Windowfication of Linux
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| notbob Dec 08, 2013 3:51 PM EDT |
Not that I have anything against M$ Windows, per se. It codified a lotta admirable stds. Trouble is, it didn't know when to back off. I see the same thing happening to the ever more Windowfied Linux. Development for the sole sake of development, intuitive approach and usability for the user be d@mned. Gnome deities even admitted it. W've made it ever easier for the developer. Screw the user. KDE has become such a slug, ppl are looking for ways to disable native apps. The top browser decreases user control with every new revision. The most favored distros are offering less config options rather than more. Bloat heavy programs have all but forced users to upgrade hardware. Sound familiar? Perhaps ppl like to be herded, told what to do and how to do it. Sorry, I'm not one of them. |
| jdixon Dec 08, 2013 5:56 PM EDT |
> Sorry, I'm not one of them. Well, at least you're using the right distro in that case. :) |
| gus3 Dec 08, 2013 6:25 PM EDT |
Quoting:[Windows] codified a lotta admirable stds.Right... which is why Windows still needs prophylactics. |
| DrGeoffrey Dec 08, 2013 6:50 PM EDT |
Except, Windows is THE virus. |
| kikinovak Dec 09, 2013 2:22 AM EDT |
My daily job consists in replacing defective Windows installations by something that works. Here's what I use for the job: http://www.microlinux.fr/mled.php |
| Ridcully Dec 09, 2013 4:11 AM EDT |
@notbob........I have loved KDE as my principal DE from the start, but I confess to being more and more dissatisfied with what is happening to KDE. Bells and whistles - who wants them and do they enhance productivity ? So all effects are switched off.......Nepomuk ? Turned off.....Kontact......turned off.....Apper......turned off.......It is almost reaching the stage where I am looking seriously at Xfce in order to get a DE that remains simple, fast and runs nicely. My impression has, for some time, been that KDE developers seem intent on producing a more and more complex environment. This doesn't really help productivity in my books.....It just adds more and more lines of code in which there are bound to be bugs. This extra complexity might help Windows transfers, but it sure as heck doesn't help me. There.....that's my whinge for the year....... 2c :-) |
| penguinist Dec 09, 2013 4:49 AM EDT |
I made the switch to the simplicity of xfce back when gnome 3 came out after spending a full two days in a serious attempt trying to find a way to be productive with the new gnome. I can't be happier with my choice of xfce. Like you, Ridcully, the most important "feature" for me is productivity, and I can be productive with xfce. I'll continue to look at the other desktops as they evolve, but I'm in no hurry to make a move. Also, whenever a friend or acquaintance requests my help in rescuing them from a windows virus, my offer is always to install an xfce-based distro on their system. So far, no one has been disappointed. |
| CFWhitman Dec 09, 2013 10:42 AM EDT |
I guess the difference for me is that I never really used Gnome or KDE as a regular thing. Xfce has been my "heavy" desktop for a long time. When it's too much I usually run a window manager like Fluxbox, Openbox, or IceWM, perhaps with some helper apps thrown in. Recently I've also been paying some attention to LXDE and Enlightenment 17 as possible desktops. LXDE seems pretty usable. Enlightenment 17 has its good points (low resource usage, looks pretty good) and bad points (a bit buggy still it seems, issues with multiple monitors). |
| mbaehrlxer Dec 09, 2013 12:12 PM EDT |
i am getting more and more annoyed with subtle problems in gnome 2 (yes, our distro is still there. switching to gnome 3 not an option for now) compiz helps with most issues, but some remain: for example: i want a window list that i can bring up with a key shortcut, so i can select the window i want with the mouse. the gnome-panel "window list" has the annoying problem that it not only selects a window but also minimizes it if selected. that's irritating because i want something that selects and brings forward the selected window no matter what. the "window selector" works, but i have to use the mouse to show it, which is to slow. it should either be permanently visible or have a keyboard shortcut to bring it up. compiz has scale, which shows all windows, but i have to hold the keys to keep it visible. also not convenient. i looked at various docks, but they all have shortcomings, either to much eye candy, or buggy. none of them work like the windowmaker or NeXTstep dock. wonder if i should look into xfce for that now... greetings, eMBee. |
| tuxchick Dec 09, 2013 12:52 PM EDT |
I love KDE4 widgets. I like using activities to organize complex workflows, and I like the way the virtual desktops cube rotates diagonally. It has superior removable media management, and KDE apps leave Gnome apps in the dust, because KDE is not allergic to software with actual functionality. KDE has a fair share of annoyances too. Akonadi-kdepim is a mess, and forcing KMail to depend on them makes it unusable, which is sad for me because KMail is by far the best graphical mail client for users with complex needs, so I use Claws and sigh a lot. KDE4 is rather heavyweight, but on my uber Intel quad core with trainloads of RAM it's happy :) It seems like people forget that Ubuntu is more than Unity. Unity is gawdawful, and it's a platform to sell stuff. But core Ubuntu is still excellent. I use Xubuntu and Lubuntu when I get bored with KDE because the *buntu implementations are really good. The LJ Reader's Choice awards have gone way downhill. But so has Linux Journal. |
| JaseP Dec 09, 2013 1:11 PM EDT |
I use KDE as my desktop of choice for my laptop for many of the same reasons as Tuxchick. For my HTPC setup, however, I use XFCE. One key consideration there is the ability to turn off DPMS,... which is sorely lacking in KDE (have to rely on command line for that,... though I'm thinking of making a cron job out of it). |
| CFWhitman Dec 09, 2013 4:08 PM EDT |
Actually those widgets are one of the things I do like about KDE. They're not enough to make me use it regularly, but I tried it for a while on my work desktop and I did like the widgets. I use Xfce panel items, Screenlets, and/or Conky for that type of functionality now. The disadvantages of that are: Screenlets tend to be a bit buggy sometimes. Xfce panel items are small for some information and not everything is available. Conky takes more effort to configure (not too big a deal), and is not interactive. |
| Ridcully Dec 09, 2013 4:38 PM EDT |
My friend in Tasmania just sent me a delightful email about engineers.....but this one really tickled my funny bone and for some reason, it seems awfully apt with KDE (at times): "Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Software engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet." |
| jdixon Dec 09, 2013 4:50 PM EDT |
> My friend in Tasmania just sent me a delightful email about engineers..... That devil. :) |
| Ridcully Dec 09, 2013 5:28 PM EDT |
Jdixon.......LOL.......I was rather expecting something like: "Ummm....you DO have friends ?". :-) |
| jdixon Dec 09, 2013 9:14 PM EDT |
To anyone who was raised on Warner Brothers' cartoons, it was simply too obvious to pass up. :) |
| Ridcully Dec 09, 2013 11:39 PM EDT |
Okay, okay........I must confess I very much like the Tasmanian Devil cartoons as well. The travelling whirlwind with exaggerated snarls is hysterically funny. On a sad note, it looks like the mouth cancer virus is wiping out all the devils on the "Tasmanian Mainland"; so what has been done is that a cancer free breeding colony has been established on a quarantined island off the eastern Tasmanian coastline and it is hoped that eventually, devils can be re-introduced to Tasmania once again. I'm not aware that anyone knows how this situation developed......it's almost a Tasmanian Devil's version of AIDS.....they are fairly ferocious when breeding and it's how the cancer spreads when they bite one another in the mouth area. AS far as I am aware, this really isn't a case of humans having done something wrong.... |
| jdixon Dec 10, 2013 10:08 AM EDT |
> On a sad note, it looks like the mouth cancer virus is wiping out all the devils on the "Tasmanian Mainland"; so what has been done is that a cancer free breeding colony has been established on a quarantined island off the eastern Tasmanian coastline... I had heard they were having problems, but not the details. I'm glad to hear steps to protect the species are being taken. |
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