A model of user friendly desktop Linux
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| jacog May 21, 2012 5:09 AM EDT |
"Right now there is a fair amount of community dissatisfaction with Ubuntu, the distribution most often touted as a model of user friendly desktop Linux." When Ubuntu first launched and people started holding it up as "user friendly" I found it quite frustrating, since both Mandriva and OpenSUSE offered far more user friendly options. Ubuntu basically said, "Hey, here are are a few things that we're making easy for you to configure, and hiding everything else". Anything beyond the basics involved delving deep into non-newbie territory. By contrast, the Mandriva/OpenSUSE control panels granted you easy-configurable access to most things. Ubuntu has always been a hype-driven thing, and in the long run this has worked out for it, since its somewhat ubiquitous status these days means that you seldom have to worry about package availability. I'm just glad that it has spun off some excellent derived distros. Anyway, I installed ROSA Marathon this weekend, free edition, but enabled the EE repos so I can add the non-free stuff selectively. So far I am loving it. My only gripe is that I can't compile OpenSLUDGE on it, so might need to go ask for it to be included. Unlikely since it's a bit of an obscure piece of software. |
| caitlyn May 21, 2012 11:48 AM EDT |
@jacog: What problem are you having with your compilation? What are the errors? In my experience probably 80% of compilation problems are really just missing dependencies. Another 10-15% can be fixed with a minor tweak to the configure script or makefile. Maybe we can help you figure this one out. If you're going to compile from source I hope you'll take the extra few minutes to build an rpm and contribute it back to the distro. That's the way community based distros grow :) Yes, the ROSA developers might do it for you. OTOH, if it really is something obscure (and I don't even know what it is, to be honest) the way to make it available is to build the package yourself. If you can compile it you can package it :) |
| jacog May 21, 2012 12:43 PM EDT |
The issues are definitely dependency related. I'll work through them one at a time, starting with libGLee (which is def. installed). If I can get it figured out without having to also tweak said dependencies, I'll definitely build an RPM, both for myself and the distro. Oh, and it's an adventure game engine loosely based on the old LucasArts SCUMM system. Comes with both the dev kit and the runtime engine. I'm using it to make my game. |
| caitlyn May 21, 2012 12:51 PM EDT |
Glad to hear you're going to try to work through it. Now I know why I am unfamiliar with the software. I am most definitely not a gamer :) |
| Steven_Rosenber May 21, 2012 2:24 PM EDT |
Caitlyn, Nice job on the review. I wish they'd run more of those at O'Reilly. |
| caitlyn May 21, 2012 2:26 PM EDT |
Thanks for the kind words, Steven. Ask tuxchick about the job O'Reilly did at running off their bloggers. I went back to them simply because their logo at the top of the page adds credibility to my writing where posting on my blog does not. For that reason O'Reilly still has value to me and hopefully I still have value to them. Having said that, if an equally reputable Linux website approached me about writing for them I would certainly consider it. |
| Steven_Rosenber May 21, 2012 2:31 PM EDT |
I guess I don't understand what O'Reilly's all about these days. I did just buy the new "Programming Perl" book, which is old-school O'Reilly. I suppose they know what sells better than I do, though. I don't know how Linux-related books sell, but I do know that O'Reilly is publishing very few of them. |
| Khamul May 21, 2012 4:28 PM EDT |
It's weird; 10 years ago all the best Linux books were from O'Reilly; these days it seems the only Linux books they sell are either those exact same books from 10 years ago (if they're still printing them), which of course may be out-of-date by now, or in some cases newer editions of a few of those books. It appears that they've moved much of their business instead to printing Windows/.NET books. Probably because that stuff changes every month and they get more repeat sales. |
| caitlyn May 21, 2012 4:33 PM EDT |
As I understand it from a discussion with one of their editors, they are under the impression that the Linux community wants everything for free and doesn't buy books in any number. |
| jacog May 21, 2012 4:58 PM EDT |
caitlyn: For me the jury's still out on that one. On the one hand I think yes, a large chunk of Linux users do want everything for free, but the overall size of the Linux market is growing, so as a result the number of peeps willing to buy stuff is growing too. Companies can't just keep basing all their assumptions on old data. |
| jdixon May 21, 2012 8:12 PM EDT |
> ...they are under the impression that the Linux community wants everything for free and doesn't buy books in any number. And Windows users aren't? I've got news for them, most of those Windows purchases they value so much were reimbursed by the buyer's company. > Companies can't just keep basing all their assumptions on old data. They can and do jacog, until someone proves them wrong and makes money doing so. |
| Fettoosh May 21, 2012 10:00 PM EDT |
Quoting:they are under the impression that the Linux community wants everything for free and doesn't buy books in any number. I think what they are saying is, why would Linux community want to buy their books when they can find everything they need already on line and for free. They have a point. |
| caitlyn May 21, 2012 10:01 PM EDT |
Some of us still prefer printed books for reference. |
| Fettoosh May 21, 2012 10:03 PM EDT |
Quoting:Some of us still prefer printed books for reference. It isn't enough for them. That was quick. :-) |
| BernardSwiss May 21, 2012 10:21 PM EDT |
Perhaps most "Linux books" just get dated too d*** quickly? A typical book on Bash, or Python or C++ programming, SQL, networking, have a reasonable (cough) shelf-life, but even Debian sometimes seems to move too fast. I've tried to suggest to my Public Library that their "Linux" collection needs more vigorous weeding. Most Windows books from say, 2005, are still useful, but most Linux books from that long ago are just obsolete. Especially if they are specific to a distribution. Some care (perhaps some good advice) about which books are likely to remain useful would definitely benefit the selection/acquisition process. Of course, more general "Linux books" (Linux system administration, learning the bash shell, etc) have a longer useful (and saleable) life. |
| Fettoosh May 22, 2012 11:05 AM EDT |
I tried ROSA last night from USB, I know that is not sufficient for a good review, but that wasn't my purpose of testing it. I agree with Steven, testing from USB is more than enough to get a quick idea about a distro. especially for items where it doesn't make a difference. Any how, here are my observations. 1- The only hardware it didn't configure properly was the wide screen monitor. Instead of filling the whole screen, it displayed a perfect square in the middle with 1248x768 resolution. Kubuntu does a pretty good job of recognizing the wide screen with 1360x768 with two modes LVDS1 & VGA1 and both are connected. ROSA had refresh rate of 0Hz while Kubuntu has 60.0Hz. The monitor is a Sylvania with both VGA & HDMI interface. 2 - Wireless didn't come up asking for key pass but when I click on NetworkManager icon in system tray, it asks for it and connects quickly when it is supplied, even though KWalet generates a failed notification message. Not really an issue when KWalet is disabled for KNetworkManager/Wireless. 3- I am not impressed by the icons different from KDE Oxygen, they seem a little cartoonish. it is cosmetic and might not be an issue for others. 4- The start menu with icons looks nice, but filling most of the screen is not my kind of menu. It has a type in command similar to Unity Heads Up Display (HUD). I am not sure I like that and still prefer Classic Hierarchical Menu (CHM). It is much quicker and out of the way menu. ROSA could have made this menu switchable just like KDE does with Launcher style and CHM instead of just replacing it. Not a big deal for someone who knows how to add widgets in KDE panel. I use an empty panel on the left side of the screen to put the icons of most used applications, like Ubuntu Unity. It is configurable to auto-hide and quickly accessible without taking much screen space, especially on a wide screen monitor. 5- I have been using Kubuntu KDE for a long time and may be that has something to do with my preferences. May be if I use ROSA for a longer period I might change my mind, but I don't see a good reason at this time. 6- May be a new comer to Linux might give it a more friendly reception. |
| skelband May 22, 2012 12:50 PM EDT |
Can't speak for anyone else, but the last two "technical" books I bought were from PacktPub. I got printed and soft copy and they were very reasonable and bang up-to-date. And that's from someone that generally prefers free stuff :D |
| caitlyn May 22, 2012 2:10 PM EDT |
@Fettoosh: The menu is switchable to the old style. You can add it as a panel widget and delete the newer style menu. It's simple to do. Did you try to adjust the resolution and refresh rate from the control panel? Look and feel is a personal thing. I personally pretty much dislike Kubuntu and like ROSA. |
| claudecat May 22, 2012 3:30 PM EDT |
I can't say I'm a fan of the simplewelcome menu - I actually like the default KDE "slab" style menu, when fully populated with my favorite applications. The rocket bar I can live with - very similar to the icon-only taskbar in Chakra. That said, I find the vanilla KDE setup as found in Arch or Slackware preferable, probably because that's what I've become used to since ditching gnome a while back. Anyway, very nice and thorough review Caitlyn (as always - I'm going to miss your reviews when/if you stop doing them). It will be interesting to see how ROSA and Mageia (and maybe even Mandriva itself) progress over the next few years. |
| Fettoosh May 22, 2012 4:00 PM EDT |
Quoting:The menu is switchable to the old style... I did see that but what I was looking for is back and forth switchable (toggle) between new & old. I am aware that in KDE, users can add and have multiple menus at the same time and in various location, eg. on multiple panels & on desktop. Quoting:Did you try to adjust the resolution... I did from System Settings =>Monitor & Display without success. Quoting:Look and feel is a personal thing... I definitely agree. I will give it more testing later and see how it works. I might install it on a test machine for more extensive testing. I am sure it will get better next release and with time. It has potential as they seem to understand and willing to utilize & implement the Plasma and Widgets concept of KDE, which other than Plasma Active, not many did on the desktop yet. |
| slacker_mike May 26, 2012 11:49 PM EDT |
nice review Caitlyn. One of the little ROSA/Mandriva specific apps I liked when I tried the distro live was the stackfolder applet in their KDE desktop. It was a pretty cool little plasma applet which I haven't seen on other distros. I hope it becomes more commonly found in KDE. |
| caitlyn May 27, 2012 12:50 AM EDT |
I agree with you, slacker_mike. I've also become a huge fan of klook. I'd love to see other KDE-based distros, including your beloved Slackware, pick it up. |
| Koriel May 27, 2012 12:52 AM EDT |
The "configure media sources" issue caught me out as well and is that a pirate copy of Torchwood i see in the media player, naughty naughty :) Have you not seen this Anti-Piracy Warning, it still makes me giggle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALZZx1xmAzg Just as well season 4 sucked so much they would have to pay me to pirate it :) But if you get the chance to see the first 3 seasons then grab them. |
| caitlyn May 27, 2012 1:18 AM EDT |
@Koriel: The Torchwood copy is whatever a friend gave me. I know it's recorded from TV cablecast but that's all I know about the source. I really, really, really liked season 4. To each his or her own. Speaking of the media sources thing, the repository is filling up nicely. All kinds of apps I thought I had to build for myself have magically appeared. I was about to walk away from using ROSA but now that the repository is filling up I am thinking it may be a keeper. It's been rock solid stable for me, performs well, and I always like LTS releases which won't need to be replaced/upgraded anytime soon. |
| tuxchick May 27, 2012 2:13 PM EDT |
Quoting: Ask tuxchick about the job O'Reilly did at running off their bloggers. LOL, that brings back memories. There we were, all happy blogging for free and having a good time, when out of the blue comes A Directive From On High: Bloggers, You Are Bad and Must Mend Your Ways! And all these new rules about writing high-quality content that will make O'Reilly money, and how the front page will no longer be chronological but certain favored blogs will get the choice spots, and then they re-organized the entire works into oblivion and nobody could find anything anymore. So we're all like "OK, um, even though you're being jerks about it we'll try our best. So do we get paid, or what do we get since you want all this extra effort and profit?" Amusingly, they hadn't given a single thought to that aspect, but merely assumed that jackboots and unfavorable rules would be acceptable. Oh and the glory of writing for O'Reilly. oreilly.com went through several major site overhauls, mostly of the disastrous variety. I think it's finally settled down somewhat, but they lost my books errata multiple times, so I gave up maintaining them. O'Reilly's approach to publishing is spaghetti: throw everything at the wall and something is bound to stick. They turn out good books with high production values, and they are good at selling first runs. They have a good payment schedule and you don't have to worry about royalty checks bouncing, or not appearing at all. They do disfavor Linux books. Take a look at the top selling books at http://shop.oreilly.com/category/bestselling.do Apple books have been their top sellers for years-- which I think is weird for a platform that is supposed to be so elegant and intuitive. So what do I know about what sells? Not much! |
| Khamul May 27, 2012 5:22 PM EDT |
Wow, that's one ugly set of books there. I didn't realize just how far O'Reilly had fallen. The MS-oriented books are especially ugly; I guess that goes with MS in general, just look at their garish and tasteless ad campaigns. And there's only one of the traditional "animal" books on there: Javascript: The Good Parts from 2008. And page 2 only has two more, both for web development. |
| Steven_Rosenber May 27, 2012 8:48 PM EDT |
If you're a current O'Reilly author, I can see doing a little free blogging for them -- you'd be promoting your own books. But otherwise? Nope. |
| caitlyn May 27, 2012 10:28 PM EDT |
From what I've been told the blog pages are about to become a thing of the past. I was one of the last two bloggers standing and after a discussion a couple of days back I'm no longer writing for them either, which doesn't matter since they've decided to do away with the blogs. |
| tuxchick May 28, 2012 12:15 AM EDT |
Might as well nuke 'em, since the site organization still stinks to high heaven and you can't find anything. Remember all the natter about tag and tag clouds? Who needs a well-designed site when you have tag clouds! |
| tracyanne May 28, 2012 12:17 AM EDT |
Tag clouds, yuck. |
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