g2k
Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:40:50 am
None of the following is to be taken as an attack against a person, or group of people, or a particular distro. It is simply addressing the problem(s) that are linked to many distros of linux and my opinion of why these problems exist in the first place.
Recently I purchased a copy/upgrade of Windows 7. I booted my desktop from the dvd and told it to install. It installed, found all my hardware and set itself up nicely. It listed my Windows experience rating as 4's and 5's except for my graphics card which scored a 1.0 (ouch). I quickly realized that my webcam kept crashing, and that I had NO Aero effects. The problems given was an issue with .netframework 3.5 sp1 (webcam) and the "driver" for my graphics card (Aero).
I called Microsoft and they remoted into my desktop to help fix the issue. It took them 6 hours and they still had not fixed it, but said they would re-try tomorrow, as the lady needed to go home, and we were re-installing Windows7, fine says I. In the mean time I went out and purchased an Nvidia gt640 graphics card, installed it with the latest drivers and re-ran the Windows experience tool. WOW, I went from 1.0 to 4.0 and had FULL aero effects, and a working webcam complete with ALL the extended morphing attributes (yay 4me). The next day Microsoft called me on the phone, and remoted into my desktop, after me telling them what I had done about the graphics card. They updated the system, ran several checks, and concurred that indeed all was well and working. This "support" was included in the purchase price of the Windows7 operating system.
Outside of having a low-power graphics card the entire process of installing and using Windows was painless. The OS itself worked well with all the peripherials I have/own except the webcam. My movies/pictures/documents which were on another partition were easily integrated. I was done customizing within a few hours with the exception of the webcam problem and no aero effects.
I wiped my linux partitions and wanted to install Zorin os 5 (my favorite linux distro), it worked well under my old crappy graphics card. Unfortunately it wouldnt install at all. Not text based installer, not safe graphics mode, not starting the installer directly or booting the live system. Just a giant HANG on some multi channel usb device (my new graphics card).
I figured no problem, I'll upgrade to Zorin os 6. It installed but had problems with the screens (dual monitors) flashing as if they were "blinking their eyes".
I did a quick "additional drivers" search and none were available, I also had
no desktop effects.
I Searched and found "the answer"...sudo apt-get install nvidia-current
(brought me upto v2.95?) rebooted and used the nvidia control panel to get everything set up "properly".
Rebooted and had proper resolution, desktop effects, etc. Then compiz crashed, I did this process 6 times, trying many different things I've learned from the many experiences I've had with the many different flavors of linux I've tried over the many years.
Now I don't know what to do. I like the look and feel of os5 (very win7 ish), but I like the advancements on os6 too. As it stands right now, it really does'nt matter as neither Zorin os 5 or 6 works in my system AT ALL.
Things like this is why linux as a whole is a joke to a SERIOUS computer USER. I spent 6hrs with a remote access session trying to get the cam and driver issues resolved under Windows7. The next day Microsoft called me after I had installed the new card to check everything out, and make sure there are no issues, and everybody is happy. I paid $120.00 for win7 and it's already paid for itself in the 3 days I've been running it.
Linux may be free, but the 12 hours I spent trying to "make it work" was unpaid time, and much frustration and 12 hours I'll never get back. Linux has potential, it certainly has a great "user community" and it's no slouch when it comes to raw horsepower either. However the big name boys:ubuntu, mint,zorin etc need to stop worrying about which music player will be included in their distro and start developing the hell out their distro until it's as good on all hardware by every manufacturer with full V.P.N./remote access/telephone support, as Windows, and then charge for those services (paid by buying the disk).
Any group that does this will eventually give Microsoft a legitimate run for their money. Sadly though, ubuntu/canonical wants to play games with a left side dock touting its usability against Windows because it can finally resume from standby without crashing. Zorin wants to claim to help transition users from the Windows OS by being linux that has that familiar Windows look and feel to it, yet so sorry, our installer does'nt really work (os5) and compiz crashes just cuz thats what compiz does. But it's ok Zorin ROCKS cuz we found out how to remove the trash bin from the dock...gimme a break.
The time has come for the leaders of team Canonical, and team Zorin and a few others to really wake up and realize that with the trends in tech devices that ARE being bought, that linux is in the environment and era to really stand out and shine. Good God, people do you realize that with proper porting I could natively run puppy linux on MOST current cell phones and tablets? Not because puppy linux is awesome but because mobile devices have become well endowed hardware wise.
Zorin tablet edition could be on tablets, Zorin lite on cellphones, Zorin desktop on notebooks/netbooks/desktops. Instead, though we are highly focused on the fact that we have our new and improved browser manager WOW. Give me a break, like I can't just use the terminal or the software center or synaptic to install firefox right. Not that it matters because the installer wont work anyway and if it does compiz will crash cuz thats what compiz does!
The trend in the linux world if ANYONE complains is: if you dont like it then make your own distro, or make your own driver or compile your own binaries etc. ENOUGH ALREADY. I get it, your not paid to do what you do. I understand that. Do you understand: that mentality is not an acceptible excuse to hide behind? $120.00 for an OS that works on 99.9% of all hardware; painlessly, effortlessly, with full support of every kind is a small price to pay. Linux distro teams should'nt be taking an oh-well posture EVER, quite simply put: you can't afford it.
I can't afford the time and expense of college training to use your FREE OS, nor should I have to. Despite my love of Zorin 5, and Ubuntu 10.04 computer users that need to do serious work need to have stability in the equipment they work on. They want to LOVE Zorin or whatever their favorite distro is but no one can afford to spend 40-80% of their interaction with their computer tracking down all the issues and bugs.
This is a long winded post but it needed to be said. Linux has come a long way in just the last 5 years, much of that has been because of dedicated efforts of the people of team Zorin and team Ubuntu, etc. But, we must not stop here, we must try even harder to make Zorin a true contender with Windows. To make it seamless, RELIABLE, and most importantly CONVENIENT, to a people that for the most part don't want to learn about computers they just want to use them.
Recently I purchased a copy/upgrade of Windows 7. I booted my desktop from the dvd and told it to install. It installed, found all my hardware and set itself up nicely. It listed my Windows experience rating as 4's and 5's except for my graphics card which scored a 1.0 (ouch). I quickly realized that my webcam kept crashing, and that I had NO Aero effects. The problems given was an issue with .netframework 3.5 sp1 (webcam) and the "driver" for my graphics card (Aero).
I called Microsoft and they remoted into my desktop to help fix the issue. It took them 6 hours and they still had not fixed it, but said they would re-try tomorrow, as the lady needed to go home, and we were re-installing Windows7, fine says I. In the mean time I went out and purchased an Nvidia gt640 graphics card, installed it with the latest drivers and re-ran the Windows experience tool. WOW, I went from 1.0 to 4.0 and had FULL aero effects, and a working webcam complete with ALL the extended morphing attributes (yay 4me). The next day Microsoft called me on the phone, and remoted into my desktop, after me telling them what I had done about the graphics card. They updated the system, ran several checks, and concurred that indeed all was well and working. This "support" was included in the purchase price of the Windows7 operating system.
Outside of having a low-power graphics card the entire process of installing and using Windows was painless. The OS itself worked well with all the peripherials I have/own except the webcam. My movies/pictures/documents which were on another partition were easily integrated. I was done customizing within a few hours with the exception of the webcam problem and no aero effects.
I wiped my linux partitions and wanted to install Zorin os 5 (my favorite linux distro), it worked well under my old crappy graphics card. Unfortunately it wouldnt install at all. Not text based installer, not safe graphics mode, not starting the installer directly or booting the live system. Just a giant HANG on some multi channel usb device (my new graphics card).
I figured no problem, I'll upgrade to Zorin os 6. It installed but had problems with the screens (dual monitors) flashing as if they were "blinking their eyes".
I did a quick "additional drivers" search and none were available, I also had
no desktop effects.
I Searched and found "the answer"...sudo apt-get install nvidia-current
(brought me upto v2.95?) rebooted and used the nvidia control panel to get everything set up "properly".
Rebooted and had proper resolution, desktop effects, etc. Then compiz crashed, I did this process 6 times, trying many different things I've learned from the many experiences I've had with the many different flavors of linux I've tried over the many years.
Now I don't know what to do. I like the look and feel of os5 (very win7 ish), but I like the advancements on os6 too. As it stands right now, it really does'nt matter as neither Zorin os 5 or 6 works in my system AT ALL.
Things like this is why linux as a whole is a joke to a SERIOUS computer USER. I spent 6hrs with a remote access session trying to get the cam and driver issues resolved under Windows7. The next day Microsoft called me after I had installed the new card to check everything out, and make sure there are no issues, and everybody is happy. I paid $120.00 for win7 and it's already paid for itself in the 3 days I've been running it.
Linux may be free, but the 12 hours I spent trying to "make it work" was unpaid time, and much frustration and 12 hours I'll never get back. Linux has potential, it certainly has a great "user community" and it's no slouch when it comes to raw horsepower either. However the big name boys:ubuntu, mint,zorin etc need to stop worrying about which music player will be included in their distro and start developing the hell out their distro until it's as good on all hardware by every manufacturer with full V.P.N./remote access/telephone support, as Windows, and then charge for those services (paid by buying the disk).
Any group that does this will eventually give Microsoft a legitimate run for their money. Sadly though, ubuntu/canonical wants to play games with a left side dock touting its usability against Windows because it can finally resume from standby without crashing. Zorin wants to claim to help transition users from the Windows OS by being linux that has that familiar Windows look and feel to it, yet so sorry, our installer does'nt really work (os5) and compiz crashes just cuz thats what compiz does. But it's ok Zorin ROCKS cuz we found out how to remove the trash bin from the dock...gimme a break.
The time has come for the leaders of team Canonical, and team Zorin and a few others to really wake up and realize that with the trends in tech devices that ARE being bought, that linux is in the environment and era to really stand out and shine. Good God, people do you realize that with proper porting I could natively run puppy linux on MOST current cell phones and tablets? Not because puppy linux is awesome but because mobile devices have become well endowed hardware wise.
Zorin tablet edition could be on tablets, Zorin lite on cellphones, Zorin desktop on notebooks/netbooks/desktops. Instead, though we are highly focused on the fact that we have our new and improved browser manager WOW. Give me a break, like I can't just use the terminal or the software center or synaptic to install firefox right. Not that it matters because the installer wont work anyway and if it does compiz will crash cuz thats what compiz does!
The trend in the linux world if ANYONE complains is: if you dont like it then make your own distro, or make your own driver or compile your own binaries etc. ENOUGH ALREADY. I get it, your not paid to do what you do. I understand that. Do you understand: that mentality is not an acceptible excuse to hide behind? $120.00 for an OS that works on 99.9% of all hardware; painlessly, effortlessly, with full support of every kind is a small price to pay. Linux distro teams should'nt be taking an oh-well posture EVER, quite simply put: you can't afford it.
I can't afford the time and expense of college training to use your FREE OS, nor should I have to. Despite my love of Zorin 5, and Ubuntu 10.04 computer users that need to do serious work need to have stability in the equipment they work on. They want to LOVE Zorin or whatever their favorite distro is but no one can afford to spend 40-80% of their interaction with their computer tracking down all the issues and bugs.
This is a long winded post but it needed to be said. Linux has come a long way in just the last 5 years, much of that has been because of dedicated efforts of the people of team Zorin and team Ubuntu, etc. But, we must not stop here, we must try even harder to make Zorin a true contender with Windows. To make it seamless, RELIABLE, and most importantly CONVENIENT, to a people that for the most part don't want to learn about computers they just want to use them.
