Is the Linux Desktop "On Par" With Mac and Windows? No Way!

Linux.com ^ | 14 August 2011 | Carla Schroder

[kevao]

No, it was only Linux Mint that didn’t recognize my wireless card. Ubuntu worked great with all my hardware. I just didn’t like the way Ubuntu looked. It just didn’t click with me.

[kevao]

I surprised PCLinuxOS doesn’t auto configure your shares.

I haven't started my networking project yet, so I can't say. I'd be surprised if it didn't though, because everything has really been so easy for me on PCLinuxOS.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Linux is here to stay - it’s a fact of life. All the haters and the doubters can hate and doubt all they want but it’s a significant portion of the computing infrastructure. If someone prefers Windows or Mac to Linux then great - have at it - as with most things in life it’s all about a series of tradeoffs.

One truism however is that free as in beer and free as in speech is a compelling value proposition for many, many applications - and the the other two OS’s will never ever match that.

[ctdonath2]

Agreed, the PS/2 keyboard was the best ever made.

[B Knotts]

I’ve used Linux for years, but recently got a MacBook Air so I have something small, light and reliable for use out in the field.

I can’t wait to get my new desktop machine so I can get back to Linux.

Mac OS X is not horrible, but it’s not the pinnacle of perfection that it’s claimed to be. And it’s not very configurable.

[LexBaird]

First, it would be helpful to learn the way that file permissions work on Unix systems. It's usually not a good idea to be logged on as root (administrator), so "sudo" is your friend. Second, the copy command is "cp source_file target_file". So typically that would be "sudo cp source_file target_file" and then authenticate as root. To move a file, the command is "mv source target".

This is the problem. The average user has absolutely no desire to have to know this. It's like expecting people to know how to rewire their house to change a lightbulb, when all they want is to see the hallway. It's great for wireheads who want home brew, home built, tweaked hardware, and ultra-customized systems. But, most people just want to balance the checkbook and surf the net.

[stripes1776]

This is the problem. The average user has absolutely no desire to have to know this.

I agree. That is why Mac OS X is the first Unix to become popular with the home market. Apple has created a beautiful and easy-to-use graphical interface on top of Unix.

[stripes1776]

Mac OS X is not horrible...it’s not very configurable.

Mac OS X is highly configurable if a person takes the time to learn the commands. But most people don't want to spend time configuring their computers. They just want their computers to work without a lot of fuss. And I would say that the Mac does that better than any system I have ever used.

[B Knotts]

B.S.

There are many, many things that you can configure in, for instance, KDE, that you cannot configure in Mac OS X.

For instance, window focus policy.

People want their computer to “just work,” until it doesn’t work like they want it to work.

The UI has quirks that are not necessarily the best solution, like leaving a program running after closing all of its windows.

Meanwhile, Apple is changing fundamental behavior in Lion, like how scrolling works.

[Lees Swrd]

I go here and read a lot LOL. You might want to give Salix OS a spin sometimeits great on older hardware. I think they have a live version on their homepage but most you find are install disc PC Linux is a great distro might not want to change!

http://distrowatch.com/

[stripes1776]

Meanwhile, Apple is changing fundamental behavior in Lion, like how scrolling works.

Scrolling is configurable for anyway you like it in Lion. Mac OS X is highly configurable.

The default configuration has changed because most people on Macs now use a Trackpad instead of a mouse. Does your Linux box have a Trackpad? Probably not.

Here is how you change the scrolling:
1. Go to System Preferences: 2. Go to the Trackpad tab: 3. Configure scrolling the way you want. Notice that there is an animation on the right that will show how you have the system configured and will reflect any changes you make to the configuration. Does your Linux box have a video like this to show how you have the system configured?

As for scroll bars, you can configure that as well:
1. Again, go the System Preferences.
2. Select the General tab.
3. Configure it the way you want:

Does your Linux box give you this variety of configuration options?

[B Knotts]

Yes, my Mac has a trackpad. I have not yet installed Lion on it, so I don’t have to deal with the scrolling direction issue yet.

But, yes, you can configure a *lot* more in KDE than you can in Mac OS X. The argument from the Mac partisan would be that there are some things you shouldn’t be able to change/configure, but I disagree.

[stripes1776]

The argument from the Mac partisan would be that there are some things you shouldn’t be able to change/configure, but I disagree.

First, I am not a Mac partisan, any more than you are a KDE partisan. That is an exaggeration on your part. Second, I think it is clear that I have been using Linux a lot longer than you have and have a lot more experience on that platform than you.

The argument on the Mac is not that somethings should not be configurable. The design of the graphical interface is based on what has been called the 90/10 rule. Most users spend 90% of their time using just 10% of the features of the graphical interface. So that 10% is easy to configure. The other 90% is configurable, but it's not obvious how to do it to most users. You will need to go to the command line. But I am a long-time Unix user. I spend a lot of time at the command line. How much time do you spend at the command line on your Linux box? From your responses I would say very little. You have not yet discovered the power of a Unix operating system.

[B Knotts]

Heh...you don’t know much about me. I’ve been using Linux since 1.x kernel days and SysV and BSD UNIX and VMS before that.

[kevao]

Try Rhythmbox or Amarok and add gtkPod.

Thanks for that. I got it to work now with gtkPod and Amarok. What sucks is the system won't automount the IPod. It will recognize the device only if it's plugged in on a boot-up. I went into my Device Notifier Settings and the IPod was listed there, and I had the option to check "Automount on Attach," but still no luck. Only shows up when I restart.

But I can easily live with this.

[papasmurf]

There are several methods to manually mount it. In that you are using PCLinuxOS, and I’m not familiar with the nuances built into that, you would want to ask in your forum for a “how to” manually mount a device. Heck, even in Ubuntu it has changed over the years.

Good that you got it up, though. :)

[stripes1776]

Heh...you don’t know much about me. I’ve been using Linux since 1.x kernel days and SysV and BSD UNIX and VMS before that.

In that case you won't have any problem figuring out how to configure your Mac from the command line. But if you prefer KDE on Linux, OK.

[kevao]

Thanks again! I found out how to manually mount the IPod. That will get gtkPod to recognize the device. I use “dmesg” at the command line and read what the IPod’s boot sector is — it’s like sdb1 or sdc1 (different each time). Then I go “mount /dev/sdb1 /media/IPOD” and — viola! — gtkPod sees the device.

However, neither Amarok nor Banshee will see the device unless I reboot the computer with the IPod connected. That sucks because only with Amarok or Banshee could I add or delete files to the IPod; gtkPod gave me errors when I tried to do this.

But that got me thinking, since I needed to mount the IPod as “root” (using “su”), maybe it was a permissions problem. Sure enough, I logged in to the desktop as “root” and was able to save and delete files on the IPod using gtkPod. But I know it’s not a good idea to be messing with things while logged in as “root,” so now I need to find out how to grant my username write permissions for the device when I mount it under “su”. So I’m almost there....

[papasmurf]

There are ways to automate all of that. It’s a bit complex and lengthy, but you’ll only have to do it once. Maybe someone in your forum will post it, and you can copy/paste through the terminal. Then create a symlink to it.

[kevao]

Let's say I was logged in as "user." I plug in my iPod, then go to terminal to mount it. Then, as "su", I launch gtkPod from the terminal. That would give me root power in gtkPod to do the add/delete operations I need to do on the iPod, but without being in a "root" desktop session, correct? Or is it that, whenever I do a "su" in terminal, my entire session goes from a "user" session to a "root" session?