isn’t up right now becouse I can’t get the wifi working but I know I did it all on KDE first by right clicking on the desktop, clicking to new, hard drive, browsing to the hard drive and clicking ok. Clicking on the link brought me right to the partition. There is regular and supermount, supermount is more for removable drives and will be on all desktops of all users, regular stays on all desktops of one user.I could be wrong becouse I am going by memory. I was utterly amazed by what can be done without any command line work, you can install rpm’s without getting into bash too.
I think I will change my keyboard before I try to use linux again. Could it be a hardware problem? I am usually cursed on the software side but I do push the line a bit.
Is this like a guestbook?