Comments on: The Cluelessness Of Some Linux Folks

By: outer_space

outer_space — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:01:54 +0000

Ive been using ubuntu for 6 months. All of my hardware just worked when i installed it. Its a core duo laptop with nvidia go. It benchmarks better than windows xp and the battery lasts 3 hours compared to 1 hour. It never crashes, ever. Windows used to crash all the time because of my buggy sprint cell internet.

There are 3 ways of installing codecs using a gui i can think of. But dont you think its easier just to copy/paste some command someone told you?

By: Derek Cordeiro

Derek Cordeiro — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:11:55 +0000

Have you tried opening video files like mkv and avi in Windows? So many guys ask me what to do… Now You do have a graphical tool called Snaptic in Ubuntu. OTOH, you have distributions like Sabayon and Ubuntu Ultimate that do these things out of the box.

By: Liron

Liron — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:04:33 +0000

I agree. This is one of the reasons I moved away from Linux after many years. Installing software on a desktop linux distribution is almost like “fiddling”. Those who love Linux, have the time to “fiddle” and are tech-oriented will have less issues with command-line installation and “dependency hell”, but simple desktop users are going to run into trouble and likely frustration.

By: jerry

jerry — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 04:46:30 +0000

echo /dev/proc/hd0 F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA111101128 745EAFED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA 111101128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0B124 AC4D242CA111101128745EAFED368532F0 AEDF0B124AC4D242CA111101128745EAFE D368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA1111011 FED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA11110 1128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D2 42CA111101128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0 B124AC4D242CA111101128745EAFED3685 32F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA111101128745
EAFED368532122382092982012ACE22412
FED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA11110 1128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D2 42CA111101128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0 B124AC4D242CA111101128745EAFED3685 32F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA111101128745
EAFED368532122382092982012ACE22412
28745EAFED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D242 CA111101128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0B1 24AC4D242CA111101128745EAFED368532 F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA111101128745EA FED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA11110 1128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D2 42CA111101128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0 B124AC4D242CA111101128745EAFED3685 32F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA111101128745
EAFED368532122382092982012ACE22412
FED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA11110 1128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0B124AC4D2 42CA111101128745EAFED368532F0AEDF0 B124AC4D242CA111101128745EAFED3685 32F0AEDF0B124AC4D242CA111101128745
EAFED368532122382092982012ACE22412
reboot and you’ll be all set.

Now in my day we had to toggle that to the cpu registers using binary and all we had to do that with is the onion on our belt.

Bonus points: instead of typing this in, connect a modem to your computer and whistle it in.

I know you won’t be impressed, but I can still translate this into binary for load lifters as it is dictated.

By: Kevin Spencer

Kevin Spencer — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 04:30:57 +0000

@Oliver – Well, to be fair, not all video codecs are installed by default on other operating systems either and their ease of installation varies widely. This is far from being a Linux only issue.

By: Tom Bozack

Tom Bozack — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 04:19:03 +0000

OW, you’ve hit the nail on the head. I’ve been running Linux since 1998 and love it. But it will never go mainstream on the desktop until things like this are fixed.

I’m on my third version of Ubuntu (actually Kubuntu) and have had to struggle to get video working every time. Video is now so fundamental to an OS everything you need should install (and work) by default.

And don’t get me going on printer support and fonts… Ug!

Tom

By: SomeGuy

SomeGuy — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 04:17:07 +0000

I agree with your overall point in principle – software *should* be easier than this. However, the difficulty mostly arises from software patents and other legal issues. The Linux guys don’t make this “just work” because it would essentially mean that they’re encouraging many of their users to violate the law. Even the MP3 player manufacturers sometimes have trouble keeping up with all the legal issues.

Also, the method described in that quote is not the “proper” way to deal with missing codecs in Ubuntu – by default it will prompt the user to install codecs in a manner no more complicated than a typical Windows installer (although it is a little confusing that you have to hit “Apply” at the end before “OK”). No terminal involved. Whatever the faults of the “average user”, though, I think it’s a bit harsh to suggest that they can’t handle typing a line of text and pressing Enter.

By: Lettice

Lettice — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 03:34:45 +0000

It’s a lot easier if you’ve got a MacBook… You’ve got a terminal.

So the terminal is Ubuntu is no further away.

It’s not that hard.

By: OxyCon

OxyCon — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:20:03 +0000

You ain’t seen nuthin’ if you’ve never operated a Sperry Univac mainframe. Printers you used to have to step up and into to actually change a box of paper and card readers that would fling thousands of cards all over the floor in a matter of seconds. Those were the good ole days.

By: talboito

talboito — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:08:52 +0000

The commenter is making things look more complicated than they are. Ubuntu has a very usable Add/Remove Programs dialog installed by default.

You can search for programs you might want to install, i.e. video player and then click it once or twice to install.

By: ArC

ArC — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:17:27 +0000

It’s a magic incantation to install a video player. Conceptually, it’s not really all that much harder than installing a video player in a GUI like Windows.

By: P6

P6 — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:36:42 +0000

You’re right. That’s exactly the kind of talk that will keep Microsoft fully funded.