In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Jamie Hart
<usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 14:42:22 +0000
<1166539342.24546.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> cc wrote:
>
>>>
>>
>> Oh I disagree 100%. Weaknesses of Linux have to be shown, otherwise how
>> will it improve?
>
> I agree, but this is not the place for such. This is an advocacy group,
> it is a place for advocating linux not for pointing out linux failings.
One way of advocating Linux, or improvements thereto,
is by pointing out specific Linux failings (in detail,
if MEGO doesn't happen :-) ) and then doing the obvious
thing, namely improving them. :-) Were more of this to
happen COLA would in fact be a happier place; as it is,
I see too much of
- Linux sucks.
- Help, my unspecified motherboard with my unspecified CPU cannot
boot my unspecified distro which I installed using an unspecified
procedure! Can any of you unspecified people help?
- Duh, how does Word work on Linux again?
- Linux really really sucks.
- You are a prick since <insert random something here>.
Oh yeah? Well, you're a jerk because <insert another here>.
And you're a <insert another here>
and <insert>
and <so on>
and <so on>
...
- You know, OSX/FreeBSD/Windows is much better than Linux.
- Did I mention Linux sucks?
- Uh, how do I use my computer's cup holder?
- Obviously, Linux is trying to clone Windows innovations.
(This is of course a paraphrasing; I'm not about to go digging.)
Personally, I think Linux is a very good solution but
does have some deficiencies; I'd frankly have to track
them down by using some sort of kernel debugger, were I
to go in and try to fix them. In particular, there are
issues somewhere in the video subsystem and maybe in the
networking subsystem (though with my luck it's because my
Kayak is slightly underpowered, from a voltage standpoint;
therefore it very well might be a hardware issue, but one
wonders why the driver spits out "receive error 0x90" -- I
think that's it -- than something a little clearer, unless
it's clear to a hardware engineer for that particular
piece of hardware).
The video in particular is a bit iffy, when it comes to
OpenGL; the 6.9->7.1 switchover in my Kayak took out direct
OpenGL capability. I'll have to somehow get it back,
preferably without using fglrx (it has my ATi card).
I'm hoping this is a one-time issue as the 6.9->7.1
switchover basically shattered (I'd think of a better word
but I'm lazy :-) ) xorg into its constituent components;
if one wants, say, xeyes in Gentoo one has to emerge it
separately now.
This isn't a bad thing but it's definitely a big change.
(Not a lot Gentoo can do about it either except roll with
the punches. Presumably other distros were similarly
affected.)
>
>> How many disappointed newbies will there be if they
>> don't understand some of the limitations?
>
> How many newbies will there be if we portray linux in a negative light?
No no, it's "how many newbies does it take to screw in a light bulb"?
:-)
Oh wait, different forum. Of course, this particular
forum is probably not inhabited by newbies (at least not
for the most part), though it's possible it's propagated
worldwide not only to the usual suspects (news servers)
but also to Web gateways. So who knows who's reading me?
I'm a star... :-) *cough* Anyway, I for one will have to
look and I'm so far from newbie I've forgotten what one
thinks like when it comes to installing operating systems
-- assuming "installing" comes to mind at all as opposed
to "OK, I need to pick up a carton of milk, the latest
Harry Potter novel, some LEDs, and a new 'puter at the
general store." (I don't know if Fry's has Harry Potter
novels but I think it has everything else -- and I *know*
it has plenty of computers.)
>
>> I don't think the purpose of
>> this group is to show only the sunny side of Linux, and the dark side
>> of Windows.
>
> I'm don't think that showing the down side of windows should be given as
> much time as it is here, the people we're trying to attract to Linux
> already know the dark side of windows.
"The"? :-) And they may not know everything about the dark
side of Windows -- though they may know the symptoms well
enough. Have you looked, for example, at windowsx.h versus
X.h and Xlib.h? I'd say the styles are interestingly
illustrative of the general coding practices, though it's
hard to say for certain without a lot more perusal of the
xorg source code (as opposed to the header files).
Then again, where's the Windows source code in all this?
Uh....good question.
>
>> But there have been many arguments about what the purpose
>> of this group is exactly, and I don't want to get into that again. So
>> we'll have to agree to disagree.
>>
> Best if you ignore this post then.
Ah, but where would the fun in that be? :-)
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Linux. Because it's there and it works.
Windows. It's there, but does it work?
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
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