"For years now, Linux has been a black sheep standing in the shadow of Apple and Microsoft. Despite having a fervent and enthusiastic following, the operating system hasn't been able to grab a sizable share of the computing market and has instead been content to subsist on the customers that come away dissatisfied with the mainstream competition. But that may be about to change. With the release of Microsoft Windows 8 on the horizon, some are saying Linux may have a great opportunity to steal a significant share of the market away from Microsoft, allowing it to finally take the helm as a major operating system service provider." This has to stop, and the only reason I'm linking to this nonsense is to make this very clear: Linux will not magically conquer the desktop or even make any significant gains because of Windows 8. People who don't like Windows 8 (Vista) will continue to use Windows 7 (Windows XP). This is getting so tiring. And does it even matter? Linux is winning big time in the mobile space, server space, and countless other spaces. The desktop is and always has been irrelevant to Linux.
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Member since:2006-07-14
Member since:2007-11-11
While I have to admit I haven't seen many X crashes of late the last round of distros I loaded (6 months ago to be fair) had serious driver update issues. Sound going to crap (Pulseaudio still stinks) and wireless is like a bad joke. For everyone who thinks this is "trolling" I urge you to read the two links I'm gonna give you, one from one of the devs of RH that says the Linux desktop is "suckage" and lists many fundamental structural problems with the design, and the second is a list (with links) to around 200 major problems with Linux..
https://plus.google.com/109922199462633401279/posts/HgdeFDfRzNe
http://linuxfonts.narod.ru/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.the.desktop.c...
As a small shop owner that builds and sells PCs believe me I WANT Linux to get better, problem is politics and religious dogma have frankly crippled it and it isn't likely to get better in the near future. Too many critical subsystems from the kernel on up are constantly getting futzed with with ZERO thought to QA or QC or backwards compatibility, no hardware ABI means that you are at the mercy of the devs who may or may not have the time, manpower, or even access to the hardware that is screwed up to accurately diagnose and fix serious driver issues, and you can't just hand grandma a system which will have the wireless and sound crap out if she ever updates the thing.
Member since:2006-04-10
Member since:2007-09-23
At least when it comes to graphics driver crashes on Windows 7 (they still occur) all that happens is that my screen flickers, switches to Aero Basic, flickers, and then everything is back to normal. No bluescreen.
So the best fallback is to just switch to another driver, try to restart the crashed driver, and keep everything running including applications and open documents.
However, if that is not possible I sure agree with you. I want a command line more than a bluescreen and a restart. Preferably mixed with some autosaving stuff (like OS X) to make sure my open documents can be recovered.
Member since:2009-08-05
I haven't had a graphics driver related BSOD since Vista came around. The other day, I had a driver restart while playing Prototype 2 - screen flickered for a few seconds, and then I could alt-tab back into the game and continue playing.
I think I've seen three BSODs the last couple of years. One was a buggy 3rd-party VPN driver, another was an unstable PSU, and the last was when my X25-E (OS drive) died.
Member since:2005-08-18
Member since:2012-06-22
BSOD? Have you guys used Windows recently?
Even back when that happened every case I had was fixed with a reboot. Linux isn't as failsafe as Windows and if X was so great then there wouldn't be a plan to replace it.
Then there are the subpixel font issues, game resolution changing problems, clipping, video stuttering, and dependence on xorg.conf.
But I'm sure you guys have an anecdote about playing games with grandma on 3 monitors in multiple resolutions while watching a Flash video and all done without touching xorg.conf.
Member since:2005-11-13
Member since:2006-08-15
Leaving grandma in the command line because of a driver crash or broken update in 2012 is completely unacceptable.
Cue the excuses.
KMS has fixed this. Now all open source drivers (Intel, Radeon, Nouveau) and all DRI drivers (in-kernel drivers) use KMS by default.
What this means is that when the kernel boots and the driver is loaded, your monitor and video is configured on the fly (automatically) for you, so you get a native resolution automatically, and X/Wayland uses this by default, so the user never have to do anything, all this happens automatically, and the user never sees a command line or anything like that.
What the user actually sees is that the kernel flickers for a second and then a sleek splash screen with the native resolution, and then X/Wayland "just works".
There's nothing to configure. Things "just work" these days.
Troll harder next time.
Edited 2012-08-29 02:50 UTC
Member since:2008-02-05
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
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This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Member since:
2012-06-22
These posts shouldn't even exist until X has a decent fallback mode or is replaced by wayland.
Leaving grandma in the command line because of a driver crash or broken update in 2012 is completely unacceptable.
Cue the excuses.