Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Tue 9th Nov 2004 20:49 UTC
"Desktop Linux is almost soup. We only have a few items left on the short list. Will we do it? If history is an indicator, the answer is yes." Read this article at LXer. Read more for a short list of my personal needs before I could say "yes, I can switch to Linux or FreeBSD full time".
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That's the truth, be it sad or good, windows XP/XP-Pro they do just work "out of the box".
Install the driver given you by the vendor of the machine (or preinstalled), and voilą, a wifi is automatically detected, acpi works perfectly, soundcard has never been "blocked" (I learned this could happen working with Linux...), and, last but not least, printing is quick, easy, and standard of all the applications, not the nightmarish list of "todos" of the typical linux environment.
Mind you, I used Linux for 8 years, but I give to Cesar what Cesar deserves: for sheer usability of the machines features, for "mindless" operations throughout, there's no comparison at all...
I can close the lid of my laptop now, go to sleep, and reopen it and everything working in a second; I had to twitch even the kernel sources to get that from Linux, and never reliably...
I think it's time to stop being geek-minded and be honest: Linux needs a lot to become a viable desktop platform for the masses; the sooner developers realize this, the better.
Otherwise, desktop linux will be only for programmers, curious (and affected by a light form of sadism) people, and people who use its incredible tools and power for something very specific, like simulations, where a Desktop environment is probably useless anyway.
Eugenia is right: why do I have to find a solution to watch Star Wars trailer when it*s obviously supposed to just click&work? is it the computer who has to relieve me of some work, or vice versa?
Lorenzo