Linked by David Adams on Tue 27th Jul 2010 07:35 UTC, submitted by sjvn
Some people hate the idea of adding proprietary software to their desktop Linux. For these people, there are Linux distributions such as gNewSense that use only free software. For the rest of us, who use distributions such as Fedora, openSUSE and Ubuntu, there are times we either want to, or feel forced to, add proprietary programs such as Adobe Flash or Skype or the ability to play proprietary audio and video formats such as MP3 or commercial DVDs to your Linux desktop. Here's how to do it.
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RE[3]: Shooting yourself in the foot.
by vivainio on Tue 27th Jul 2010 19:05
in reply to "RE[2]: Shooting yourself in the foot."
Member since:2008-12-26
What I'm saying is that, for all practical purposes, Linux runs a sub-set of the apps available to the OSX and Windows user.
This is an incorrect assumption on your part. Not every open source application is ported to Windows or let alone MacOS X. And if there is a port, it may be "second grade" solution like KDE/Cygwin on Windows, or all the crap on macports/fink/whatever the mac people use these days.
That is not a good place to be when you are all but invisible in OEM system sales. The kit builder - the technical hobbysist - does not drive adoption.
But mobile devices do.
RE[4]: Shooting yourself in the foot.
by nt_jerkface on Wed 28th Jul 2010 05:43
in reply to "RE[3]: Shooting yourself in the foot."
Member since:2009-08-26
This is an incorrect assumption on your part. Not every open source application is ported to Windows or let alone MacOS X.
His point is valid in that the best open source applications are ported to Windows so to the typical consumer there is a clear net loss in application compatibility when switching to Linux.
RE[3]: Shooting yourself in the foot.
by UltraZelda64 on Wed 28th Jul 2010 05:44
in reply to "RE[2]: Shooting yourself in the foot."
Member since:2006-12-05
What I'm saying is that, for all practical purposes, Linux runs a sub-set of the apps available to the OSX and Windows user.
I'm listening to Alice Cooper right now in Winamp. I also just used Mr QuestionMan and eMule earlier, and recently toyed around with the various versions of Battle for Wesnoth to see what the changes between versions were (Windows installers sure beat compiling manually...). All in openSUSE 11.3.
Sure it's not without its flaws (and I occasionally do run into them), but Wine is getting quite good... I just wish I didn't have to use it.
I only wish the wine devs would have chose to name their program after a better beverage, like beer (the quality types, not Bud/Miller/Coors/etc.) or something... wine sucks. LOL.
Edited 2010-07-28 05:50 UTC
RE[3]: Shooting yourself in the foot.
by lemur2 on Thu 29th Jul 2010 12:11
in reply to "RE[2]: Shooting yourself in the foot."
Member since:2007-02-17
That is not a good place to be when you hold a bare 1% share of the desktop
The 1% figure for the desktop is a myth.
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
Heading towards 5%.
It is 30% of netbooks (worldwide), apparently, which is a figure that the Windows world desperately doesn't want anyone to know.
In other spaces, such as mobiles, servers, embedded in devices and even supercomputers, Linux dominates.
FTA: "For these Linuxes, all you need to do to add Adobe Acrobat Reader to your desktop is just run the distribution's default application installation program and in a minute or two, you'll be viewing PDF files."
Pfft. On my Kubuntu 10.04 Linux install I can view PDF files out-of-the-box without installing anything, using a far better application than Adobe Acrobat Reader bloatware.
http://okular.kde.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okular
It supports the following file formats[4]:
Portable Document Format (PDF) with the Poppler backend
PostScript with the libgs backend (Okular 0.6/KDE 4.0) / libspectre backend (Okular >= 0.7/KDE >= 4.1)
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) with the libTIFF backend
Microsoft Compiled HTML Help (CHM) with the libCHM backend
DjVu with the DjVuLibre backend
Device independent file format (DVI)
XML Paper Specification (XPS)
OpenDocument format (ODF)
FictionBook
ComicBook
Plucker
EPUB
Mobipocket
Various image formats.
Portable Document Format (PDF) with the Poppler backend
PostScript with the libgs backend (Okular 0.6/KDE 4.0) / libspectre backend (Okular >= 0.7/KDE >= 4.1)
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) with the libTIFF backend
Microsoft Compiled HTML Help (CHM) with the libCHM backend
DjVu with the DjVuLibre backend
Device independent file format (DVI)
XML Paper Specification (XPS)
OpenDocument format (ODF)
FictionBook
ComicBook
Plucker
EPUB
Mobipocket
Various image formats.
If I wasn't using KDE, perhaps I would be using Evince instead of Okular:
http://projects.gnome.org/evince/
Evince is not as capable as Okular, but it is serviceable enough.
I can't speak for GNOME, but my KDE4 Kubuntu 10.04 desktop default installation includes a "print to PDF" printer driver out of the box, and it includes an "export to PDF" toolbar button or menu command on OpenOffice.org Office suite applications and KOffice applications.
Why on earth would I be interested in installing inferior, closed-source Adobe software instead?
RE[4]: Shooting yourself in the foot.
by ssa2204 on Thu 29th Jul 2010 13:11
in reply to "RE[3]: Shooting yourself in the foot."
Member since:2006-04-22
The 1% figure for the desktop is a myth.
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
Heading towards 5%.
Your right, it is a myth. More like .94%. Do you even bother to read these websites you link?
W3Schools' log-files....
Statistics Are Often Misleading
You cannot - as a web developer - rely only on statistics. Statistics can often be misleading.
Global averages may not always be relevant to your web site. Different sites attract different audiences. Some web sites attract professional developers using professional hardware, while other sites attract hobbyists using old low spec computers.
You cannot - as a web developer - rely only on statistics. Statistics can often be misleading.
Global averages may not always be relevant to your web site. Different sites attract different audiences. Some web sites attract professional developers using professional hardware, while other sites attract hobbyists using old low spec computers.
It is 30% of netbooks (worldwide), apparently, which is a figure that the Windows world desperately doesn't want anyone to know.
What was the marketshare when netbooks first appeared? What was the marketshare AFTER Windows was released on netbooks. Sorry, you fail once again.
Why on earth would I be interested in installing inferior, closed-source Adobe software instead?
Because your "tinker-toy OS and apps can not do what Acrobate can? Funny you say inferior, when that pretty much describes 99% of Desktop Linux apps. The only decent ones exist on Windows as well, so as NT_Jerkface points out, no reason to deal with the toy OS. But hey, enjoy your inferior desktop and apps, I am sure you get a lot done.
Edited 2010-07-29 13:12 UTC
Features
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Member since:
2010-01-07
So you are saying that Linux is of such poor quality that the only reason people use it, is access to free Open Source Software... [i][/i]
What I'm saying is that, for all practical purposes, Linux runs a sub-set of the apps available to the OSX and Windows user.
That is not a good place to be when you hold a bare 1% share of the desktop - and the iOS threatens to become an even bigger presence on the web.
That is not a good place to be when you are all but invisible in OEM system sales. The kit builder - the technical hobbysist - does not drive adoption.
Applications drive adoption. Applications drive development. The technology of the OS is secondary - always.
That is why the Amigas of this world fall by the wayside.
The OSX and Windows user rates zero for ideological purity and political correctness.
He cannot be moved on that basis.
---and the truth is that you need him. 86% of the funding for The Moz Foundation comes from AdSense. From the mass consumer market.