Re: What's wrong with linux?
The Ubuntu community is better than the wider Linux community, but there's some seriously bad attitudes being displayed lately amongst Linux users. I've heard Ubuntu users being called "morons" and worse, and a lot of people seem to be saying that Ubuntu is destroying Linux or something like that.
I looked at the proposed features for the new Fedora. It's all under-the-hood stuff and things that might only excite server admins. Where are the headline new features? The innovation? The daring attempt to try something new? When was the last time you heard about a distro other than Ubuntu really doing anything new and exciting?
It seems like most other distros, perhaps even all, are so afraid to rock the boat and actually do anything rather than bump software versions every six months. Maybe it's more of a traditionalist movement - "Everything is just easy enough for us current users, let's keep everything how it is. It'll keep the riff-raff away too".
And it's not just the distros. What about major new features in the leading software? Everything has reached a plateau of mediocrity - you might be able to get some amateur work done with the software, but it's not particularly nice to use nor does it have the number of features of proprietary competitors. You know what software I'm talking about: Gimp, Inkscape, Scribus, Audacity, and Libreoffice to a certain extent.
I would happily let the rest of the Linux community stagnate and die off for the way they're talking about us, but unfortunately there aren't enough Ubuntu users to actually write decent desktop software. It also seems like software development needs disciplined management, not just coders; whereas in FLOSS there's lots of coders but almost no management. Hence, one of the biggest new features in Libreoffice has been that you can now use Firefox themes on it. What about something actually useful? The same with Gimp - it took them literally years to implement single-window mode, when professionals have been asking for the same features they're used to in Photoshop.
The problem is not "too many projects". That's never been the problem. The problem is too little management, too little competition with the proprietary software that we're trying to entice people away from, and too many people willing to badmouth others based on petty distro preferences.
I try to treat the cause, not the symptom. I avoid the terminal in instructions, unless it's easier or necessary. My instructions will work within the Ubuntu system, instead of breaking or subverting it. Those are the three guarantees to the helpee.
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