The Ubuntu community is guilty of ignoring real problems.

[Palmyra]

In some places, constructive criticism is appreciated. In many places, constructive criticism is worth a lot more than praise. I don't know that is the case here, in this community, and even the greater Linux community.

I'll deal with only one example here. Many Linux users are quick to play down anything that suggests dependency hell still exists (and having to compile software yourself), and love to point to the supposed wonders of apt-get. They swear that there are a few, if any, applications that still result in dependency hell.

Well, I'll give you a few examples.

1. wxDownload Fast has been giving me lots of segmentation fault errors, so it appears only compiling it is an option. Oh well...guess what? I appear to be missing something wxDownload Fast requires. Okay...looking for this little thing, run around, find it, install it, another problem springs up, and so on. Yes, I have looked for a Deb file. Yes, I have been on Synaptic. Notice that I have to say yes to these things, because you're often shot down with something you apparently missed yourself. The user is to blame, not the problem.

2. OpenOffice Writer was having some weird font issues. Some say that you need to compile it yourself. Too much trouble there. Yes, people have looked into this problem.

Admittedly, it seems these problems are becoming less common, but to deny the truth is just ludicrous. No, I am not looking for solutions in this thread. I am just saying the following: stop whining about Windows, and let's get our hands dirty with fixing bugs. As I have said in another thread I created, which was hardly noticed, Windows doesn't make segmentation faults go away, it doesn't make Firefox lighter, it doesn't make Nautilus integrate better with other applications, etc. It seems to me more time is spent talking about how bad Microsoft and Windows are than talking about real problems, now.

PS: Please don't offer solutions to the above mentioned problems. Please focus on the point of this thread.

[Linuxratty]

You hit the nail on the head...I agree!
=D>

[~LoKe]

The developers are the ones ironing out problems like this. Most of what you'd see in these support forums are attempts at solutions.

Obviously people like me can't hand you a fix when one hasn't been created.

And yes, of course there are still problems; that's why this forum exists. There will always be problems and there will always be people trying to find a solution.

If you feel there's a serious problem which needs to be tended to, use launchpad to search for an existing bug, and if none exists, make one.

[p_quarles]

I think the whole point of a support forum is to provide solutions to problems like these, not to talk about how annoying they are. Yes, there's a vocal minority, I think, that likes to ignore or deny any possible problems with GNU/Linux. And then there's another vocal minority -- perhaps including yourself -- that complains that this denialist vocal minority is evidence that Linux users can't take criticism.

Look: I'm not a programmer. I can't fix wxDownload for you, and I'm guessing that this is also true of the vast majority of people responding to threads about problems with individual applications. This does not mean that I am "blaming" you for the problem, it just means that if you ask a question, I will give you the answer I know how to give. Don't take it personally, and don't take it to mean that I think everything about Linux is platinum-plated yumminess.

Btw, the specific error with wxD that you encountered is different from the one currently open on Launchpad. You should be sure to add your data:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/157460

[LaRoza]

In some places, constructive criticism is appreciated. In many places, constructive criticism is worth a lot more than praise. I don't know that is the case here, in this community, and even the greater Linux community.

I'll deal with only one example here. Many Linux users are quick to play down anything that suggests dependency hell still exists (and having to compile software yourself), and love to point to the supposed wonders of apt-get. They swear that there are a few, if any, applications that still result in dependency hell.

Constructive criticism is usually appreciated, but with FOSS software, too much talk gets you a "do it yourself". The software is the result of largely volunteers and is a wonderful development in computers.

I have never had trouble on Ubuntu with dependency issues. Of course, with the tens of thousands of packages available, a few instances of having to actually do something other than pressing enter are worth it.

[Nano Geek]

And also, if you want to compile a program yourself, just run this before you do.

sudo apt-get build-dep <program-name>

That will get all the dependences in 9/10 cases.

Have Fun.

[adam.tropics]

Palmyra you seem to be suggesting we are in some sort of mass denial! Honestly, things do get fixed, and I think many people will tell you that 'dependency hell doesn't exist' thing, because it's not something that has affected them personally. Not all things can be fixed at once however, and I suppose one of the ideas behind triage is to prioritize fixing things that negatively impact the most users. So at a guess, per your examples, the Open Office issue would probably attract more attention.

As to whether or not the community, either here or as a whole is guilty of anything at all...? Look we all do what we can. Could we do more? For sure, (nearly time for those new year's resolutions!) but as far as I am aware we are not going out of our way to mislead you as to the existence of problems.

[23meg]

Btw, the specific error with wxD that you encountered is different from the one currently open on Launchpad. You should be sure to add your data:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/157460

No, that bug isn't legitimate, since wxDownload Fast isn't in Ubuntu; it should be filed in the project's own bug tracker. I'll close it.

[23meg]

1. wxDownload Fast has been giving me lots of segmentation fault errors, so it appears only compiling it is an option. Oh well...guess what? I appear to be missing something wxDownload Fast requires. Okay...looking for this little thing, run around, find it, install it, another problem springs up, and so on.

This is a free software application that's not in Ubuntu's repositories, right? If it were in the repositories, you wouldn't have to compile it, need dependencies, go looking around for it, suffer from segfaults, so on. And if it's free software, and fulfills a real use case, it should be in the repositories.

Now that the "real problem" is defined well (application xyz isn't in Universe), here's what to do about it:

• If you know how to package software, package it, and submit it for inclusion in the repositories. You don't have to be a developer; many Universe packages are made by people who aren't official Ubuntu developers.
  
  
• If you don't, file a needs-packaging bug (similar to this) and request it for inclusion in the next release, so that people looking for software to package can know that it's needed and pick it up.

Remember that there are things you can do about real problems.

[p_quarles]

No, that bug isn't legitimate, since wxDownload Fast isn't in Ubuntu; it should be filed in the project's own bug tracker. I'll close it.

My bad. I think I was confusing it with D4x, which is in the repos.