[techtalk] Desktop OS?

Mon Jun 4 12:39:12 EST 2001

Hi, Michelle, and everyone else,

> I frankly have *not* liked it at all as an everyday tool, it's
> been surprisingly hard to get simple things to work, and the fun
> component is definitely hard to find. Part of this certainly is the
> laptop itself - sound still doesn't work, of course the internal
> modem is useless, and the internal NIC card, although I've gotten the
> drivers, I can't get that to work either. That's part of the problem,
> though - hardware compatibility.

Actually, I find Linux hardware compatibility, especially with Red Hat, to
be very, very good.  I have three different models of Toshiba laptops and
*everything* works.  OK, I had to download some drivers and recompile the
kernel to make the PCMCIA floppy work on the two Librettos I have, but even
that wasn't hard with the tools and instructions Red Hat kindly provides.
Version 2.2.17 and up of the kernel have complete Toshiba support, meaning
I can control any hardware or BIOS function just as easily as I could if I
ran Windows, and excellent utilities have been written to do just that.

I know people who have had equally good experiences with IBM Thinkpads,
Sony Vaios, and Dell Inspirons.  That isn't bad, is it?

Also, your "of course the internal modem is useless" is *not* an of course.
IBM has released drivers for their Winmodems, and there are other winmodem
drivers as well.  I know the Lucent winmodem in my Mom's desktop (it came
with it) *does* work, although I think it negatively affects her system
performance.

Does Linux work with everything in a Windows-oriented world?  Of course
not, but it works with most things, and if someone does a little bit of
smart shopping before they buy, or better yet, buys with Linux preloaded,
there are a whole lot of options out there.

> And some things (like burning CDs, and a few others) I
> need to boot up OS 9 alone to get working. But I know that will
> change (quickly) with time.

It's no problem to burn CDs on my Linux box.  Anyone else???

> I've also been reading a bit, and it seems there is this buzz around
> about whether or not Linux will make it as a desktop OS - and that
> the lack of good, solid apps (like an office suite) is limiting it's
> adoption.

The only area where Linux is still lacking apps is in the area of
children's education software.  The certainly is no lack of quality office
suites:  KOffice is really impressive, StarOffice isn't bad (if a bit
slow), ApplixWare isn't bad either, and the WordPerfect 2000 Suite (the
standard where I work) is tolerable, though WordPerfect 8 was certainly
more stable.  The Gnome Office suite is in development, too, with AbiWord
already quite usable, with Dia as an acceptable alternative to Visio, and
with a first class spreadsheet in Gnumeric.  By my count that makes five
office suites to choose from.  The only thing missing for some people is
the "Microsoft" name on the front of the box, and the matching high price
tag.

> Linux is a no-brainer on the server side - but will it
> survive as a desktop OS? I'm really having questions. If I, who
> describe myself as a total geek, and feel really positive about Linux
> am generally not happy with it as a desktop, what about people who
> aren't as geeky? Is there hope?

Linux passed the Mom test for me:  my non-technical Mom could use it and
have no problems with it.  The thing is she did not have to install it.  I
set up everything for her.  She hasn't even had to pop up a terminal
window.  She lives in KDE, and runs her WordPerfect, her Netscape 6.01, and
not much else.  She uses the character selector applet and the keyboard
mapping applet, both of which come with KDE 2.  She isn't exactly a power
user.  Still... it made her system faster and did away with hanging
problems she had in Windows, so she's happy.

> How many of you don't use Linux as
> your sole everyday desktop OS?

[Raises hand]  Me, at least at home.  At work I am 90% on an Irix box and
10% on Windows (for Lotus Notes and Remedy).

Will Linux make it as a desktop OS?  Yes, if Microsoft gets too greedy and
more companies switch over.  People use what they use at work, for the most
part.  Also, it's going to have to get to the point where you can walk into
CompUSA or even Best Buy and have a choice between a Windows or a Linux
system.  Honestly, we're a long way from that yet.

All the best,
Caity

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caitlyn M. Martin             martin.caitlyn at epa.gov
Systems Analyst              (919) 541-4441
Lockheed Martin
(a contractor for the US EPA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

                    Michelle Murrain                                                                                                  
                    <michelle at murrain.        To:     techtalk at linuxchix.org, issues at linuxchix.org                                    
                    net>                      cc:                                                                                     
                    Sent by:                  Subject:     [techtalk] Desktop OS?                                                     
                    techtalk-admin at lin                                                                                                
                    uxchix.org                                                                                                        

                    06/04/01 11:09 AM                                                                                                 

Hi folks,

I don't want to start a flame war, but ask a serious question. This
is not a troll! I promise.

I've been running various strains of Linux on my laptop for about 6
months (Tried RH, then spent several months using Linux-Mandrake, now
I'm on Progeny Debian), and although I've *loved* it as a web
application development environment (it's nice to have all of the
development tools at my disposal - I don't have to be on line to
code), I frankly have *not* liked it at all as an everyday tool, it's
been surprisingly hard to get simple things to work, and the fun
component is definitely hard to find. Part of this certainly is the
laptop itself - sound still doesn't work, of course the internal
modem is useless, and the internal NIC card, although I've gotten the
drivers, I can't get that to work either. That's part of the problem,
though - hardware compatibility.

I've spent now about 3 months with MacOS X, which I've been working
with some on the command line, and am working on getting most of what
I'm interested in (PostgreSQL, apache, perl) compiled and working - I
know that all of those things can work on OS X. And, of course
everything works just fine. No, not everything is OS X native - most
of my software I'm running in the blue box. It seems to run at the
same speed, although starting up applications is a bit slower than it
was before.  And some things (like burning CDs, and a few others) I
need to boot up OS 9 alone to get working. But I know that will
change (quickly) with time.

OK, so I like GUI - I spent a lot of time working on Macs. I've come
to like KDE quite a bit, actually.

I've also been reading a bit, and it seems there is this buzz around
about whether or not Linux will make it as a desktop OS - and that
the lack of good, solid apps (like an office suite) is limiting it's
adoption. Linux is a no-brainer on the server side - but will it
survive as a desktop OS? I'm really having questions. If I, who
describe myself as a total geek, and feel really positive about Linux
am generally not happy with it as a desktop, what about people who
aren't as geeky? Is there hope? How many of you don't use Linux as
your sole everyday desktop OS?

(I don't know whether this is better discussed on issues or techtalk,
so I sent it to both)

Michelle
--

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