Desktop Linux: The Dream Is Dead

On Linux. My Logitech keyboard went bust recently. a 'Windows' friend obtained a new Microsoft Blue Track keyboard/mouse (wireless transceiver) and was surprised when I just plugged it in and all was fine (incl. practically all the function keys, certainly all those I might use).
Now for Windows 7 a cd install disc was supplied for the driver setup. Not needed in Linux. I have found Linux to be the perfect 'plug 'n play' but admittedly, I may just be lucky.

 

i dont believe linux is killed its just going slow thats all.

main drawback against linux is lack of awareness people scar of word so call Linux and they scar even to try it. they think its some kinda Alien Ship Os in which they cant do what they use to do in windows like common stuff like chatting, net browsing ......office..playing movies.....etc.....simple works......... which majority of os user do and they feel in linux some how incapable or too hard to do those things.

but in really i feel linux is like Ben 10 Omnitrix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1dHHlwP0Tw&feature=related

last they feel if they got trouble with windows then they can call a tech expert and he do every things for them for linux they have to do trouble shoot them self or tech support in linux is pretty expensive as compare to windows...etc

sheep following nature

most tech trend set my usa and japan most of world including majority follow usa trend specially asia and in usa linux bird wings and feet are cut very cleverly in the name of patents and dirty politics (ie no codec of videos and many free stuff is illegal to use in linux in usa and japan) so asian people who follow usa and think its style and what is not run in usa must been bad.....drop linux....

paid tech support in linux is expensive and availability is less as compare to others ones for a average desktop user

 

I was hoping that at least China would have made aggressive moves in adopting Linux but I guess not!!!

 

That's the point. Most Linux users will NOT need to ever do that. (And besides, if you really need a package not available in the repos it's often offered as a deb or rpm file for the major distros - compilation unnecessary.) They might THINK that it is necessary because they stick to an attitude they were used to under Windows ("Oh look - all these wonderful tools, defragmentaiton apps, registry optimizers, personal firewalls, ...., xxx" - replace xxx with whatever you like) until they find out after a while that they don't need that crap under Linux (or it's already available in the repos without the risk to install malware or running into privacy problems).

Yes, it's a learning process - and this learning process is probably much more difficult for a Wilders Security member used to Windows who is prone to fiddeling around his/her system all day long as Linux is very different here indeed. But for an average user a distribution like Ubuntu is as usable as Windows. My wife, who's an absolute computer-illiterate, is the best proof for that: She's more than happy with Ubuntu (using Firefox, Thunderbird and her Windows games under Wine) as she had done before.

 

My wife (and to a lesser extent me) too.

 

The suggestion that the potential of Linux becoming more accepted by the unwashed masses as being dead is ridiculous. The name Linux is being spoken in places today that not too long ago it wasn't. The word is spreading. Linux is on its way up, not like a rocket, but more like a seed started flower on its way to blossoming someday.

Using Linux, particularly Ubuntu, has changed a great deal since I first tried it back in 2005. It's SO much easier now. Just point and click. Ubuntu's Software Center is a prime example (though I never use it). Just choose a category (office, multimedia, games, etc.), find what you would like to install, click, and viola...dependencies are calculated and the application is installed. It couldn't be easier. And if you haven't noticed, with reference to Ubuntu, gdebi has been dropped from a Maverick install. I was a bit surprised by that really. Of course I immediately installed it.

Later...

 

I think that if you never need to collaborate or share media with other people, are only a casual gamer who plays Plants & Zombies instead of Starcraft II, don't visit sites that require ActiveX, do not own or intend to play DRM-ed media, have mainstream hardware that is properly supported by Linux without having to do things like manually compile and upgrade the kernel, do not work in a professional field that requires Windows-only technical software, and don't care about having the latest versions of programs, then you're a prime candidate for Linux.

Other than that, it's a less than ideal situation where you're probably better off with Windows and/or OS X.

 

Funny you say this, MS Office formats, a prime example...

also if anyone, ActiveX is dead and DRM dying.

 

Yes, that's the problem. Office is ubiquitous. The funny thing is, as far as my work is concerned, Office 2010 actually has better support for ODF than OOo has for OOXML. For instance, Word 2010 can read AND edit OOo Math equations, whereas the reverse is not true. Interop support is still generally far from perfect though.

ActiveX, yes, but DRM? I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to cite your sources...

 

I was more thinking of incompatibility between different versions of Office

As for DRM, ask Steve Jobs. Though yes, with rentals it's a different picture.

 

It's essentially a nonexistent problem if you choose to save files in older formats when using newer versions of Office.

 

2 or 3 years ago I would have agreed, but (X)Ubuntu 10.04 was incredible easy to set up and during my limited use it has run fine. The real problem is I've used Windows all my adult life and all the programs I use and rely on and that people at work use (compatibility thing) are Windows based, so jumping to linux would be impractical.

In terms of mathematics, it's a fixed point problem: For example, everyone is used to the QWERTY keyboard layout (common keyboard in use today); people have learned to type on it. Even if someone designs a "better" keyboard layout, it cannot catch on unless there's an exogenous shock to the system. In the topical case, Windows is QWERTY, Linux may be the "better" option (price considered), but it cannot catch on unless there's some kind of major shock (or lots of consecutive little shocks) to Windows that cause people to frown on it.

 

Indeed. My surfing habits might be special but AFAIR I only stmbled upon two websites in the past years that wouldn't work without ActiveX (Windowsupdates excluded, of course - but that's rarely needed under Linux ).

I didn't search for sources but I'm pretty sure that EMI announced already in 2007 that their music downloads would be available without DRM. And a short time later Apple ITunes and Amazon followed.

 

From my experience, saving as doc in 2007 can and does break some formatting, even within 2007.

At any rate the user experience when it comes to collaborating with MS Office could be a lot better, so this is not just a Linux issue.
The only collaborating that really works are special groupware software, wikis and online docs. And those tend to be cross-platform, for obvious reasons.

 

Well, I was talking about the average user. For hardcore gamers Linux is definitely not the right platform. As for ActiveX and DRM see my other post.
Regarding hardware: Most hardware is supported, peripherals like scanners can be a problem. But there are lists of compatible products so you can buy the right one. If you own it already - yes, that's difficult. I'm having this problem with my old scanner.
Regarding latest versions of programs: We've discussed that here quite often. Most users don't care, and if they do they can use the ppa's.

 

Any guesses why that is so?

 

If you use 2007-specific features, then yes, it can happen. It should be fairly obvious that newer, 2007-specific formatting will be stripped if you choose to save in an older format. This is avoidable if you enable compatibility mode right from the onset.

Really? Do you believe that all collaboration that take place should be professional efforts using specialized software?

 

That sounds like the marketing department at MS.

My Linux boxes are doing just fine here. I love PCLinux and Ubuntu.

 

ActiveX is definitely well on the decline, except that that's not always true in every part of the world. It's the reason why I can't install Ubuntu for my dad, in fact - he'd have been unable to access his online stocks-tracking website.

There are other major online music stores, and only audio (not video) content from the iTunes store is DRM-free. Even if we ignore those two facts, the problem is that DRM doesn't only apply to music downloads, it's present in films, cable TV, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, computer games, etc. DRM isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and even if it does go away there will almost certainly be some other form of controls in place to prevent wanton piracy, controls which I doubt Linux will implement.

 

Opponents of inclusion of OOXML as a standard claim that the documentation, despite its length, hides more than it reveals.

Several references to the issue can be found here:
http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum

 

Hmm, tried to edit my previous post but deleted it by mistake. Sorry about that.

At any rate, I don't think it's useful to dwell on these accusations. The countries have voted, OOXML was approved, and investigations have been launched against Microsoft. The conclusions can speak for themselves.

 

Just wanted to make it clear that OOXML not being understood by the Open Software community is not entirely a matter of incompetence.

Yes, the countries have voted. There's quite a bit of information/disinformation on the voting process as well. In India, the three software giants that depend on Microsoft for much of their income were on one side and the educational institutes were on the other.

Let's see for how much more time money power will continue to be used to enforce monopoly-like situations.

 

Your concern seems rather unnecessary, given that no one has said that. But since you're so keen to bring up the issue, you might want to propose some other possible explanations?

Then perhaps India should launch investigations to see if any laws were breached, like the EU and US did.

Let's see for how much more time unsubstantiated, libelous insinuations will continue to be thrown around by certain parties instead of legitimate facts.

 

An alternative view here: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/208337/is_the_linux_desktop_dream_dead.html.

Both versions make good points.

 

Should tell those guys to wake up and fix things. ActiveX is sooo unnecessary for stock-tracking. Looks like they just outsourced the job and have been taken for a ride.