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Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

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Re: Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

#21

Post by xioxox »

lvs wrote: post #13
jjuhl wrote: post #6

To me this reads as "I can't use hardware xyz on linux". Well, that's no surprise. There's "wxy" hardware that you can't use with Windows or OS X as well. Today Linux supports the same amount (or more) hardware that Windows does. Hardware support is not a reason to use or not use Linux. The software ecosystem is much more important - not to mention the freedom aspect...

No, there's no consumer-level desktop hardware you can't use on either Windows or OS X or both. That's false. Hardware support is indeed a reason not to use Linux, but the question is who needs to pick up the slack. With other operating systems, manufacturers put (more or less) effort into writing device drivers that are functional. With Linux, they really do not. It's a large and moving target, and the market value…

Really? There's plenty of old hardware which no longer works in recent Windows versions. It's not in a manufacture's interest to update a driver to recent OS versions. In Linux drivers usually remain for a long time.

Re: Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

#24

Post by pjmlp »

jcastro wrote: post #12

This "Android is not Linux" meme is pretty silly. "Android contains the only Linux component - the kernel" can also describe any distribution/OS using Linux.

Google could replace Linux with any POSIX kernel and only OEMs and NDK users that use unofficial APIs would notice.

Re: Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

#25

Post by BlakePetersen »

crgabrieljr wrote: post #8

Tried double-tapping in the article text to get it to reflow, and got one of those bogus popups claiming my phone is infected with a virus. Thanks for trying to make my new year interesting. :-(

Mine was 'You were selected! Click OK to claim blah blah!'

Re: Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

#26

Post by et1337 »

jjuhl wrote: post #6

To me this reads as "I can't use hardware xyz on linux". Well, that's no surprise. There's "wxy" hardware that you can't use with Windows or OS X as well. Today Linux supports the same amount (or more) hardware that Windows does. Hardware support is not a reason to use or not use Linux. The software ecosystem is much more important - not to mention the freedom aspect...

I think just the opposite - most of my software runs on Linux, but hardware is the main obstacle.

I've installed Linux many times on desktops and laptops, and I have yet to simply install a graphics driver and have it work first try. My laptop locks up the cursor after two minutes of use, doesn't support two-finger touchpad scrolling, and exhibits constant graphical artifacts, all under multiple driver and kernel combinations.

Speaking as a big fan of Linux, the hardware support is abysmal, except where the money is: server hardware.

Re: Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

#27

Post by evook »

wvenable wrote: post #19
edtechdev wrote: post #9

I've been using Ubuntu Linux as my primary OS since 2006, and I can't disagree with many of the annoyances. Especially with regards to graphics drivers and the switch to the Unity desktop. I tried Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop and it is nicer, but couldn't commit to it I guess. But everytime I use Windows and Macs again, I get even more annoyed. Mainly with how slow things are. Even on a new Windows 10 desktop…

> it's not uncommon to have to wait minutes for things to settle down after booting and logging in This is no longer my experience with Windows on an SSD. I'm always a bit shocked when I reboot and I'm back at my desktop in under 30 seconds. On a machine without an SSD, I'm annoyed at how slow everything is -- not just booting.

That's actually the reason windows is and will stay my main desktop system. Former Windows 7, now an "unfucked" Windows 10 Enterprise. It's just smoother than OSX or Linux Desktop and I always test some linux distros if I get new Hardware. Last time in novembre I upgrade to i7-6700k, Titan X, Samsung 950Pro 1TB. Of course it's necessary to have always at least one linux based server vm running I use putty to connect with. That's my ideal desktop setup i am using for years.

IMHO X11 needs to be replaced as fast as possible.

Re: Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

#28

Post by izacus »

condescendence wrote: post #20

I don't get articles like these. First of all this website is worse than any OS environment I've ever used. So right from that standpoint I sorta gulped a bit before reading on. Graphics driver issues in linux are nothing new, Nvidia a few years back started officially porting drivers to linux but that doesn't solve all the problems. There's also projects like Nouveau; so if you're complaining about linux desktop fro…

It's a single location summary of things that still have to be done / are lacking in the project. It's thus useful for contributors to see what needs work, since it's easy to get tunnel vision when working on a project.

Don't you have such yearly reviews on your long-running projects?

Re: Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

#29

Post by fauigerzigerk »

geggam wrote: post #17
eropple wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW -- I have my own complaints about OS X (a lot of them), but I can't remember the last time I got beachballed, certainly not something like typing a URL.

The entry level mac mini is terrible and beach balls surfing. I am surprised they sell it. ( cant upgrade the memory either )

What would consider entry level? I use a Mac mini from 2012 (i7 with 8GB) every day and I'm not seeing any beach balls unless Flash crashes some web page.

Re: Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2016 Edition

#30

Post by izacus »

jcastro wrote: post #12

This "Android is not Linux" meme is pretty silly. "Android contains the only Linux component - the kernel" can also describe any distribution/OS using Linux.

So how does classifying Android as being Linux help anyone? Who does that definition help? The most important drivers (video, camera) aren't compatible with desktop, userspace isn't either, most binaries won't work properly due to use of libbionic, etc.

So what kind of useful definition is "Android is Linux" when you can't really reuse any Android components on desktop Linux distributions?

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