What are we going to do to keep up with longhorn?

aidy · l33t Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Posts: 915

But how do they get to use all that power? I mean with, say, Linux, you can do all that vista stuff with a third or fourth of those specs??

John-Boy · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:09 am Post subject:

mikkoloo · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:10 pm Post subject:

Hooi

I think,

To keep up with Windows usershare (not inovations) Linux NEEDS to make some specific things better.
I look at my mates, my girlfriend, parents etc. and i see what needs to be done, with their demands in consideration.
They are USERS, not anyone here, we are GEEKS, its a major difference. Both in how we use a computer,
how we want our systems to work and what we want to do with it.

Most people want a computer to do every day services for them, like:

Write a report for school (in ms word cause they know it works with the school computers)
Play some music
Download some new music
Play games

- Users wont change because of security, they know Linux is more secure, yet they use Windows despite the fact there are hundreds of thousands of viruses and scriptZ etc. They download an antivirus/firewall app and feel secure.

- Users wont change because of stability, Reboots is the average users daily routine, crashes too. Or at least they cope with it.

- Users wont change because of usabillty, KDE is the choise in linux, any other WM that ive came across lacks so much of the many small supports (like sepparate buttons on the laptop) that its just appaling to the average user.

- Users wont change because of hardware, Almost all hardware besides soundcards and other considerable basic stuff is really hard or impossible to get to work in Linux. In windows you put a CD in and connects the hardware. Im talking about devices such as tv-cards, bluetooth or tv-out)

- Users wont change because of price, We all pay the M$ tax anyways. If we dont, just download it and burn it and install. That's how its done.

What Linux Needs:

A unified desktop enviroment, more than one makes any user confused.
Plug and Play, as it should have been.
Game support (this is in the hands of the authors too, yes)
Easy hardware settings, for example printing.. cups is a joke! (no offence)

Do this and throw some effects like looking glass and luminocity for eyecandy to make it more attracting. I also think we need to get rid of all the myths of linux. Many users discard it because "it's for geeks". I mean its getting better and users are needed to bring it forward. Another aspect is to cover all the users. I would not dream of using an os where I couldnt compile apps myself or change configfiles by hand. My mother on the other hand would not be able to open the file in a hundred years.

Imagine a Linux where we both are satisfied. Imagine a simple Linux. Imagine a complicated (yet powerful and extremly configurable) Linux, like it is today, but together. A Linux you would put in the hands of your mother, your 6 year old nephew or little brother. and use yourself.
It needs to get there.
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petrjanda · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:14 pm Post subject:

mikkoloo · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:29 pm Post subject:

Q-collective · Advocate Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 2076

Dolio · l33t Joined: 17 Jun 2002 Posts: 650

Cups itself may be hard to use, but if you use the KDE front end (does Gnome have one too?), it's roughly as easy as installing a printer on Windows, depending on what kind you're installing, exactly.

I'd also point out that plenty of people put Linux in the hands of their mothers and young nephews today. That sort of nearly-computer-illiterate person isn't a problem when it comes to Linux. You just set everything up for them, and let them go. They can't do anything complex in Windows, either, so they're in the same boat either way.

I think the place where Linux has trouble is with the average, semi-power user from Windows. They have a basic understanding of how to twiddle things in Windows, but they're adverse to poking in config files under Linux, and it's hard to guarantee that everything is GUI accessible in Linux, at least right now. They've also probably learned specifically how to accomplish/fix certain things in Windows, and that's not the same in Linux.

The problem isn't people who are total computer novices. You can stick them in front of anything that's set up to accomplish their specific tasks, and that can already be done in Linux. The problem is people who know enough to go poking a little below the surface, and Linux isn't always as refined at that level as people want. One of your examples shows that clearly, since you talk about hardware settings. Grandma/your 6-year-old won't be installing a printer, in Linux or Windows.
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Naib · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 3:23 pm Post subject:

Yes GNOEM does have a CUPS front end and you just go "add printer"

in other news

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050910-5298.html
looks like MS are going to release 7 different version of Windows:Vista WTF!!!!!!
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mikkoloo · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 3:24 pm Post subject:

Dolio · l33t Joined: 17 Jun 2002 Posts: 650

mikkoloo · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:20 pm Post subject:

aidy · l33t Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Posts: 915

Oww... Th most hardware hell thing I ever got has allways been on windows... BTW, thing's like SuSE are really easy for hardware, everything works right away.

Naib · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:27 pm Post subject:

mikkoloo · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 4:44 pm Post subject:

Its not linux fault, excuse me if I said that somewhere.
What I ment was that there are just not enough drivers, no matter who's the fault is. (and yes, of course its the hardware vendors, all they need is release the specs which makes it so much easier to write a driver and if they dont feel comfortable with that they just have to write on themselves)
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AMD 64 4000+, nforce4 mobo, 2GB RAM, 200Gb SATA HDD, xfx Geforce 7900GT XE
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HP pavilion zv5470EA: AMD 64 3400+, 512 Mb RAM, 80 Gb HDD, nvidia GeForce4 440 Go 64M, Cabletron RoamAbout 802.11 DS (orinoco gold) WiFi. Creative Webcam Pro (ov511)

Kensai · Guru Joined: 09 Mar 2004 Posts: 569 Location: Puerto Rico

mikkoloo · Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:06 am Post subject:

well, i do live in Holland, but nah

Weell to be honest I tried it out. I let my gf and a pal try the different ones I had installed and asked them which one they would wanna use on a computer they owned. KDE was the only one that both could imagine working with. I understand them. The other ones was labeled "too you" aka "too geeky"

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AMD 64 4000+, nforce4 mobo, 2GB RAM, 200Gb SATA HDD, xfx Geforce 7900GT XE
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HP pavilion zv5470EA: AMD 64 3400+, 512 Mb RAM, 80 Gb HDD, nvidia GeForce4 440 Go 64M, Cabletron RoamAbout 802.11 DS (orinoco gold) WiFi. Creative Webcam Pro (ov511)

Jeremy_Z · l33t Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 671 Location: Shanghai

Agreed, KDE seems to have better acceptance by the non geek public, second would obviously be Gnome. And well, if you have *box, an outsider would think the computer is running a screensaver or something (but this is a good way to prevent your mother / gf from playing with your computer

)
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Kensai · Guru Joined: 09 Mar 2004 Posts: 569 Location: Puerto Rico

Well... is just a matter of opinion but Gnome is more simple and user friendly than that piece of bloat they call a DE. I'll try and ask my GF to see which she likes better. :wink:

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Dolio · l33t Joined: 17 Jun 2002 Posts: 650

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Kensai · Guru Joined: 09 Mar 2004 Posts: 569 Location: Puerto Rico

msimplay · Apprentice Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Posts: 161

mikkoloo · Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 9:16 pm Post subject:

I agree to the fullest. Just switched to kopete because of the "interoperability". I dont really care if people say its slow and bloated, I have not had that experience on my comp. Sure some are faster, much faster, but then I prefer functionallity and flexibillity over that.
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AMD 64 4000+, nforce4 mobo, 2GB RAM, 200Gb SATA HDD, xfx Geforce 7900GT XE
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HP pavilion zv5470EA: AMD 64 3400+, 512 Mb RAM, 80 Gb HDD, nvidia GeForce4 440 Go 64M, Cabletron RoamAbout 802.11 DS (orinoco gold) WiFi. Creative Webcam Pro (ov511)

msimplay · Apprentice Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Posts: 161

malone · Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 2:35 am Post subject: