Linux Desktop Readiness Thread

[Brunellus]

Alsaconf and alsamixer do not allow me to chose sound cards and put priorities on them or disablem them. It all has to be done in the configuration files (which usually ignored my priorities anyways till I blacklisted some devices)

Yes I am using Flash 9. The sound problem migt have to do with the ALSA and not with flash. I just cannot tell.

Well my usb hub is not powered. That is so strange. Also one of my external hard drives (seagate) when connected through the hub refuses to be detected in Ubuntu mostly but is detected perfectly in windows.

I hope that Ubuntu can come up with a better alternative then alsa. As for the USB problem, I think that I should probably try posting a thread about it with details. There might be some magic cryptic command that fixes the problem

I am using the latest feisty by the way. Thank you for your replies.

your external hard drive may be formatted in NTFS and not FAT32. Ubuntu disables NTFS mouting by default. The kernel drivers for NTFS will permit read access, but write access is still technically experimental and is not recommended for people who can't live with irrecoverable filesystem corruption.

commands may be cryptic, but they are seldom magical.

[Henry Rayker]

commands may be cryptic, but they are seldom magical.

Lawl! I suppose they are sometimes cryptic...if not magical, at least dreamy?

As for the harddrive issue, it really probably is the NTFS file system not being mounted. I had a similar issue when I started using Ubuntu. I solved that issue, though, by making my windows harddisk 3 GB in size and never using it again.

[mstlyevil]

I'm not certain Linux will ever be ready for the desktop for most people. It is just too different from what most people are used to working with.

[Brunellus]

I'm not certain Linux will ever be ready for the desktop for most people. It is just too different from what most people are used to working with.

then the statement is "people are not ready for the Linux desktop," which is true.

[mstlyevil]

then the statement is "people are not ready for the Linux desktop," which is true.

Hmm, good point. I would probably have to conclude both are the case.

[beefcurry]

then the statement is "people are not ready for the Linux desktop," which is true.

Thats just generalization. Its marketing. Apple OSX is desktop ready, yet its not being widely adopted. Things like this takes time. Companies need to invest in long term plans, first schools adopted it, then a new generation will be familiar with it etc. To be honest, in my High School I would say only 5% have even heard of Linux, and 99% has never had the word unix touch their ears. BSD is out of the question. No one knows about Linux. No one will ever know about Linux until someone advertises. For every 1 person that switches to Linux, 98 more try windows. The age of whose ever produce is best wins is over. Its now whoever's produce people are most used to (hearing, seeing, using) wins. iPod is now a household word like Windows, lets make Linux a house hold word as well.

[tenshi-no-shi]

I personally think that Desktops need one major thing that Windows does not have. They need to be secure out of the box. You should not have to install a third-party anti-virus just to go online. You should not have to rely on a third-party firewall to keep people out. Those things should be either integrated or unnecessary.

I have had only minor annoying problems with Ubuntu since switching to Hoary. I have done reinstalls when I upgraded to Dapper and then to Edgy, but really it seams that it was not necessary. Heck just yesterday I did a MAJOR upgrade to my computer, changing out my older Socket 423 P4 and Motherboard to an Newer Socket 478 P4 and Motherboard. I mean I had integrated peripherals on both boards (Network Card & Sound Card) and I had no problems. I have switched out drives, added usb cards, switched video cards (from ATI to Nvidia), etc. and never had problems.

The only problems I have had are with trying to get programs that run on windows to run on this computer, but other than that nothing.

I personally think that Linux is now more user friendly and more "Ready for the Desktop" than windows. And linux doesn't pack unnecessary programs and bloat into their OS like others do.

[mstlyevil]

I personally think that Linux is now more user friendly and more "Ready for the Desktop" than windows. And linux doesn't pack unnecessary programs and bloat into their OS like others do.

Have you ever installed SuSe? It kills me how much bloat just a minimal install of SuSe has.

[BobLand]

After spending 50+ hours trying to change my resolution to 1600x1200 I finally decided enough is enough. I am not a total nube. I've worked in IT for over 20+ years, 3 of which was on Solaris.

I've found the system, all around, to be much slower then W2K. Regardless of your idea that everything is included, it may be but for me it's not. I'll admit I'm stuck in my ways. After all, I've been using W2K since it came out. The only time the system downed was when I moved or turned the machine off for routine maintenance (adding/subtracting hardware).

When I initially installed W2K the OS installed everything. No tweaking. No fiddle faddle. Over the years when I added new devices Windows immediately found them and either installed the drivers or requested the CD.

In ubuntu, nothing is obvious. Too much time is spent trying to find things, worse, getting them to work. During the agonizing journey to find the resolution commands and drivers found numerous errors with the kernel that were allegedly all ready there. They all supposedly fixed the problem. When I finally got to install the latest nvidia drivers, it took over 15 minutes for the driver to "fix" errors and find missing objects. After restarting x resolution was 960x700 or some such, not the 1600x1200 promised. Nor was it the stated resolution. It was still 1024x760. That begins to smell like an insult. Then on a restart x would not come up. Asked to review the errors, they stated nothing. I had to revert back to the original xorg.conf. Again.

I consider my self an above average user. 95% of windows user can barely write letters and access the internet. Most are in a self-inflicted fog. After all, they did not sign up for geekdom.

If you want greater acceptance you have turn away from the geek mentality that you probably don't even think you have. Users don't want to know about terminals, they don't want to wrestle with updates, they don't want to install drivers using arcane methods, they don't want to be programmers, and as nice as you think your interface is, it is lags behind both windows and mac.

I would really like to use linux as a full time OS. I love the idea of OpenSource and free software. But there is a lot of that coming down to the windows world. I use many freeware programs and pay for some shareware. I'm willing to do this because the products meet my standards. I can't say that for much about what's in ubuntu.

Again, you must turn away from the geek mindset. First, admit it, then see how you can use it more productively. The world needs something like linux. My first attempt was SUSE 1.0. Over the years I tried other flavors. In the end, there was always a large gap of what was promised and what was delivered. This is not just my experience. I've had this correlated my many co-workers, all wanting an alternative to Gates & Jobs.

You're asking users to abandon what they are used to for your alternatives. I don't find your alternatives to be that. They feel like taking a step back. Like it or not, users want things to stay the same. Sure, there are the adventurous but they are a very small minority.

Don't be caught in the microsoft "where will I let you go today" attitude which you are dangerously close to emulating.

I don't want this post to go on endlessly. It is just part of my frustrations and disappointments in a product that has so much potential but delivers so little.

I wish you the best of luck and success. I deeply desire that you succeed in your endeavors. I will not remove ubuntu from my disk or mind. I will check back on occasion to see how it progresses.

Thank you for reading my rant.
bobland, aka Burt Alcantara

[dstew]

Hi Burt, nice thoughtful rant.

I think what you are experiencing is the work involved in getting open source to function well. It is like cutting the grass yourself, or paying someone else to do it. The commercial OS's are like getting someone else to cut your grass. They do a professional job. But it is something you can do yourself. It requires work. The open software movement needs people to spend lots of hours making it happen, not just programmers but users too. Sometimes it is really hard, but doing these hard things helps everybody learn, and helps make the systems better.