Any lack of compatibility with Linux is my own fault!

[Pogeymanz]

It's amazing how far Linux has come in the last few years in terms of useability and compatibility.

However, my fiancee doesn't believe me, and she has good right. My system is always having quirks, but they're all my fault!!

Reason 1: I use 64bit Linux. That makes everything a bigger pain in the butt. Flash is harder, Wine is harder, Java is harder. Granted, I have all these things working, but it was more work than a 32bit OS. It's no wonder Linux seems intimidating to her.

Reason 2: I use Opera browser. I love Opera, but getting Java to work is impossible and a lot of websites were written for an IE world. Using Opera is a commitment to standardization.

Reason 3: I also globally disable javascript in Opera, so when my fiancee tells me to check out a website, 90% of the time she has to watch me click through menus then reload the page to get things to work. And even then, the website looks messed up because the tool who wrote it, wrote it for IE.

As you can see, none of these "problems" have anything to do with Linux. I could do the same stuff in Windows.

I guess I'm a masochist. Any other masochists out there that make their own Linux lives harder on purpose?

[LaRoza]

Reason 1: I use 64bit Linux. That makes everything a bigger pain in the butt. Flash is harder, Wine is harder, Java is harder. Granted, I have all these things working, but it was more work than a 32bit OS. It's no wonder Linux seems intimidating to her.

Odd, I got 64 bit flash, Opera (best browser) and everything working as easily as 32 bit.


Reason 2: I use Opera browser. I love Opera, but getting Java to work is impossible and a lot of websites were written for an IE world. Using Opera is a commitment to standardization.

Using Opera is usually a problem when websites break themselves due to poor coding. Often, I see code that will work, but it is specifically looking for Firefox/Mozilla or IE or Safari and causing itself to fail.

I haven't had Java problems either.



Reason 3: I also globally disable javascript in Opera, so when my fiancee tells me to check out a website, 90% of the time she has to watch me click through menus then reload the page to get things to work. And even then, the website looks messed up because the tool who wrote it, wrote it for IE.

I don't see sites that don't work in Opera anymore often. What sites are these?



I guess I'm a masochist. Any other masochists out there that make their own Linux lives harder on purpose?
I use Opera, xmonad and will be using 64 bit on my desktop soon. I also use Flash 10 :-)

[Pogeymanz]

Well, I guess you're just better than me, then, aren't you?

Just kidding. I assume you're using Ubuntu? I use Arch64, which is "pure" 64bit, so to speak. So I think that might make Ubuntu64 slightly easier. Still, it wasn't HARD because the wiki pages are excellent. But it was certainly more work than 32bit.

A lot of the websites I visit that break are pretty amateur sites. A lot of small business guys hire "professionals" to make websites for them, and they are ALWAYS terrible. Also, I seem to remember pizzahut.com or something gave me trouble... don't quote me on that.

Although I have to ask, do you have a working Java plugin for Opera? If so, how?


In the spirit of my original post:

Another thing I did to myself was use Tint as my taskbar. Sure, it looks really nice, but I was totally handicapped without having a right-click menu for each task with options like "Send To Desktop _" and "Shade" and "Stick." I was mostly obsessed with editting its config. It was fun, but not very useful to me.

I tried a tiling WM (wmii) and I just can't do it! I understand how it would be useful for a coding environment, but what about when you are just poking around at your computer for fun? I never realized that I like overlapping windows! I think that certain apps need a certain sized window, so if they overlap-- whatever, I'll move them or switch focus.

I find tiling WM to be pretty masochistic. Props to you!

[LaRoza]

Well, I guess you're just better than me, then, aren't you?

I'll take your word for it.



Just kidding. I assume you're using Ubuntu? I use Arch64, which is "pure" 64bit, so to speak. So I think that might make Ubuntu64 slightly easier. Still, it wasn't HARD because the wiki pages are excellent. But it was certainly more work than 32bit.

Yes, I use Ubuntu. I think the repos set it up to work, so when you install Flash it does whatever you need to get it to work.



Although I have to ask, do you have a working Java plugin for Opera? If so, how?

The normal old Java plugin, installed with synaptic. I don't actually have it installed now, but I am installing it to see. I never thought about it.

EDIT: Installed and it works.



I tried a tiling WM (wmii) and I just can't do it! I understand how it would be useful for a coding environment, but what about when you are just poking around at your computer for fun? I never realized that I like overlapping windows! I think that certain apps need a certain sized window, so if they overlap-- whatever, I'll move them or switch focus.

I find tiling WM to be pretty masochistic. Props to you!

Actually, I find non tiling WM's to be frusterating. I guess it is all in what you are used to.

[Canis familiaris]

64bit Ubuntu works perfectly for me including Opera, Flash, Java, and everything else.

You have to install ndiswrapper to use Flash in 64bit Linux.