Android phones and tablets don't count as handhelds? ;)
I was thinking just the same. In the article and these comments, everything _except_ Linux is being talked about.
The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018
121–127 of 127 posts
Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use Linux on the desktop and this is my biggest gripe their too (well it’s the same on BSD too, nothing Linux specific). Sometimes I wish the desktop environments were a bit more opinionated like MacOS (but without all the restrictions). I’m keeping a close eye on elementary OS to see where that ends up.
I've found nowadays I want a desktop that stays out of my way as much as possible. Preferably it should be lightweight and responsive. I can still remember when I first started using Linux how excited I was that you could customize everything. I spent hours tweaking KDE to look just how I wanted it. Right down to the appearance of the clock on the system tray. Then AIGLX came out - I spent even more time compiling ke…
I had the same opinion - I even used windows 7 for years because I didn't really care to configure anything. I switched when I discovered tiling window managers, and application launchers. I think the ergonomic benefits have kinda paid off - since I think using fuzzy searches to do almost everything, splittting and killing my windows as I need them, on as many desktops as I want - is a way more sane user interface than the default floating window + desktop idea, if much less friendly to somebody who isn't expecting it.
Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Linux users/developers ecosystem is dominated by techies who mostly find the typical Android/iOS user interface inadequate; very far from the normal phone/tablet user: we love to use the shell to get things done or spend time customizing the system here and there, therefore the lesser incentive to have a finger oriented interface. Most people looking for native Linux handhelds probably either don't need/like that…
Part of the problem is ugly or inadequate defaults. I wish more UX and UI designers contributed to open source projects.
Agreed 100%. As an example, Xfce defaults to (if one doesn't choose an empty panel) a two panel strips model: one in the upper side, one in the lower part of the screen. Now, who is the most likely user of Xfce, which is considered a lightweight desktop manager? I'd say mostly not-so-much-powerful-laptop/netbook or small pc users with no screen estate to waste. Most small laptops have 768 vertical points, and wasting part of them with redundant graphics is a bad choice.
On all installation I move all icons from the lower panel to the upper one, delete the lower panel, often set the workspace number to 1 and delete the workspace chooser, add a few launchers (audio, bluetooth where needed etc.), move the upper panel to the bottom, delete the standard menu in favor of the whisker menu, reduce the panel vertical size to 26 pixels and set a dark theme. On some machines I also create some launchers for Rox-Filer windows (shell aside it's absolutely the fastest thing for navigating directories, copying/moving files etc.) pointing to most used directories (Home, Documents, Audio, NAS storage if any, etc). The result is a much more useable desktop although still user friendly and uncluttered.
Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018
#124The Pyra's PowerVR GPU is disappointing. I wonder how good power control will be without a free driver.
Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018
#125Interesting thread, going to check out it and the OP. I've entertained thoughts of getting a handheld pocket Linux-based device. Would want a way to type on it to do light programming though, without it being too awkward or slow. A while ago, had almost decided to buy a Nokia N900 based on a glowing description of it by an acquaintance who had one, then did not buy it due to a couple of issues - read a negative revie…
I don't know about LinuxDevices.com, but have you looked at the Neo900 project? They're updating the internals of the Nokia N900, and their plans include fixing the USB connector. Even though their specs won't be brand new, I think its a quite interesting project as it will be libre software from the bootloader up, and they're designing the circuits to be able to definitely power off the GSM chip from the CPU, so tha…
Just saw your comment now ...
Thanks for the info. Interesting generally, and also that they plan to fix the USB connector. Will check out Neo900.
Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use Linux on the desktop and this is my biggest gripe their too (well it’s the same on BSD too, nothing Linux specific). Sometimes I wish the desktop environments were a bit more opinionated like MacOS (but without all the restrictions). I’m keeping a close eye on elementary OS to see where that ends up.
What desktop environment do you use now? What you are asking for does sound like the reason why people who use GNOME like it. It is focused on having sane and opinionated defaults but it is still tweakable via advanced settings (tweak tool, dconf) and extensions.
I use i3 with some GNOME services. I tried full GNOME late last year, but I much prefer a proper tiling window manager. On MacOS I used SizeUp which fulfilled my requirements pretty well, but AFAIK there isn't something like that for GNOME.
Re: The world of Linux Handhelds in 2018
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use Linux on the desktop and this is my biggest gripe their too (well it’s the same on BSD too, nothing Linux specific). Sometimes I wish the desktop environments were a bit more opinionated like MacOS (but without all the restrictions). I’m keeping a close eye on elementary OS to see where that ends up.
Isn't one of the main criticism of GNOME that it's too opinionated?
There is nothing wrong with being opinionated, see Rails and DHH - it's not everybody's cup of tea, but it worked well for the audience it was designed for.
As I understand the issue most people have with GNOME is the choices the developers seem to be making are making the UI prettier, but making the UX a lot worse. Plus the out of the box defaults are pretty bad - if you install GNOME on Arch it's going to be completely different to a customised distribution like Fedora Workstation.