Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 43

Thread: Top 10 Reason Linux Sucks

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Posts
    800

    Top 10 Reason Linux Sucks

    Here is another article I found very intersesting. He is not to much of a "geek" if this is what he thinks.

    source is found here http://www.vnunet.com/News/1133610

    Geek maps out his 'act of love'
    Although some members of the internet community maintain that Linux is a nigh on perfect operating system, it has had, and still has, its problems.
    In what he calls an "act of love" one brave geek has stumped up a list of the top 10 things wrong with Linux today.

    Adam Wiggins, chief software architect for ecommerce secure payment company TrustCommerce, and Linux enthusiast, posted the list last week in a bid to stimulate more interest in fixing its faults.

    "Three years ago journalists and industry pundits complained loudly that Linux had 'no journalling filesystem!'. Today it has a do zen. Everyone complained: 'No good web browsers!'. Today there are half a dozen. Everyone complained: 'No good office suites!'. Today there are three or four," he said.

    "So, in that spirit, I am now going to complain loudly about every major nit pick I can think of."

    1. No 'best' browser

    Although there are lots of good browser choices, there is "no one reasonable default choice that can be made available to users", he said, adding that Konqueror only enjoys popularity because it's the default for the KDE desktop. "Ironically, the same reason that Internet Explorer enjoys such success on Windows."

    Problems across the board for most browsers include show stopping bugs, poor font support and, in Mozilla's case, lack of desktop integration.

    2. Prompting for a filesystem scan

    "Bad on the desktop, killer on the server." When a system has an unclean shutdown, the reboot process is hampered by a filesystem scan that typically demands the user to answer a bunch of cryptic questions, such as whether to fix deleted inodes. "The system should just fix the filesystem ... and get on with booting," said Wiggins.

    3. Printing needs to be easier to configure

    Linux often forces the user to choose between drivers, but Wiggins pointed out that "the user doesn't care what driver they use. They just want to be able to print at the maximum speed and quality possible."

    His advice is to offer fewer choices and give easy access to print job control, as well as GUI-based diagnosis and correction of errors such as printer jams.

    4. Make it easy for the user to find out how to do things

    It's hard for the new user to work out how to perform tasks with Linux, and searching the web is a long and arduous process.

    "Linux comes with a wealth of applications and toys that could keep the user busy for years without ever downloading or purchasing any additional software. Let's make this obvious," said Wiggins.

    5. Cleaner redraws

    Slow or flickery window updates. "I have only ever seen one operating system do it right, and that's Mac OSX." Wiggins even said that "the latest version of Windows is not bad".

    "This isn't a speed issue, really; it's a how-you-update-the-screen issue," he added.

    6. Die, stray processes. Die!

    In Linux you have to exit to a console and start running the 'killall' command, but this is lame for non-technical users. When an application has no windows open, the windows manager should attempt to kill its processes.

    7. Easy way of sharing files

    Ideally a right-click on a directory and choosing 'share this directory', would work, although Wiggins explained that network file sharing is easy to set up if you know what you're doing. "If you don't know the magic keywords to add to server and client, you're pretty much screwed," he said.

    8. Sound support

    "The Open Sound System was great a few years ago and continues to offer support for modern cards, but it is commercial and it is showing its age," he said. This will be improved when the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture makes it into the mainstream.

    9. No common editor which supports 'soft wrapping'

    Problems remain with word wrapping, where you can go back and edit a line and the rest of the paragraph will reformat itself automatically. Many text editors only support hard wrapping.

    10. No easy way to configure X Windows

    This can be especially annoying when you want to change resolution on the fly. "This is, I believe, the longest running embarrassment of the free software desktop," said Wiggins.

    Wiggins's full critique of the Linux OS can be found here, along with a top list of things that have been fixed.
    [gloworange]\"A hacker is someone who has a passion for technology, someone who is possessed by a desire to figure out how things work.\" [/gloworange]

  2. #2
    bah! grab the pitchforks and shovels let's kill this monger of hate! ALL HAIL LINUX! (said the windows xp user ) altho i use mandrake AND genshoo! *pouts*

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Posts
    281
    Answer: Use the ReiserFS -- It helps a lot

    2. Prompting for a filesystem scan

    "Bad on the desktop, killer on the server." When a system has an unclean shutdown, the reboot process is hampered by a filesystem scan that typically demands the user to answer a bunch of cryptic questions, such as whether to fix deleted inodes. "The system should just fix the filesystem ... and get on with booting," said Wiggins.

    Answer >> Never had a problem... This is BS

    8. Sound support

    "The Open Sound System was great a few years ago and continues to offer support for modern cards, but it is commercial and it is showing its age," he said. This will be improved when the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture makes it into the mainstream.
    You\'re either a 0 or a 1, alive or dead

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    1,255

    Re: Top 10 Reason Linux Sucks

    Originally posted here by casper3699
    [...]
    1. No 'best' browser

    Although there are lots of good browser choices, there is "no one reasonable default choice that can be made available to users", he said, adding that Konqueror only enjoys popularity because it's the default for the KDE desktop. "Ironically, the same reason that Internet Explorer enjoys such success on Windows."

    Problems across the board for most browsers include show stopping bugs, poor font support and, in Mozilla's case, lack of desktop integration.
    IMO, he's wrong or outdated about Mozilla, and desktop integration isn't a good thing to begin with, IMO.

    2. Prompting for a filesystem scan

    "Bad on the desktop, killer on the server." When a system has an unclean shutdown, the reboot process is hampered by a filesystem scan that typically demands the user to answer a bunch of cryptic questions, such as whether to fix deleted inodes. "The system should just fix the filesystem ... and get on with booting," said Wiggins.
    Actually, on every linux distro I've seen, it doesn't prompt unless there is a severe issue that can't be fixed. Certain file systems are also designed to prevent such scans (ReiserFS does this, as far as I am aware).

    3. Printing needs to be easier to configure

    Linux often forces the user to choose between drivers, but Wiggins pointed out that "the user doesn't care what driver they use. They just want to be able to print at the maximum speed and quality possible."

    His advice is to offer fewer choices and give easy access to print job control, as well as GUI-based diagnosis and correction of errors such as printer jams.
    Never had a problem with this, but granted, I don't do a lot of printing.

    4. Make it easy for the user to find out how to do things

    It's hard for the new user to work out how to perform tasks with Linux, and searching the web is a long and arduous process.

    "Linux comes with a wealth of applications and toys that could keep the user busy for years without ever downloading or purchasing any additional software. Let's make this obvious," said Wiggins.
    It's called MAN, you may have heard of it. There's even HELP functions in both KDE and GNOME to help people get started.

    5. Cleaner redraws

    Slow or flickery window updates. "I have only ever seen one operating system do it right, and that's Mac OSX." Wiggins even said that "the latest version of Windows is not bad".

    "This isn't a speed issue, really; it's a how-you-update-the-screen issue," he added.
    Uhh, this is a configuration issue. It sounds like the guy only has it set to 60Hz, and nothing higher. That will happen on ANY OS as it's not software related. The redraws are perfect on my 1280x1024x32 w/80Hz refresh at home.

    6. Die, stray processes. Die!

    In Linux you have to exit to a console and start running the 'killall' command, but this is lame for non-technical users. When an application has no windows open, the windows manager should attempt to kill its processes.
    This is a dumb suggestion, and I'm beginning to wonder if this guy has even understands the basics of processes. If you consider any process that doesn't have a window open as not useful, then on windows about 30-40 windows should be open just to load the desktop.

    7. Easy way of sharing files

    Ideally a right-click on a directory and choosing 'share this directory', would work, although Wiggins explained that network file sharing is easy to set up if you know what you're doing. "If you don't know the magic keywords to add to server and client, you're pretty much screwed," he said.
    A valid point.

    8. Sound support

    "The Open Sound System was great a few years ago and continues to offer support for modern cards, but it is commercial and it is showing its age," he said. This will be improved when the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture makes it into the mainstream.
    I have no idea why he has a problem with sound support, it's never been better. In fact, my install of my new SBLive! was easier under linux than under Windows...

    9. No common editor which supports 'soft wrapping'

    Problems remain with word wrapping, where you can go back and edit a line and the rest of the paragraph will reformat itself automatically. Many text editors only support hard wrapping.
    I'm pretty sure there's a config option for VI to set this, tho I could be mistaken.

    10. No easy way to configure X Windows

    This can be especially annoying when you want to change resolution on the fly. "This is, I believe, the longest running embarrassment of the free software desktop," said Wiggins.
    [/B]
    Just a couple of points. He's right it's annoying that you have to edit the config file to change your resolution, HOWEVER, I don't do it at all, so I don't have it as a problem. As a percentage of users who actually change their resolution on a regular basis, I would guesstimate it at less than 0.5%.
    Chris Shepherd
    The Nelson-Shepherd cutoff: The point at which you realise someone is an idiot while trying to help them.
    \"Well as far as the spelling, I speak fluently both your native languages. Do you even can try spell mine ?\" -- Failed Insult
    Is your whole family retarded, or did they just catch it from you?

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Posts
    243
    I have no idea why he has a problem with sound support, it's never been better. In fact, my install of my new SBLive! was easier under linux than under Windows...
    I've had problems with sound cards, and when you want to update your sound card you have to recompile the kernel. Not very efficient.

    *EDIT* I love Linux, all I am saying is that like all OS's, it can use some improvements.
    Search First Ask Second. www.google.com

  6. #6

    Angry

    Well looks like we have another Microsoft's bootlicker's article here . Remember antiunix campaign ?

    If you want secure, bugless OS use Linux (maybe it's not easy to use it after Win). BUT if you like Nimda, CodeRed, Sub7 ant similar things (and to pay big money for these ones), instead of using terminal and manualy edit some files few times a month, then use Windows. I hate articles like this one. No real arguments just cosmetics . Thats all I want to said this time.

    And... sorry for mistakes if i did some .
    Give man a fish and he will ask for more.
    Teach man to fish and he will never ask again.
    \"Chinese proverb\"

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Posts
    385
    there is a good reason for all of this: competing with windows. despite how great linux is, it's rather hard to find one that feels like windows, which most windows users will look for. windows tends to beat linux in cosmetics because that's basically all they've concentrated on the past few OSs (yes, I am exagerating), while linux has been getting applications, compatibility, and stability. A normal windows user won't care to much about linux stability, but will be looking for something that replaces windows in look and feel with the benefit of stability, etc.. All ten areas lag behind windows and may keep linux from growing as fast as it potentially can until they match closely to windows in ease of use.
    Preliminary operational tests were inconclusive (the dang thing blew up)

    \"Ask not what the kernel can do for you, ask what you can do for the kernel!\"

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Posts
    800
    i am still kinda new to linux but i now how to do almost all of the stuff he said. I dont know what kind of "geek" they found? Probably a die hard windows fan, or a lazy person that doesnt like to learn new things.
    [gloworange]\"A hacker is someone who has a passion for technology, someone who is possessed by a desire to figure out how things work.\" [/gloworange]

  9. #9
    Senior Member cwk9's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    1,207
    I only have two beefs with linux.
    1. No radeon 7500 drivers for x window. This is more ati's fault than linux but it does'nt change the fact that my video card does'nt work.
    2. No games
    Its not software piracy. I’m just making multiple off site backups.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Posts
    884
    cwk9: What are you talking about "no games"? I've tons of games on my Linux computers... clarify?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •