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Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

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Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#51

Post by swiley »

magicalhippo wrote: post #35

I've been running KDE Neon on NUC for a while, and Kubuntu before that since KDE 3.5 days. But still it's not ready to become my primary desktop. The main issue for me is RDP-like (not VNC-like) remote desktop experience. Without that I'm not even gonna try. I mean the kind where I check my desktop before I leave for work, resume the session remotely from work (when compiling or whatever), and pick up when I get home…

Most decent applications on Linux are CLI and run in a tty.

So most people do that with ssh+tmux

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#52

Post by blackfawn »

magicalhippo wrote: post #35

I've been running KDE Neon on NUC for a while, and Kubuntu before that since KDE 3.5 days. But still it's not ready to become my primary desktop. The main issue for me is RDP-like (not VNC-like) remote desktop experience. Without that I'm not even gonna try. I mean the kind where I check my desktop before I leave for work, resume the session remotely from work (when compiling or whatever), and pick up when I get home…

I've been quite happy with NoMachine[0]. It has probably even more options than RDP (file transfer and drive sharing options, various graphics and audio options, etc.) You can even watch videos through it if your connection is decent. You can pick up an existing X session or start a new one.

[0]: https://www.nomachine.com

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#53

Post by marktangotango »

smlacy wrote: post #9

How about a list of all the things that really work great? I've been using Linux on the desktop for nearly 20 years and I'll have to say it's fantastic, despite the occasional headache, which seems to be at a far less frequency than other major desktop operating systems.

I agree, I read the present list as “people with those concerns should not be using Linux”. Example if you require MS only software (photoshop) then stay on windows. I mean its just not practical for every software vendor to support multiple OSs.

IMO Linux on the desktop is in a remarkably fantastic state. There’s A LOT of really great distros and software that just works. My daily driver is 7 year old Chromebook with xubuntu 18.04, I do java development on this thing!!!

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#54

Post by blaze33 »

Linux as the open-sourced work of brilliant software developers wouldn't power most servers if it sucked.

But could designing good desktops need more than just good code?

Good kernels successfully run code. Good desktops successfully help users. I guess different goals require different designs?

Edit: to clarify, I didn't mean desktops don't require well designed software. Just had in mind that a desktop also have to take human psychology and human limitations into account.

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#55

Post by bb88 »

The article is not entirely accurate, and can be hit or miss. Granted, I'm cherry picking, but I'm cherry picking the pieces which I have direct knowledge which are definitely misleading.

> ! X.org architecture is inherently insecure - even if you run a desktop GUI application under a different user in your desktop session, e.g. using sudo and xhost, then that "foreign" application can grab any input events and also make screenshots of the entire screen.

A linux user would say, "So that's not a bug, that's the power of the root user. Don't do that or lock down your root access."

Then this one:

> ! The kernel cannot recover from video, sound and network drivers' crashes (I'm very sorry for drawing a comparison with Windows Vista/7/8 where this feature is implemented and works beautifully in a lot of cases).

To be fair, if you google "Nvidia BSOD" and you'll get something like this from four months ago:

https://www.eteknix.com/nvidia-release-new-2080ti-drivers-st...

And if you think the mac's are awesome, (which the software might be, I don't know) the hardware has some serious issues which has turned me off from buying one.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=louis+rossmann

Also to be fair, it's possible that Dell laptops have similar issues, but Apple hardware failures make a lot of noise in the media.

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#56

Post by gerdesj »

hartator wrote: post #21

The only thing about Linux I never really like is the package system. Like if you want to install a new software, you usually don’t get .exe or .dmg. If you are lucky, the developer or some fans took the time to package it. Then you can do ‘apt-get’ ‘yum’ or ‘pacman’. However, packages got stalled and sometimes don’t match the original author intent. You can also build from sources, but it takes time and you have to…

You clearly have never used Linux in any form. There are multiple package managers, granted.

However, one strength they all share is: "you usually don't get .exe or .dmg"! Absolutely! Apps are integrated and not simply add-ons as they are in Windows or Apple land. When I want to install say libreoffice or wireshark I simply ask the system to install them. I absolutely do not browse the internet and download something, extract it and run some "installer". When I update my system, all apps and the OS are updated in one go.

My system is curated for me, end to end, to a greater or lesser extent. When I update, all my system is updated - OS, apps and all.

I don't think yours is (whatever it is).

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#57

Post by coryrc »

jrockway wrote: post #27

I feel like a lot of the usability quirks that Linux has are trying to shoehorn a multi-user system into a single-user context. For example, there is so much work done (and even complaining in favor of doing that work in this article) to make it possible for multiple people to sit at the same computer. Nobody does that! Most people have more than one computer! Why do people spend their free time on that use case? Thi…

You got downvoted, but I mostly agree. I think mandatory strict selinux rules, containerize all user programs, or similar approaches are now more important for the threat vectors we face today on the desktop. I just discovered Apple's feature of requiring you to press a couple keys to authenticate a new keyboard. Doing that on GNU/Linux would be very hard.

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#58

Post by thecrumb »

cheerlessbog wrote: post #13
smlacy wrote: post #9

How about a list of all the things that really work great? I've been using Linux on the desktop for nearly 20 years and I'll have to say it's fantastic, despite the occasional headache, which seems to be at a far less frequency than other major desktop operating systems.

I'm guessing you're relatively tech savvy and enjoy troubleshooting (within reason). Most people aren't, of course.

I have a friend who was complaining about Windows 10 so I set him up with Ubuntu. He's about a dumb as it gets with computers and he has never had an issue with Linux. The few things he's installed have been in the software store and he clicks the apt update once a week. He's much happier and less frustrated with Linux vs Windows.

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#59

Post by coryrc »

cheerlessbog wrote: post #13
smlacy wrote: post #9

How about a list of all the things that really work great? I've been using Linux on the desktop for nearly 20 years and I'll have to say it's fantastic, despite the occasional headache, which seems to be at a far less frequency than other major desktop operating systems.

I'm guessing you're relatively tech savvy and enjoy troubleshooting (within reason). Most people aren't, of course.

I'm tech-savvy, but I use Linux because I'm tired of troubleshooting constant Windows problems. Maybe the OS-X world is better? But I've had the same DE for over fifteen years and nobody's tried to make it touch-friendly or stick ads in it.

The only thing that ever crashes is the web browser. I keep my computers no less than five years and they run just as fast as new, usually physically failing rather than becoming computationally incapable due to anti-virus and bloat slowing a system down.

Re: Linux Problems on the Desktop (2018)

#60

Post by gerdesj »

cheerlessbog wrote: post #13
smlacy wrote: post #9

How about a list of all the things that really work great? I've been using Linux on the desktop for nearly 20 years and I'll have to say it's fantastic, despite the occasional headache, which seems to be at a far less frequency than other major desktop operating systems.

I'm guessing you're relatively tech savvy and enjoy troubleshooting (within reason). Most people aren't, of course.

My wife has no idea what her laptop is running (Arch Linux as it turns out).
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