It's obsolete when I decide it is.
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| seatex Apr 16, 2015 6:49 PM EDT |
The great thing with Linux is I get to decide when my classic desktop is obsolete. I usually like Bruce's articles, but this one is a big exception. |
| JaseP Apr 16, 2015 7:08 PM EDT |
Total agreement... |
| ljmp Apr 16, 2015 7:41 PM EDT |
@seatex: +1 or better +10 |
| buntfu Apr 16, 2015 7:57 PM EDT |
Ridiculous assessment talk about a click bait article. How about we put the steering wheel in the back seat and the pedals on the other side. We'll call it a fresh take on controlling your car and bash the traditional makes sense approach that has done us well since its inception. Those who don't have their phones glued to their face don't really want their computer to act like it has a screen of 5". |
| kennethh Apr 16, 2015 8:14 PM EDT |
I'm happy with using what I find comfortable which is why I use Lubuntu, modified to my preferences along with the Pale Moon Browser a throwback to the heyday of firefox 2 series.. I also use the terminal to do a lot of tasks that is far easier then throwing in 12 floppies like the "glory days" the author might be referring to just to run 1 program/application. And I'm using an outdated computer that prolly is not worthy of the author either. But, I don't like the direction kde and gnome took nor firefox or chrome. Though unity is interesting and I liked itI found it to be a little slow for me (outdated laptop). I use my computer to edit a file, edit a photo, catch up on the world, learn a few new things, keep an eye on the ole doppler radar and tweet about whatever... What exactly am I missing out on? The author is kind of sketchy in offering real substance I felt.. |
| ljmp Apr 16, 2015 9:35 PM EDT |
@kennethh: Agree: I don't like most web browsers. However, FF default look and feel is easily converted to something less odd. And the plugins / add-ons are still one great reason I always go with FF... and DDG default search too... Desktop: Openbox. At first it was a bit odd for me, but I've grown to love it. And don't even usually use a background -- plain gray or grey if you happen to be UK... I had the hardest with that word, as I'm a Tolkien fan. |
| rnturn Apr 17, 2015 2:25 AM EDT |
I've tried the newer "desktop" schemes (latest Gnome, etc.) and ran away. Fast. They've got a tough sales job to overcome what could be as much as (in my case, at least) 30 years of experience and muscle memory associated with the allegedly outdated desktop model we've all been using. Can someone refresh my memory as to whether the newer Gnome desktops have virtual workspaces? That's one feature that I simply cannot do without on a desktop. (Or laptop for that matter.) The "Activities" feature of KDE might be useful if I could ever figure out how to, say define an "document editing activity" that allowed a one-click means of firing up an xterm (or equiv.), an editor, and 'gv'. The documentation was unhelpful enough that I gave up trying to get 'Activities' it to work and resorted to the tried-and-true solution of a simple shell script that I launch from a panel icon. |
| ljmp Apr 17, 2015 8:25 AM EDT |
@rnturn: A mini-Gnome rant. Gnome 3 adds workspaces on request. There are two to start with... and then you add more as you begin to organize your open windows, tasks, and work flow. This is great. Except it isn't, because there is no default way AFAIK to 'save' the a default workspace configuration. Gnome 3 also assumes that everyone will always want to use either 1/2 of the entire screen or the entire screen. If you drag a window to the top of the screen, it will automatically become 'full screen'... and if you drag a window to either side, the window will automatically resize to take up that half of the screen. Some people love this feature, I do not. Gnome 3 applications generally have many options removed from the menus. I find this rather frustrating. And last: Gnome 3 default settings manager is much too restrictive for my liking. |
| CFWhitman Apr 17, 2015 9:50 AM EDT |
Well, the article isn't as ridiculous as the comments would have lead me to believe. Bruce says the traditional menu plus desktop icons approach has been overloaded. He basically says that Gnome 3 is worse and that Unity is better in some ways but worse in others. The only desktop he gives a nod to is KDE Plasma, and then only after you go through the trouble of doing all the necessary customizations. He basically seems to be saying that this is a problem that doesn't really have a solution currently. He certainly doesn't put forward a smartphone type interface as a solution. That being said, I still can't really say I agree with him. I know of people years ago who let the number of applications installed and documents stored on their desktop get completely out of hand. There are also people who keep these things under control now. I think the tendency to have a lot of applications that we don't use installed is the problem. It's similar to the issues with using a modern word processor. A lot of features have been added, but most people don't use most of the features. The only difference between now and several years ago is that several years ago Windows would become unstable if you had that many things installed and there were fewer good applications available on Linux. Windows stands up better now, and there are a lot of worthy applications for Linux. I myself am guilty of often installing Ubuntu Studio with everything, which comes to quite an array of applications (though you can turn whole sets on and off during installation). I don't find the submenus to be a big problem, though, and I can always use icons or a launcher if I want to single out a group of more used applications. On the other hand, I don't understand the people who fill their desktop with icons. I usually have no more than one column of icons, most of which are file system locations, if I have icons on my desktop at all. I seem to be able to get along pretty well with Fluxbox, Openbox, or IceWM on low spec machines. I've always been partial to right-click accessible application menus, which is the one thing I sometimes miss when I'm using Xfce (which is a lot of the time). Oh, it has them, but it puts them a level deeper, and with submenus they are deep enough to begin with. |
| 750 Apr 17, 2015 11:09 AM EDT |
@seatex I would not be too sure. The nutballs that wants the new "desktop" have the frameworks and subsystems by the balls these days. |
| theBeez Apr 17, 2015 1:28 PM EDT |
Well, it's not the first time Bruce articles lack proper argumentation apart from "it's my opinion, it's printed, so I'm right", but this one is bad beyond that. Although I can see some of his annoyances (like not having a store of URL's instead of files), some other things I just don't see. I'm not opening a file with the same application all the time, so this "document centric view", well, it's not working for me. As a matter of fact, the idea of a semantic desktop is rather old and outdated. Second, my desktop isn't yours. You have different needs than I have. What is "handy" or "just works for me" is different too. That's the result of years of habits and different tastes and preferences. This thing I've clung together just works for me. Something else doesn't - no matter how many Bruces come by and say I'm wrong. |
| kikinovak Apr 17, 2015 4:48 PM EDT |
I just took a peek at my ideal desktop setup, e. g. the one I'm regularly installing for my customers. Funny thing, it seems to be completely obsolete according to the article. http://www.microlinux.fr/mled.php |
| gary_newell Apr 18, 2015 5:07 PM EDT |
I thought the article was pretty decent. Traditional desktops vs modern desktops. The menus on LXDE, XFCE etc get fairly unwieldy when you have lots of applications installed. Navigating GNOME and UNITY is much easier. Rather than scrolling endless menus you just start typing and the application appears. Audio, Video, Mail and other applications seamlessly integrate with GNOME and Unity as well. The applications built for GNOME are better than the KDE equivalents. Evolution is the best email client for Linux. Rhythmbox, GNOME Music Player, Totem are all decent applications. The one KDE application I really like is Clementine. Moving applications between workspaces on GNOME is really easy as well. Just learn the keyboard shortcuts. |
| penguinist Apr 18, 2015 6:45 PM EDT |
You can pry my desktop icons out of my cold hands. I'm not productive without single click access to my applications and scripted functions. |
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